Transcript Slide 1

Chris Van
Allsburg:
An Author to
Study
“At first , I see a picture of a story in my mind.
Then
creating the story comes from asking questions of myself.
I guess you might call it the “what if – and what then”
approach to writing and illustration.
”
Gloria Torres, EDUC 584, Saint Joseph College
Biography
Van Allsburg loved drawing as a child,
but remembers “certain peer
pressures encouraged little fingers to
hold a football instead of a crayon.”
It was not until he entered the
University of Michigan and took a
freshman course in drawing that he
re-discovered his love of art.
Learn more about Chris Van Allsburg’s
early life and how he creates stories.
Print this getting to know you
worksheet to jot down some important
facts and compare his life with yours!
His First Book!
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
Alan Mitz is dog sitting for Miss Hester’s naughty
dog, Fritz. While out for a walk Alan stops to read
a sign that declares, “ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY
NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THIS GARDEN,” signed by
the mysterious Abdul Gasazi, retired magician.
Just then, Fritz breaks free and runs past the sign
and through the door to the garden. Alan bravely
goes in after him. Do you believe in magic? Your
belief will be challenged when you read this book
to find out what happens to Fritz!
Check out Chris Van Allsburg in a video clip on
channel 2 talking about this book.
From The New York Times
"This is without question
one of the best -- and most
original -- picture books in
years."
Now you have a chance to become Alan. Click
here to create a simulated journal entry after
being reunited with Fritz.
Why not learn some cool magic tricks?
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Click here to take a look
inside the book.
This book is prefaced with a letter from Chris Van
Allsburg himself, explaining the book’s origins. “I
first saw the drawings in this book a year ago, in the
home of a man named Peter Wenders,” Van Allsburg
begins. He goes on to explain that many years
earlier, a man named Harris Burdick stopped by the
office of Peter Wenders, who then worked for a
publisher of children’s books choosing stories and
pictures to be made into books. Burdick brought
one drawing from each of fourteen stories he had
written as a sample for Mr. Wenders. Fascinated by
the drawings, Wenders told Burdick he wanted to
see the rest of his work as soon as possible.
Promising to bring the stories in the next day,
Burdick left – never to be seen again. Mr. Wenders
held onto the pictures and captions until Mr. Van
Allsburg saw them himself. He reproduced the
pictures and captions hoping to inspire many other
children to write stories as well.
You be the Writer!
Here are a few of Harris Burdick’s pictures and captions. Look at the
picture and read the title and caption.
Under the Rug
A Strange
Day in July
Two weeks
passed and it
happened
again.
He threw with all his
might, but the third stone
came skipping back.
Mr. Linden’s
Library
We had warned her
about the book. Now
it was too late.
The House on
Maple Street
It was a
perfect lift-off.
Try to think of “what if and what then” questions when you are looking at
the pictures. Complete a graphic organizer. Print the graphic organizer
and use it to write a short story. I will be submitting your final drafts to a
“The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” website.
Zathura
(The Sequel to Jumanji)
On the last page of the Caledcottwinning book Jumanji, young Danny
Budwing is seen running after his
brother, Walter, with a game tucked
under his arm.
Twenty years later, Chris Van Allsburg
is ready to reveal what happens when
Danny and Walter roll the dice. This
time the name of the game is Zathura
and the battling Budwing boys are in
for the ride of their lives.
Learn more about meteors. Click here
to learn about the black hole. You
can also learn about a robotic arm.
Listen to Chris Van
Allsburg talking
about Zathura.
The Polar Express!
Check out some of this video clip of actor
Lou Diamond Phillips reading The Polar
Express. Choose the windows, small
format.
www.storylineonline.net/storyline/polarexpr
ess/content.vsml.
Late one Christmas Eve, a boy
boards a mysterious train that
waits for him: the Polar
Express bound for the North
Pole. When he arrives, Santa
offers the boy any gift he
desires. The boy modestly
asks for one bell from the
harness of the reindeer. The
gift is granted. On the way
home, the bell is lost. Read
this book to find out what
happens to those who really
believe!
Ponder one of the passages
from The Polar Express.
Find Fritz
Fritz is the bull terrier with the dark eye
patch that first appeared in The Garden of
Abdul Gasazi. While Chris Van Allsburg does
not own a dog, his brother-in-law once
owned an English bull terrier very similar to
Fritz, and that dog served as an inspiration
for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.
Check out Chris Van Allsburg
talking about Fritz on
channel 5.
Can YOU find Fritz in every book? I don’t
want to give away all of Fritz’s hiding places,
but I will get you started. In The Polar
Express he is the puppet on the bedknob on
the first page. That’s it, no more hints. But,
I guarantee, if YOU look hard enough, you’ll
find Fritz.
Click here to print out your Find Fritz
worksheet.
Author Study Activites
You compared your life to Chris Van Allsburg’s interesting life.
You had a chance to become Alan Mitz from The Garden of Abdul
Gasazi and create a simulated journal entry about when you were
reunited with Frtiz.
Abdul Gasazi isn’t the only magician, you had a chance to learn some
cool magic tricks!
You utilized Chris Van Allsburg’s “what if and what then approach” to
create a short story based on one of the pictures and illustrations from
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
Zathura will definitely be on your bedside table since you’ve learned
more about meteor showers, the black hole, and robotic arms.
Your beliefs were challenged when you pondered an important
passage from The Polar Express.
And, there’s no way we could study Chris Van Allsburg without finding
Fritz! Boy, YOU have good eyes!
Resources
Van Allsburg, Chris. (1985). The Polar Express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company
http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/authorstudies/
authorhome.jhtml?aut
http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com
http://www.eduplace.com/author/vanallsburg/biography.html
http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=0618253963
http://www.kidzone.ws/magic/
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us
http://www.storylineonline.net/storyline/polarexpress/
content.vsml\
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/