Mac Barnett Quotes

• I'd much rather have a book that a few people love intensely than a book that a lot of people like okay.

  Mac Barnett

  Book, People, Okay

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• Pranking exposes the truth that underneath this appearance of order is joy, laughter, and disorder.

  Mac Barnett

  Laughter, Order, Joy

  Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• Too often we tell kids pleasant stories devoid of truth, and stories without truth are not good stories. Our audience deserves more from us.

  Mac Barnett

  Kids, Deserve More, Stories

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• It's a sort of patronizing idea that literature for children has to feature role models of exemplary behavior. I think not only is that bogus, but it leads to really boring books.

  Mac Barnett

  Children, Book, Thinking

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• Danger is the snack food of a true sleuth.

  Mac Barnett

  Snacks, Danger

  Mac Barnett, Adam Rex (2011). “The Ghostwriter Secret”, p.77, Simon and Schuster

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• Not only is a good prank harmless, but, like a good story, it reveals an essential truth that would otherwise be hidden.

  Mac Barnett

  Essentials, Stories, Pranks

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• Every Librarian is a highly trained agent. An expert in intelligence, counterintelligence, Boolean searching, and hand-to-hand combat.

  Mac Barnett

  Hands, Experts, Agents

  Mac Barnett (2009). “The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity”, p.36, Simon and Schuster

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• I think the trick of writing a good picture book manuscript is to leave that space for illustration. An illustrated novel can do the same thing.

  Mac Barnett

  Book, Writing, Thinking

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• I'm not sure we're presenting ourselves as real role models. I don't think literature has ever been a real place for role models.

  Mac Barnett

  Real, Thinking, Role Models

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• I love those adult writers with the pranking ethos, [Don] DeLillo and [Donald] Barthelme and David Foster Wallace. I don't see any reason not to bring those kinds of influences to bear on books for children.

  Mac Barnett

  Children, Book, Ethos

  Source: www.teachingbooks.net

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• I read The Stinky Cheese Man as an adult. I missed that book when I was a kid. I grew up mostly with books bought at yard sales, picture books from the fifties to 1975, which is really a lucky thing.

  Mac Barnett

  Book, Kids, Men

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• We put authors on such a pedestal, and it's a moment that humanizes the whole thing, and lends an absurdity to what otherwise is a "please sit with your hands on your lap" kind of event.

  Mac Barnett

  Hands, Events, Pedestal

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• Kevin Cornell and I have worked together a bunch.

  Mac Barnett

  Together, Kevin, Bunch

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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• Pranking is a great way to indicate the underlying absurdities of the world.

  Mac Barnett

  World, Way, Absurdity

  "Mac Barnett & Jory John Talk with Roger". Interview with Roger Sutton, www.hbook.com. February 3, 2015.

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