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Work of Chris Van Allsburg and their Extraordinary Happenings

October 20, 2018 in Raising Readers
Work of Chris Van Allsburg | Grits & Grace

The work of Chris Van Allsburg spans nearly 30 years with countless credits to date. The images he creates are haunting in their depiction of a world both familiar and magical. Part of the thrill of reading a Chris Van Allsburg book is that the illustrations appear so commonplace and the story so direct and easily accessible, and then there’s a turn. We see a board game become a fight for survival, and the kitchen—complete with cereal bowls and cupboards—now full of monkeys. A lost dog leads to enhancement, transformation, and a final reveal. A real train in real snow brings a boy the promise of Christmas and solidifies the magic of the season. It’s the addition of the impossible to the very ordinary that jars the reader into feeling taken out of one reality and placed just off to the left.

In these books, the smallest detail or form of an illustration can create a sharp and unsettling tone. The snake in the book Jumanji, for instance, sits on a mantel and the creature almost becomes part of the decorating scheme—echoing the pattern on the living room chair—but remains deadly. The snake is a snake, but the living room is still a living room, and the juxtaposition is what makes it true art.

The storytelling serves the pictures and vice versa. The end of Jumanji has us observe another pair of children running off with the board game, and the two children having barely escaped with their lives witnessing the incoming of certain danger. This is the mark of a Chris Van Allsburg story; that of the absence of safety and comfort within the context of illustrations both stark and complex. [Books Tell You Why]

Work of Chris Van Allsburg | Grits & Grace

Examining the Work of Chris Van Allsburg

“The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what’s fascinating to me.”-Chris Van Allsburg

In the work of Chris Van Allsburg, 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.[citation]

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.

One of my favorite Allsburg interviews come from the School Library Journal which you can read here.

Work of Chris Van Allsburg | Grits & Grace

“You can’t go broke overestimating the intelligence of children” – Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

From the Author’s website:

Which comes first the story or the pictures? 

I always write the story, or at least an outline, before I start sketching ideas for pictures. Once I start the final art, the story has been written (and re-written), and changes very little after that.

Why are some of your books in black and white and the others in color? 

I did not study painting or drawing when I was in college learning about art. I studied sculpture. I drew pictures of the sculptures I planned to make, and I took a few required drawing classes. When I was 29 years old and wrote my first book, making pictures with a charcoal pencil was all I really knew how to do. I didn’t feel bad that my pictures were not in color because I like black and white pictures, as well as black and white photographs and movies.

As time went by, I became more interested in picture making and taught myself to use different material to make color pictures. Materials like dry and oil pastels, craypas, crayons, colored pencils, and paint. Now I decide if a book should be black and white or color as a result of a how I imagine the story while I am thinking about it. When I tell myself a story, I see it in my imagination, like a short movie. Sometimes I see the stories in black and white and sometimes I see the stories in color. I’m not sure why.

As a child, growing up in the Midwest, I used to draw pictures of cars, cartoon characters, and very detailed plans for tornado shelters. The other thing I liked to do as a boy was to make models. Models of cars, airplanes, and boats. I was pretty good at this. I stopped building models around the 7th grade but I think my skill and interest in model making was what led me to studying sculpture in college.

How do you make your pictures look so real? 

The kind of stories I write are mostly fantasies. When a story is about strange and incredible events, I think it’s important that the pictures convince the reader that the events described actually could happen. That is why I try to make my pictures look real. I do this by using real people as models of the characters in my books and by using the laws of perspective and lighting to make the places shown in the pictures appear as if they really exist.

What is your favorite Van Allsburg book? If you’ve never read a book, what are your favorite film adaptions? Let me know in the comments below.

Work of Chris Van Allsburg | Grits & Grace

 

Film Adaptions:

Jumanji (1995), Van Allsburg as story writer
The Polar Express (2004), Van Allsburg as executive producer
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

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 (first ed., 1984)
The Enchanted World: Ghosts (1984)
The Polar Express (1985), Caldecott Medal winner
The Enchanted World: Dwarfs (1985)
The Stranger (1986)
The Z Was Zapped (1987), alphabet book ‡
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)
From Sea To Shining Sea: A Treasury Of American Folklore and Folk Songs (1993), compiled by Amy L. Cohn
Bad Day at Riverbend (1995)
A City in Winter (1996), by Mark Helprin
The Veil of Snows (1997), by Mark Helprin
Zathura (2002)
Probuditi! (2006)
Queen of the Falls (2011)
The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie (2014)

Nicole

Water, melanin, bones, blood. In route to death, while I’m here, might as well get shit accomplished.

Photographer, fitness enthusiast, blogger, and mother of two.

www.fitfotog.com

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Natasha Brown is a mom of four and head sock finder in her home. Grits & Grace was started as a way to meet other southern moms who love everything from their smock dresses and Lily Pulitzer to sweet tea. Let's connect!

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Over the last two weeks I have been stretched in s Over the last two weeks I have been stretched in so many different directions.  But the one thing that has brought joy to my heart was seeing my children enjoy being kids and forgetting the grief that was in their hearts for a few moments.⠀
⠀
The kids and I got to experience a true Chicago winter. We hated it. 🥴 As a southerner, my mind and body are not equipped to handle 16 degree weather. ⠀
⠀
Are you team snow or heck no?
#AD - 2021 is the year of me. One way I am doing t #AD - 2021 is the year of me. One way I am doing this is by making sure that I am more intentional about my time. As I seek to reclaim my time, one way I am doing so is by spending more time with myself for self-care, comfort, and wellness. One thing that I love to do is to sit with a nice hot cup of @BigelowTea from @Target, which is perfect for this January since it's Hot Tea Month!

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Do you have a favorite hot tea? Tell me about it below! Every cup counts! #TeaProudly #BigelowHugInAMug

Check out my stories to see more about my favorite Bigelow® Tea flavors!
This is our ✨Sunday Funday✨ We’re all taking This is our ✨Sunday Funday✨
We’re all taking today to relax and just be together. Sunday’s are the day of rest, after all. 
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#family #sundayfunday #kickbackandrelax #familytime #familyblogger #bloggermom #mommyblogger #bloggermommy #atlantablogger #georgiablogger #selfcare #selfcaretips
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(Ad) I’m always excited to get quality time in with my teen, especially since she will be off to college in a year. Luckily, she and I have similar interests so it’s always easy to find something to do.⠀
⠀
Aly and I have been listening together to the audiobook of Memory Lane by @saracshepard, and if you or your teen were fans of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars or of Black Mirror like we are, then this is perfect for you! You can check out this mother/daughter mystery on @serialboxpub starting today! This contemporary sci-fi follows Alex who receives her mother’s implanted memories during a scientific study, and finds out her mom witnessed a drowning years before. Now it’s up to her to evade a killer!⠀
⠀
Sound interesting? Use my code SBNATASHA to get 50% off this or any other @serialboxpub title.⠀
⠀
Serial Box publishes exciting fiction in audiobook and e-book and lets you toggle between formats without losing your place. You can check out their catalog of over 150 titles including sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, historical, and horror genres, plus you get to read and listen to the first episode of every Serial for free. Aly and I can’t wait to to check out some of our favorite characters including Marvel’s Black Widow and Black Panther, and Doctor Who with David Tennant narrating the audiobook as the Doctor!!⠀
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⠀
By being intentional, this means that everything I do has to serve a purpose. Just as I want to keep only things and people in my life who serve a greater good, I want to ensure that I everything I am doing serves a greater good as well.⠀
⠀
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⠀
How are you working to be present and intentional in your daily living. #graceupongrace #blackchristianinfluencers #soulsreconnected #familyiseverything #realmomsofinstagram #honestmoms
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This is my mantra for the day and probably the next several days. My husband and I received some devastating news yesterday, and I truly don’t know how to react. 

‘Do I post? Do I take a break from social media? Should I take a day off?’
All these thoughts have been running through my head, but through tragedy, we must keep going, that’s what our lost loved ones would want. They would want us to thrive and be mentally and emotionally strong, so that’s what I’m going to do. We may be going through hell, but we will keep going. 

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But in the meantime hold your loved ones tight. ❤️❤️ #familyisforever
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