Mac Barnett > Quotes

“He checked out his surrounding. More books. A drinking fountain. A poster showing a guy slam-dunking a basketball with one hand and holding a book in the other, urging kids to READ! Weird, thought Steve. How can he even see the hoop?

...

You see, Steven, Librarians are the most elite, best trained secret force in the United States of America. Probably in the world."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"What about the FBI?"
"Featherweights."
"The CIA?"
Mackintosh snorted. "Don't make me laugh. Those guys can't even dunk a basketball andd read a book at the same time.”
― Mac Barnett, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

“Every Librarian is a highly trained agent. An expert in intelligence, counterintelligence, Boolean searching, and hand-to-hand combat.”
― Mac Barnett, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

“Dear Mom,
I won't be home this weekend because I'm wanted for treason and I have to clear my name. Also, I took the last Sprite from the fridge.
Love, Steve”
― Mac Barnett, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

“I may have been swallowed, said the duck, but I have no intention of being eaten.”
― Mac Barnett, The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse

“A clue! From M!"
"Who's M?"
"Maybe M is for Mackintosh! Maybe Grabes ans Mackintosh are in cahoots!"
"Or maybe M is for Mom. Also, who says 'cahoots'?”
― Mac Barnett

“Danger is the snack food of a true sleuth.”
― Mac Barnett, The Ghostwriter Secret

“This was so unfunny, Steve had to laugh.”
― Mac Barnett, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

“Kids are human beings right now, with rich interior lives. They deserve entertaining stories and meaningful art.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe

“If you don’t think children’s books are real books, on some level you don’t think children are real people.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children

“Dana was what Steve called a "silent partner" in the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency. Being a silent partner meant that Dana didn't carry a business card, that his name didn't appear on the company letterhead, and he wanted nothing to do with the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency.”
― Mac Barnett, The Ghostwriter Secret

“I live well! I may have been swallowed, but I have no intention of being eaten.”
― Mac Barnett, The Wolf The Duck & The Mouse

“When children cannot find their experience and emotions – even (and especially) their fears, jealousy, sadness, and anger – reflected in the stories they read, two things can happen, both bad.
Kids may abandon reading and seek out art and media that better reflects their lives. Or, instead of deciding that there must be something wrong with books, children may decide that there must be something wrong with themselves, and become ashamed of the very human feeling, which adults have excluded from their literature.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe

“No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“Every story is a secret door, an invitation to imagine another world and, by believing so, make it real.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe

“Summertime is here again. School principals are free. The birds are singing in the trees And so are the school principals. Not in the trees, but on the ground. School principals cannot fly.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two Go Wild

“It's nice," said the mouse.
"It's home," said the duck.
"You live here?"
"I live well! I may have been swallowed, but I have no intention of being eaten.”
― Mac Barnett, The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse

“There is a considerable difference between believing something is rubbish and believing it should not exist," said the Queen. "Remember that.”
― Mac Barnett

“When we read, we make believe. We aren't duped or ensorcelled. Deep down we decide. We make ourselves believe. We know the characters in stories aren't real, but our feelings for them are. We know the things in the stories never happened, but we can't wait to learn what happens next.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe

“WELCOME TO YAWNEE VALLEY, an idyllic place with rolling green hills that slope down to creeks, and cows as far as the eye can see. There’s one now.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“Leave it to Niles Sparks to prank his pranking partner in the middle of a prank.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two Get Worse

“realize this picture, rendered only in black ink, will not help you decide for yourself whether Bob’s cow is blue. Sadly, we cannot afford to print these books in color. Still, we hope you enjoyed the illustration. That’s a very good-looking cow!”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two's Last Laugh

“There are patterns in a life, and patterns in a story, but in real lives and good stories the patterns are hard to see... But sometimes you find a book that feels as strange as life does. These books feel true. These books are important.”
― Mac Barnett, The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown

“He smelled like an animal. It was the first time Miles had touched a cow.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“A lot of children's books published are propaganda for adulthood. They're prosocial messages masquerading as stories, designed to promote good behavior, glorifying grown-ups, and get kids to sleep on time. These books get praised for their educational value or positive moral messages, but they fail to provide any kind of real literacy experience for children. Instead their value is to the adults who buy them and who find themselves flattered, and their rules reinforced, in the books' pages.”
― Mac Barnett, Make Believe

“LUNCH,”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“an idyllic place with rolling green hills that slope down to creeks, and cows as far as the eye can see. There’s one now.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“He unzipped his Principal Pack, which most people call a fanny pack, but Principal Barkin called a Principal Pack, even in the summer, and pulled out a pencil and paper.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two Go Wild

“Underneath the picnic table was something he’d somehow missed.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“He grinned at Niles and went to his locker, his upper locker, to grab his math book. Maybe he would have pizza for lunch today. Yes, that sounded pretty good.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two

“The Terrible Twos is what you call toddlers,” said Miles.”
― Mac Barnett, The Terrible Two Get Worse