I Don't Write For Children. I Write,

We've Educated Children To Think Spontaneity Is Inappropriate.

I Have A Little Tiny Emily Dickinson So Big That I Carry In My Pocket Everywhere. And You Just Read Three Poems Of Emily. She Is So Brave. She Is So Strong. She Is Such A Sexy, Passionate, Little Woman. I Feel Better.

For My Father The One Calamity Was That My Brother And Sister And I Never Learned To Swim. My Father, Who Was Very Macho, Was A Strong Swimmer And Was Terribly Disappointed To Have Children Who Didn't Swim. Once When My Mother Was Sitting In A Beach Chair - I Can Still See The Big Umbrella - She Called To My Father, "throw Them In! Throw Them In! They'll Swim!" So He Did. Then He Looked Down, And There Were The Three Sendak Children Lying Perfectly Still Underwater, Not Fighting For Life!

I Never Spent Less Than Two Years On The Text Of One Of My Picture Books, Even Though Each Of Them Is Approximately 380 Words Long. Only When The Text Is Finished ... Do I Begin The Pictures.

Kids Books Grownup Books That's Just Marketing. Books Are Books.