Книга: Chris Van Allsburg «The Polar Express»

Chris Van Allsburg
Born	June 18, 1949 (1949-06-18) (age 62) East Grand Rapids, Michigan
Occupation	Illustrator, Writer
Nationality	American
Notable work(s)	Jumanji (1982), The Polar Express (1985), Zathura (2002)
Notable award(s)	Caldecott Medal

Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He twice won the Caldecott Medal, for Jumanji (1982) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he wrote and illustrated, and both of which were later adapted into successful motion pictures. He received the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.

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Early life and education

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 Allsburg. Van Allsburg became an younger brother when his older sister was born in 1947. When Chris was first born his family lived in an old farm house. His family then moved when Chris was three years old. They moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids. His new house was located close enough to his elementary school, so he could walk there for class. His family moved again to East Grand Rapids. He would attend middle school and high school at East Grand Rapids.^[2] He 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.

Career

While Van Allsburg focused on sculpture, his wife thought that his drawings would make good illustrations for children’s books. After his wife showed his pictures to a children’s book editor, Van Allsburg wrote his first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, in 1979. Since then, he has written and illustrated fifteen 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.

Works

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 a short story by author Stephen King, in his collection Nightmares and 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 needed]}.

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.

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.^[3]

Bibliography

• The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979, Caldecott Honor)
• Jumanji¹ (1981, Caldecott Medal)
• Ben's Dream (1982)
• The Wreck of the Zephyr (1983)
• The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984)
• The Polar Express¹ (1985, Caldecott Medal)
• The Stranger (1986)
• The Z Was Zapped (1987)
• Two Bad Ants (1988)
• Swan Lake (1989, Illustrator, 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, Illustrator, written by Mark Helprin)
• The Veil of Snows (1997, Illustrator, written by Mark Helprin)
• Zathura¹ (2002)
• Probuditi! (2006)
• "Queen Of The Falls"(2011)

¹ Adapted to film.

References

External links

• Official Chris Van Allsburg Website
• Interview with Chris Van Allsburg by Developmental Studies Center