1. Lori Miller High Tech Learning, 11/22/09
Chris Van allsburg
“Ideas for stories are all around. But those ideas are just starting points. The kind of story a writer ends up telling is not the result of the little idea that starts the writer thinking. The kind of story a writer ends up telling is the result of the kind of person that the writer is.”
Lori Miller High Tech Learning, 11/22/09

2. Timeline
Jumanji, The Polar Express, and Zathura were made into popular feature films
First book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, published
1979
Born in Grand Rapids, MI
1949
Earned MFA Rhode Island School of Design
1975
Jumanji won Caldecott Medal
1982
1972
Earned a BFA in Sculpture University of Michigan
1977
While working as a sculptor, Chris also began creating drawings & then stories to go with them
1986
The Polar Express won Caldecott Medal
Today
Chris lives in Rhode Island & continues to write & illustrate books
1980
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi won the Caldecott Honor Medal

3. Type of Work
Genre
Van Allsburg writes and illustrates picture books for children.
Subject Matter
He is known for writing fantasy stories that have elements of mystery and magic.

4. Books by Chris Van Allsburg
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, 1979
Awards: Caldecott Honor Medal
Sometimes that very thin line be-
tween illusion and reality is not as clearly defined as we would like it to be. It clearly wasn't the day that Alan Mitz stumbled into the garden of Abdul Gasazi.
For in this bizarre and eerie place - where strange topiary trees loomed - the evil visage of Gasazi casts its shadow.

5. Awards: Caldecott Medal
Jumanji, 1981
Awards: Caldecott Medal
The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peter and Judy had at home. But they were bored and restless and, looking for something interesting to do, thought they'd give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizarre adventure of their lives.

6. Awards: Caldecott Medal
The Polar Express, 1985
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Late one Christmas Eve after the town has gone to sleep, the boy boards the mysterious train that waits for him: the Polar Express bound for the North Pole. In strange and moving shades of full color art, Chris Van Allsburg creates an otherworldly classic of the Christmas season.

7. Zathura, 2002
On the last page of the Caldecott Medal-winning book Jumanji, young Danny Budwing is seen running home with a game tucked under his arm.
Now, after twenty years, Chris Van Allsburg is ready to reveal what happens when Danny and his brother roll the dice. This time the name of the game is Zathura and Walter and Danny Budwing are in for the ride of their lives.
(Example 4)

8. Probuditi, 2006
“Inside were tickets to the matinee show of Lomax the magnificent, the world-famous magician and hypnotist.”
Calvin is so excited after seeing Lomax the magician that he is anxious to try some of his own magic when he gets home.
(Example 5)

9. Complete Bibliography
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979, Caldecott Honor)
The Wretched Stone (1991)
The Widow's Broom (1992)
Jumanji (1981, Caldecott Medal)
The Sweetest Fig (1993)
Ben's Dream (1982)
The Veil of Snows (1993, Illustrator, written by Mark Helprin)
The Wreck of the Zephyr (1983)
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984)
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1994, Portfolio edition)
The Polar Express (1985, Caldecott Medal)
Bad Day at Riverbend (1995)
A City in Winter (1996, Illustrator, written by Mark Helprin)
The Stranger (1986)
The Z Was Zapped (1987)
Zathura (2002)
Two Bad Ants (1988)
Probuditi! (2006)
Swan Lake (1989, Illustrator, written by Mark Helprin)
Just a Dream (1990)

10. Resources
Cummings, Pat, ed. Talking with Artists. New York: Macmillan, 1992
Kidreads
The Offical Chris Van Allsburg Website
Tunnell, Michael O., and James S. Jacobs. Children’s Literature, Briefly. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2008.
Wikipedia