Kevin Henkes Quotes

#1. Books come from within.

Kevin Henkes

#2. Everyone has something interesting to say.

Kevin Henkes

#3. Didn't it make sense that after something horrible happens, something better should follow?

Kevin Henkes

#4. When I was a boy, one of my uncles had a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin. My family went there for parts of three summers, and I loved it!

Kevin Henkes

#5. When I work on a novel, I usually have one character and a setting in mind.

Kevin Henkes

#6. You don't need to have kids to write a good book for kids. I don't want my kids to see themselves in my books. Their lives should be their lives.

Kevin Henkes

#7. I think writers are observers and watchers. We always have our ears open and eyes open, so I might see something in everyday life that inspires me. And I think that's probably more than anything else. Everyday life is where I get my inspiration.

Kevin Henkes

#8. I always craft my words to the point where I think and hope they're perfect before I ever begin sketching.

Kevin Henkes

#9. He could manage. Ms. Silver happened to be walking by

Kevin Henkes

#10. I like examining the ordinary, and by doing so, one hopefully reveals the extraordinary nature within.

Kevin Henkes

#11. Sometimes all you can do is say, 'Wow.'

Kevin Henkes

#12. But this was the first time someone he loved would be gone forever. He didn't like to think about the forever part. But when he did, which was often, the only place he wanted to be was home.

Kevin Henkes

#13. Home was the same as when Martha had left it, but because *she* had changed, her world seemed slightly different, as though she were seeing everything in sharper focus.

Kevin Henkes

#14. When I'm writing, I'm creating the story and its character with words. I'm thinking about what the pictures will be like, but I never begin to sketch. The pictures are all in my head.

Kevin Henkes

#15. Now smile a real smile for me so I know you're not suffering inside.

Kevin Henkes

#16. Papa?" she repeated. She rolled her eyes dramatically. "That is so babyish, I can hardly believe it.

Kevin Henkes

#17. Try drawing or painting a scene you're working on. Often this will help free up you imagination.

Kevin Henkes

#18. (His) sadness grew; it became a rock inside him, pulling him down. He carried the sadness everywhere, morning, noon, and night. It hurt to breathe.

Kevin Henkes

#19. When I was young, I assumed that authors must have traveled the world or done exotic things in order to tell great stories.

Kevin Henkes

#20. When I'm drawing, I only do that at home, really, at my drawing table. But writing I could do in other places. So I've written in airports, in hotels, different places.

Kevin Henkes

#21. I usually do my writing in a very nice room, my studio, which is in the attic of our house in Wisconsin. But the nice thing about writing is that I can do it in many places. So sometimes I'll write in coffee shops.

Kevin Henkes

#22. Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better

Kevin Henkes

#23. I like small, domestic stories.

Kevin Henkes

#24. I usually know where I want to end up when I begin, but I have no idea how I'm going to get there ... I don't write with an outline, and surprises happen on the way, and sometimes it changes.

Kevin Henkes

#25. He couldn't help but give in to the occasional temptation to replay past events in his mind, altering them, changing them from cruel to comfortable, from sad to happy, from unfair to accommodating. Anything was possible in his imagination. Any ending. If only thinking it could make it so.

Kevin Henkes

#26. When I'm looking for an idea, I'll do anything
clean the closet, mow the lawn, work in the garden.

Kevin Henkes

#27. My advice to would-be young authors is to read a lot, write a lot, and not worry about creating a finished product. Keeping a journal is not a bad idea either.

Kevin Henkes

#28. When I'm writing the text for a book like 'Little White Rabbit,' I read it aloud, alone, in my studio, again and again and again - because the rhythm has to be exactly right. After I get my manuscript to the point where I think it is perfect, I begin to think about what I want the art to look like.

Kevin Henkes

#29. Whenever I'm writing a book, small details from my life always creep in.

Kevin Henkes

#30. If we expose kids to books and art, nothing but good can come from it.

Kevin Henkes