Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what's real and what's not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.

As an aspiring artist, you should strive for originality of vision. Have something to say and a fresh way of saying it. No story is worth the writing, no picture worth the making, if it’s not the work of the imagination.

My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.

I wanted to be acknowledged as an artist, not just some kiddie-book artist.

Then from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of the wild things.

I often went to bed without supper cause I hated my mother's cooking. So, to go to bed without supper was not a torture to me. If she was gonna hurt me, she'd make me eat.

I do not remember any proper children's books in my childhood. I was not exposed to them.