I’m Not Hans Christian Andersen. Nobody’s Gonna

I Am Not A Religious Person, Nor Do I Have Any Regrets. The War Took Care Of That For Me. You Know, I Was Brought Up Strictly Kosher, But I - It Made No Sense To Me. It Made No Sense To Me What Was Happening. So Nothing Of It Means Anything To Me. Nothing. Except These Few Little Trivial Things That Are Related To Being Jewish. ... You Know Who My Gods Are, Who I Believe In Fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson - She's Probably The Top - Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These Are Wonderful Gods Who Have Gotten Me Through The Narrow Straits Of Life.

I Wanted My Wild Things To Be Frightening.

In Plain Terms, A Child Is A Complicated Creature Who Can Drive You Crazy. There's A Cruelty To Childhood, There's An Anger.

Illustrations Have As Much To Say As The Text. The Trick Is To Say The Same Thing, But In A Different Way. It's No Good Being An Illustrator Who Is Saying A Lot That Is On His Or Her Mind, If It Has Nothing To Do With The Text. . . The Artist Must Override The Story, But He Must Also Override His Own Ego For The Sake Of The Story.

The Fan Mail I Get From Kids Are Asking Me Questions Which They Do Not Ask Their Mothers And Fathers. Because If They Had, Why Write To Me, A Perfect Stranger?