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

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?

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

its not bad to be different. Sometimes it's the mark of being very very talented.

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

I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.

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.

I pore over every word on the cereal box at breakfast, often more than once. You can ask me anything about shredded wheat.

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.

Certain peer pressures encourage little fingers to learn how to hold a football instead of a crayon. I confess to having yielded to these pressures.

An award does not change the quality of a book.

Q: Best part about being a musical theatre book writer?A: Explaining what that is.

Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.

Self-actualized people...live more in the real world of nature than in the man-made mass of concepts, abstractions, expectations, beliefs and stereotypes that most people confuse with the world.

I was told by a physician to avoid any line of work where people need to, um, depend on me for anything.

My favorite date movie is Scarface. There's nothing like taking a woman to see Scarface. It gets the panties off quick.

So long as free land exists, the opportunity for a competency exists, and economic power secures political power.

Wisdom consists in speaking and acting the truth.

As the sea is beautiful not only in calm but also in storm, so is happiness found not only in peace but also in strife.

As I began researching butterflies, however, the monarch stood out among all of them. It's the only butterfly - the only insect - that migrates like a bird or a whale!

When you have set yourself a task finish it.