I like to pretend that each book is my first one and last one, because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do a book.

The books take a year just to do the drawing. I will travel to a country to do the research and get ideas. Sometimes I don't travel to do research, but mostly I do. It takes a long time, but do I ever get tired of it? Not really. The characters kind of grow and evolve.

Teachers have to respect the privacy of students' creative life, but at the same time give them a chance to express themselves.

Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go.

When I was little I used to wish I could talk to the illustrators because I wanted to discuss something about the books. With so many of the other art forms that children experience, such as movies and television, they don't get to control the pace.

I like to pretend that each book is my first one and last one, because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do a book.

I always feel like my book is a success when I see a child reading it, and they have their pointer finger out, and they kind of keep their place as they look all around the page. I've always been impressed by how children are so observant.