Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick have inspired readers for more than twenty five years. Now they are interpreted afresh in fourteen vivid stories by award winning US authors including Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka and Chris Van Allsburg himself. Each uses a different illustration as a starting point and between them they create an extraordinary whole that offers new interpretations of the pictures while still leaving room to wonder.
This inspired collection of short stories is based on the original illustrations of Chris Van Allburg in his esteemed and mysterious The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, and features many remarkable, best-selling authors in the worlds of both adult and children's literature: Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket and Chris Van Allsburg himself. Van Allsburg's Harris Burdick illustrations have evoked such wonderment and imagination since Harris Burdick's original publication in 1984; many have speculated or have woven their own stories to go with his images. More than ever, the illustrations send off their eerie call for text and continue to compel and pick at the reader's brain for a backstory - a threaded tale behind the image. In this book, we've collected some of the best storytellers to spin them.
Chris van Allsburg lives in Providence, Rhode Island and lectures at the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a sculptor and artist, who first won the Caldecott Medal for Jumanji and then won it again for Polar Express.
