Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Mark Haddon was originally an author of children's books, and The Curious Incident was his first foray into adult literature. As he described himself, "I sometimes put it like this: I had the second-best job in the world (children's writer). Greedily, I wanted the best job in the world as well (novelist)." (Source.)
Children's editions of The Curious Incident have been published, but Haddon insists he never actually intended it to be read by children, and considers it very much a book for adults. Plus, the so-called "children's" edition is exactly the same as the adult edition, just with a different cover. (Source.)
Haddon also happens to be an accomplished visual artist, and drew all of the book's illustrations himself. And we thought it was impressive enough that he wrote such a great novel. Sheesh. (Source.)