Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949 in East Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He won the Caldecott Medal for Jumanji (1982) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he wrote and illustrated, and both of which were later adapted into successful motion pictures. He received the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. He attended art school at the University of Michigan, and received his MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Mr. Van Allsburg is said to have disliked children before becoming a father, making his decision to work on children's books rather odd. His books often depict fantastic, uncontrolled events and utilize sometimes brutal irony. Van Allsburg breaks out of the comfortable world of children's literature to explore the darker side of human nature. For example, his book The Sweetest Fig is about a selfish man who is suddenly given the opportunity to make his wildest dreams come true. His greed is eventually his downfall. This is not an unusual moral for a story in children's books, but Van Allsburg's chilling characterization of the man brings a frightening tone to the narrative. The Wretched Stone, in which a ship's crew is mesmerized and corrupted by the titular rock, is an allegorical tale about the negative impact of television . Other literary themes include dreams, the environment, and items with lives of their own (like the board games in Jumanji and Zathura). Every book features Fritz, a bull terrier that is based on a real-life dog owned by Chris Van Allsburg's brother-in-law. He appears in every book and even on his website, sometimes as a real dog, or a toy, or other things as a tribute to the dog's death. Van Allsburg's drawings are particularly notable for their use of perspective. In many cases the illustrations are drawn from a child's eye height. This viewpoint likely appeals to children because it conveys the world as they see it. It may also appeal to adults because they may (unconsciously) perceive the world as they did when they were children. Chris Van Allsburg lives in Providence, Rhode Island with Lisa Van Allsburg, his wife of 30 years. They have 2 daughters, Sophia and Anna.

Bibliography

• Bad Day at Riverbend
• Ben's Dream
• The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
• Jumanji
• Just a Dream
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
• The Polar Express
• Probuditi!
• The Stranger
• Swan Lake (Illustrator)
• The Sweetest Fig
• Two Bad Ants
• The Wreck of the Zephyr
• The Wretched Stone
• The Widow's Broom
• The Z Was Zapped
• Zathura

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, a collection of images on one side, and one sentence on the other (meant to be 'recovered pages' of longer books) continues the themes of darker undertones and was the inspiration for a short story by author Stephen King, in his collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes (as his author's note expands upon). Mr. Van Allsburg's art has also been featured on one of the many editions of C. S. Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia, on each of the various covers of the books, as well as being the illustrator of three children's books by Mark Helprin.

External links

• Van Allsburg's web site
• Van Allsburg on his film adaptation of the Christmas story The Polar Express while maintaining a Jewish home