Tomie dePaola quotes:

I remember feeling guilty that I had a good childhood. I thought everybody who is famous has to have a desperate childhood and work his way out of it, but I had a great one.

A picture book is a small door to the enormous world of the visual arts, and they're often the first art a young person sees.

I try to be as clear and simple as I can be in my illustrations so that the child can tell what is going on and what the emotions are.

Most people don't realize the many steps that a pop-up goes through. There are a variety of "Dummies" (the sketch phase of the book). Then finally the pencil "dummy", then the finished art which is like painting pieces of a jig saw puzzle.

Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.