Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburgis an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanjiand The Polar Express, both of which he also wrote; both were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator he was 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth18 June 1949
CountryUnited States of America
I sculpted for four or five years. Mostly for my own amusement, I decided to do a picture book, and that was kind of a turning point.
I'm always a bit disappointed when I've finished working on a book.
I was about 28-29 when I wrote my first story, and that was called 'The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.'
I believe that there will be many things that happen to me in my life that I will not be able to explain. Some of those might be magic. I'm not sure.
Growing up in the 1950s, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boys were supposed to be athletic.
Peter Rabbit's not a rabbit. Peter Rabbit is a proxy for the child who reads the book, and they imagine themselves in the rabbit's position.
I think parents generally know what's best for their children. But I suppose it's possible to be overprotective.
People have asked me a lot, 'What comes first? The pictures or the story? The story or the picture?' It's hard to describe because often they seem to come at the same time. I'm seeing images while I'm thinking of the story.
I think, for the most part, our culture embraces that artists are born, not made.
It did occur to me that certainly African-Americans are not underserved in picture books, but those books are almost all about specifically black experiences.
When somebody says, 'This must be a children's book,' basically they're saying, 'You must be a child.' And so my answer is, 'Well, yes, I guess I am a child.' But I don't think of myself that way.
I am never really surprised at the way my books take shape. They are just not as perfect as I'd like them to be.
Even the most complicated stories start with a very simple premise.
As the years went by I became a writer and illustrator, although exclusively of fantasies.