I grew up in a house that was in a constant state of mourning.

I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness.

We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal. And if I've done anything, I've had kids express themselves as they are.

It was a very difficult time. I was working on [umble-Ardy] when my partner and friend was dying of cancer. We set up a room in the house to be like a hospital room. Eugene died, and then I had bypass surgery. I was doing the book to stay sane while all this was going on.

Emeralds,' said the rabbit. 'Emeralds make a lovely gift.

Then one day my sister abandoned me at the 1939 World's Fair, and that incident is the essence of In the Night Kitchen. I was standing there with hundreds of other people waving back at the little midgets dressed like bakers when I turned around and my sister was gone! The next thing I know I'm screaming and crying and policemen are taking me to a big place with tons of kids who had all been abandoned like me. At least I was old enough to give them a name and an address.

You can start making up any kind of story if you want to.