As much as I'd like to meet the tooth fairy on an evening walk, I don't really believe it can happen.
Chris Van Allsburg

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.
Chris Van Allsburg

Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now.
Chris Van Allsburg

I write for what's left of the eight-year-old still rattling around inside my head.
Chris Van Allsburg

Santa is our culture's only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of the population. It's a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that's a pity.
Chris Van Allsburg

Some artists claim praise is irrelevant in measuring the success of art, but I think it's quite relevant. Besides, it makes me feel great.
Chris Van Allsburg

The Dick, Jane, and Spot primers have gone to that bookshelf in the sky. I have, in some ways, a tender feeling toward them, so I think it's for the best.
Chris Van Allsburg

The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what's fascinating to me.
Chris Van Allsburg

The opportunity to create a small world between two pieces of cardboard, where time exists yet stands still, where people talk and I tell them what to say, is exciting and rewarding.
Chris Van Allsburg

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.
Chris Van Allsburg


There was a great deal of peer recognition to be gained in elementary school by being able to draw well. One girl could draw horses so well, she was looked upon as a kind of sorceress.
Chris Van Allsburg