Chris Van Allsburg

**Biographical**
**Information**

Chris Van Allsburg is an author and illustrator of children’s
literature.  He was born June 18th,
1949 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He was
the second child of Doris and Richard Van Allsburg.  Chris and his family lived in a farm house
next to East End Creamery.  His
grandfather owned the creamery.  Chris’
father and uncles would later work there.
When Chris was three, his family moved to another neighborhood in Grand
Rapids.  There were still fields and
streams for Chris to explore.  In sixth
grade, Chris’ family (mom, dad, older sister Karen, and two cats) moved again
to East Grand Rapids.  It is said that
Chris’ street closely resembles the illustration on the cover of The Polar
Express.

In high school, Chris enjoyed math and science.  His love for art did not develop until
college, when he attended the University of Michigan.  While speaking with an admissions officer, he
chose to pursue studies in the college of Architecture and Design to “give that
a try.”  He had not taken any art courses
in high school, and fibbed to the admissions officer when he explained that he
took private art classes on the weekends.
He majored in sculpture and graduated in 1972.  He later earned an M.F.A. from Rhode Island
School of Design, where he also studied the art of sculpture, graduating in

Chris met his wife Lisa Morrison, also an art student, while
attending the University of Michigan.  She
became an art teacher and often used picture books in her classes.  Although Chris enjoyed sculpting, he began
drawing pictures at night and displayed then around their apartment.  Lisa encourages Chris to become an
illustrator for children’s books.  She
showed some of Chris’ illustrations to an editor at Houghton Mifflin
Company.  The editor, Walter Lorraine,
encouraged Chris to write and illustrate his own stories…and so he did.  In 1979, Chris published his first book The
Garden of Abdul Gasazi.  He has gone
on to write and illustrate over 18 children’s books.

**Themes**

A major theme carried across Chris Van Allsburg’s books is
the belief in magic.  Many characters in
his books (and readers) are left pondering if the events that occurred really
happened, and if so, how?  For example,
Alan in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi is left wondering if Fritz was really
turned into a duck.  In The Polar
Express, the main character takes a trip to the North Pole and meets Santa
Clause.  He is given, and then later loses,
a bell from Santa’s sleigh, but later finds the bell wrapped in a box under the
Christmas tree.  He also uses dreams to
help tell his stories, such as in Just a Dream and Ben’s Dream.  Nature themes also appear in Van Allsburg’s
book.  Just a Dream, for example,
illustrates an appreciation of the environment by highlighting the effects that
some of our actions can take to destroy the environment.  The Stranger addresses the changing of
the seasons with a magical twist.

**Style**

Many illustrations in Van Allsburg’s books are in black and
white.  The Z was Zapped, Jumanji,
and Ben’s Dream are a few examples.
Chris does not have a painting or drawing background, as he studied
sculpture while in college and graduate school.
He used charcoal for his illustrations in his earlier works because that
was the extent of his drawing knowledge.

Fritz, a bull terrier, is a common illustration that appears
in all of Chris Van Allsburg’s books.  He
was first portrayed as a character in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.  The character is modeled after his nephew’s
bull terrier, Winston.  After Winston
died, Chris decided to put an image of the dog in all of his books.  Fritz has been portrayed a child’s toy, a car
decal, food, and other creative images.

**Bibliography**

·
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979, Caldecott
Honor Book)

·
Jumanji (1981, Caldecott Medal winner)

·
Ben’s Dream (1982, The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books)

·
The Wreck of the Zephyr (1983, A New York
Times Best Illustrated Book)

·
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984, A New
York Times Best Illustrated Book)

·
The Stranger (1986, A New York Times Best
Illustrated Book)

·
The Z Was Zapped (1987)

·
Two Bad Ants (1988, Maryland Children's Book Award Winner)

·
Just a Dream (1990)

·
The Wretched Stone (1991)

·
The Widow’s Broom (1992)

·
The Sweeting Fig (1993, Rhode Island Children's Book Award Winner)

·
Bad Day at Riverbend (1995)

·
Zathura (2002)

·
Probuditi! (2006)

·
Queen of the Falls (2010)

**Criticism**

According to reviews found on Goodreads.com, some readers
thought Zathura, a follow-up to Van Allsburg’s Jumanji, was
repetitive, as it shares a similar plot to its’ predecessor.  Reviews of The Stranger, as written by
Goodreads.com reviewers, found that the plot of the text and some of the key
details of the story are too abstract for young readers.

**Other Information**

Jumanji, Zathura, and The Polar Express
have been adapted into movies.  The 30th
anniversary edition of Jumanji comes with an audio recording of the
book.  The book is read by Robin
Williams, the main character of the original movie adaptation.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provides teaching guides for his
books.

**Sources**

https://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/biography.html

https://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/faqs.html

https://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/books.html

https://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/awards.html

http://polarexpress.com/schools-libraries/