The first real book I ever owned was The Prince and
the Pauper by Mark Twain, which my sister bought me. And I flipped when
she did. I still have it -- that poor, abused book. I smelled it, I squeezed
it, I tried to bite into it. I couldn't believe that I had such a book,
that I owned such a rare thing. Beautiful red cloth, a shiny picture pasted
on the binding, and beautiful end-papers. It stood on my dresser, it came
to bed with me, I stroked it. I didn't actually read it until many years
later. And I like The Prince and the Pauper, but first and foremost was
the joy of the object itself.
It's a very good sign if a book feels good, and smells good, and tastes good. Because they're love objects. I've devoted my life to designing books--not just doing pictures for them, but designing books and worrying about the bindings, and the end-papers, and all the details of book-making. Because I know that I was not--at least I hope not--a demented child all by myself in the universe. I think kids get pleasure out of everything--milk cartons, cereal boxes--and a book that feels good is like a toy, it's like a teddy bear. You hug it, you squeeze it, you take it to bed. Then it has the added magnificence of being readable. This is extremely important; I've devoted my life to those other freaky kids who lick, sniff, and carry on over their books before they even read them.
by Maurice Sendak