Author

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.

From Chris Van Allsburg

I was about 28-29 when I wrote my first story, and that was called 'The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.'

From Chris Van Allsburg

Brainstorming, for me, takes place in my bed at night between the time I turn out my lights and I finally fall asleep. It is not a very violent storm, but what's happening is I am just thinking about different ideas and maybe things I've seen that day that I think might make a good story.

From Chris Van Allsburg

Authors of books are not given very much control over the films that are made from their books.

From Chris Van Allsburg

It was the case for a number of years that I was doing a book a year, but that was back when I was part-time teaching - and since 1991, I've been a parent, so that cuts into the time!

From Chris Van Allsburg

The whole idea of being mesmerized and not in control of your own actions is fascinating and a little spooky. I remember hearing about someone who'd gone to a magic act, and a person in the audience had become hypnotized by observing too closely what magician was doing on stage, and thought it was spooky to lose your consciousness that way.

From Chris Van Allsburg

It did occur to me that certainly African-Americans are not underserved in picture books, but those books are almost all about specifically black experiences.

From Chris Van Allsburg