A jungle in your house. Your house in space. Adventure. Adventure and fantasy is
something Chris Van Allsburg is perfect at creating. I remember as a child, my imagination ran
rampant thanks to books like Jumanji and The Polar Express. There is a certain mystery to life as
a child that you cannot help but try to decipher. Van Allsburg takes the ordinary life of a child
and turns it completely upside down! His books provided a fantasy world that leaves you
wondering if it really is fantasy and not reality. He is the master of making adventures and
highlighting the curiosity that roams through a child’s mind. Van Allsburg has left a mark on the
world of children’s literature that is not soon to be forgotten.
On June 18th, 1949 Chris Van Allsburg, the son Doris Christiansen and Richard Van
Allsburg, was born. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he lived until he was three.
Van Allsburg’s family then moved to a neighborhood still being developed on the edge of Grand
Rapids. The open spaces and nature surrounding him made for a wonderful place to sit in
thought and the perfect breeding ground for imagination(Van Allsburg par 5). Van Allsburg
moved again after 6th grade, where he stayed through college. As a child, he loved to draw and
sketch. However, while he liked to draw cartoons, the other boys liked to play football. Soon
after elementary school, the fire to draw, was not as strong. Van Allsburg, although very
successful at art, was not planning on making a career out of it. He stopped taking art classes
during high school and did not think about art again until he saw the art major on his college
application form. The fact that Van Allsburg was accepted into the University of Michigan Art
School was a fluke. There was a recruiter at his school doing interviews that accepted Van
Allsburg on a whim only because he lied about taking private art lessons. Ironically enough, that
was the last year the University of Michigan accepted students without a portfolio. He ended up
graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in sculpture. He then continued on by
going on to the Rhode Island School of design where he received his master’s degree in
sculpture. The thought of being an author, was nowhere in his mind. Van Allsburg was
introduced to children’s literature through his wife Lisa, a third grade teacher. David Macaulay, a
friend of Lisa, agreed and encouraged Van Allsburg to illustrate children’s books. Allsburg, as a
result of his wife’s effort, has now written 15 books and illustrated three of Mark Helprin’s books.
Van Allsburg, although a “late-bloomer”(Van Allsburg par 21) has seen nothing but
success in his attempts. He earned two Caldecott Medals, the Caldecott Honor Medal, and the
honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan. His Caldecott
Medals were for Jumanji in 1982 and for The Polar Express in 1986. Some may venture to say
that it was because of his art background that he has done so well. Van Allsburg uses a variety of
techniques to illustrate his books. He uses charcoal pencils like in Jumanji, watercolors like in
