A biography for Chris Van Allsburghasn’t been written yet.
“Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now.”
“The theory of isolation of certain tasks in certain hemispheres of the brain suggests I shouldn't even be able to speak, never mind write.”
“I don't know if what kids really want is a hamster. What they want is a dog. So the hamster ends up being a substitute: 'Well, would you accept this?'”
“I'm sensitive to the things I see.”
“I believe that there will be many things that happen to me in my life that I will not be able to explain. Some of those might be magic. I'm not sure.”
“As long as I can remember, I've always loved to draw. But my interest in drawing wasn't encouraged very much.”
“As the years went by I became a writer and illustrator, although exclusively of fantasies.”
“I don't like to get scared - it's not one of the emotions I enjoy. So I have to assume that if there are scary things in my books, they aren't very scary.”
“At first, I see pictures of a story in my mind. Then creating the story comes from asking questions of myself. I guess you might call it the 'what if - what then' approach to writing and illustration.”
“If I'm not working on something, I'm eager to work on something because it's so gratifying.”
“My ideas are not meant to suggest dreams or reality, but a surreal quality.”
“'The Polar Express' began with the idea of a train standing alone in the woods. I asked myself, 'What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go?'”
“Even the most complicated stories start with a very simple premise.”
“What kids are exposed to on television is more frightening and horrifying than what they see in my books.”
“The Polar Express is about faith, and the power of imagination to sustain faith. It's also about the desire to reside in a world where magic can happen, the kind of world we all believed in as children, but one that disappears as we grow older.”
“I am never really surprised at the way my books take shape. They are just not as perfect as I'd like them to be.”
“It's not in the interest of the artist to think of his market.”
“My stories are often a little mysterious.”
“I like the gizmos that transport people.”
“Your house is all about routine, not the unexpected events of your life.”