It's only adults who read the top layers most of the time. I think children read the internal meanings of everything.

William Blake really is important, my cornerstone. Nobody ever told me before he did that childhood was such a damned serious business.

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

I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man. I can't believe it. I was young just minutes ago.

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.

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.

I think there is something barbaric in children, and it's missing in lots of books for them because we don't like to think of it. We want them to be happy [but] childhood is a very tough time.