Chris Van Allsburg life and biography

Chris Van Allsburg 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.

Chris Van Allsburg won Caldecott Medals for his lavishly illustrated books Jumanji (1982) and The Polar Express (1986). Van Allsburg's books are known for their mysterious stories and whimsically dreamy images. He was one of the most prolific and successful children's illustrators of the 1980s and 1990s. His other books include Ben's Dream (1982), The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1985), The Wretched Stone (1991), and Zathura, a follow-up to Jumanji, in 2001.

Jumanji was made into a movie in 1995, starring Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst... A holiday film based on The Polar Express was released in 2004, with Tom Hanks as the train's conductor.

Author of books:

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)

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