Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg
Van Allsburg in 2011
Born	(1949-06-18) June 18, 1949 East Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Occupation	Illustrator, writer
Nationality	American
Genre	Children's picture books
Notable works	Jumanji The Polar Express Zathura
Notable awards	Caldecott Medal 1982, 1986
Spouse	Lisa (1974–; 2 children)

Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he also wrote; both were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children's books. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan in April 2012.

Life

Van Allsburg was born in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he was the second child to his mother Doris Christianen Van Allsburg and his father Richard Van . Van Allsburg's older sister was born in 1947. When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house. His family then moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids when Chris was three years old. His new house was located close enough to his elementary school that he could walk there for class. His family later moved again to East Grand Rapids. He attended middle school and high school at East Grand Rapids. Van Allsburg attended the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan, which at that time included the art school. He majored in sculpture, learning bronze casting, wood carving, resin molding, and other techniques. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972 and continued his education at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with a master's degree in sculpture in 1975. After graduation, Van Allsburg set up a sculpture studio.

While Van Allsburg focused on sculpture, he struggled for time in the studio and began to sketch his ideas at home. His wife thought that his drawings of his ideas would make good illustrations for children's books. After his wife showed his pictures to a children's book editor, he wrote his first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, in 1979.

Chris Van Allsburg lives in Providence, Rhode Island with Lisa Van Allsburg, his wife of 30 years. They have two daughters, Sophia and Anna. Van Allsburg converted to Judaism, his spouse's faith.

Career

Van Allsburg has written and illustrated about twenty books. His art has also been featured on the covers of an edition of C. S. Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia published by HarperCollins in 1994, as well as in three children's books written by Mark Helprin.

His books often depict fantastic, uncontrolled events and utilize sometimes brutal irony. Van Allsburg breaks out of the comfortable world of children 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 books, but Van Allsburg's chilling characterization of the man brings a frightening tone to the narrative. 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 the short story "The House on Maple Street" by author Stephen King, in his collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes (as his author's note expands upon). 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, two books which are almost the same story, with the only difference being the theme of the board game and the events which are caused by playing).

Many books feature Fritz, a bull terrier that is based on a real-life dog owned by Chris Van Allsburg's brother-in-law. He appears in many of the books and even on his website, sometimes as a real dog, or a toy, or other things as a tribute to the dog's life.

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.

Works

Books

• The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979), a Caldecott runner-up
• Jumanji (1981), Caldecott Medal winner
• Ben's Dream (1982)
• The Wreck of the Zephyr (1983)
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984)
• The Polar Express (1985), Caldecott Medal winner
• The Stranger (1986)
• The Z Was Zapped (1987)
• Two Bad Ants (1988)
• Swan Lake (1989), written by Mark Helprin)
• Just a Dream (1990)
• The Wretched Stone (1991)
• The Widow's Broom (1992)
• The Sweetest Fig (1993)
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1994, Portfolio edition)
• Bad Day at Riverbend (1995)
• A City in Winter (1996), written by Mark Helprin)
• The Veil of Snows (1997), written by Mark Helprin)
• Zathura (2002)
• Probuditi! (2006)
• Queen of the Falls (2011)
• The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (2011)

Film adaptations

Three books written and illustrated by Van Allsburg have been adapted as films:

• Jumanji (1995, served as story writer)
• The Polar Express (2004, served as executive producer)
• Zathura (2005)

External links

• Official website
• Interview with Chris Van Allsburg by Developmental Studies Center
• Chris Van Allsburg at Library of Congress Authorities — with 42 catalog records