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The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
From the award-winning author of Jumanji and The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg challenges young readers to use their creativity and imagination in this one-of-a-kind book that asks readers to finish the story.
When author-illustrator extraordinaire Harris Burdick goes missing, all he's left behind are a series of images with accompanying captions, ideas for separate picture books.
But what can a picture of a nun quietly sitting in a chair floating in a cathedral have to do with a caption that says, "THE SEVEN CHAIRS: The fifth one ended up in France?"
Enticed to come up with their own endings, readers will marvel at the mystery behind these lasting drawings and the charm of an everchanging narrative.
Caldecott medal winner Chris Van Allsburg's call for readers to write their own stories will enthrall young minds again and again.
When author-illustrator extraordinaire Harris Burdick goes missing, all he's left behind are a series of images with accompanying captions, ideas for separate picture books.
But what can a picture of a nun quietly sitting in a chair floating in a cathedral have to do with a caption that says, "THE SEVEN CHAIRS: The fifth one ended up in France?"
Enticed to come up with their own endings, readers will marvel at the mystery behind these lasting drawings and the charm of an everchanging narrative.
Caldecott medal winner Chris Van Allsburg's call for readers to write their own stories will enthrall young minds again and again.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
Chris Van Allsburg
60 books1,069 followersChris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 18, 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. His sister Karen was born in 1947.
Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.
When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounded by buildings and other houses. Chris’s father ran the dairy with Chris’s three uncles after his grandfather Peter retired.
When Chris was three years old, his family moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids that was part of a development; a kind of planned neighborhood, that was still being built.
There remained many open fields and streams and ponds where a boy could catch minnows and frogs, or see a firefly at night. It was about a mile and a half to Breton Downs School, which Chris walked to every day and attended until 6th grade, when the Van Allsburg family moved again.
The next house they lived in was an old brick Tudor Style house in East Grand Rapids. It was a street that looked like the street on the cover of The Polar Express. The houses were all set back the same distance from the street. Between the street and the sidewalk grew enormous Elm trees whose branches reached up and touched the branches of the trees on the other side of the street. Chris moved to this street with his mom, dad, sister, and two Siamese cats. One named Fafner and the other name Eloise.
Chris went to junior and senior high school in East Grand Rapids. He didn’t take art classes during this time. His interests and talents seemed to be more in the area of math and science.
Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.
When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounded by buildings and other houses. Chris’s father ran the dairy with Chris’s three uncles after his grandfather Peter retired.
When Chris was three years old, his family moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids that was part of a development; a kind of planned neighborhood, that was still being built.
There remained many open fields and streams and ponds where a boy could catch minnows and frogs, or see a firefly at night. It was about a mile and a half to Breton Downs School, which Chris walked to every day and attended until 6th grade, when the Van Allsburg family moved again.
The next house they lived in was an old brick Tudor Style house in East Grand Rapids. It was a street that looked like the street on the cover of The Polar Express. The houses were all set back the same distance from the street. Between the street and the sidewalk grew enormous Elm trees whose branches reached up and touched the branches of the trees on the other side of the street. Chris moved to this street with his mom, dad, sister, and two Siamese cats. One named Fafner and the other name Eloise.
Chris went to junior and senior high school in East Grand Rapids. He didn’t take art classes during this time. His interests and talents seemed to be more in the area of math and science.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 744 reviews
May 28, 2019
This book is so interesting, but it’s also a tease. We get one page from Chris Van Allsburg. I’m not sure why it has his name on it unless this is really Chris’s work and this is the story within a story.
1st: This is a wordless story once you read the first page.
2nd: The set-up is, Chris was at his editors house and found these 14 drawings that someone sent in that would be 14 stories and the man never came back who dropped them off. They are beautiful drawings.
3rd: It is basically a group of prompts to tell stories with.
This wordless book has some great pictures that can make great stories. For any little writers out there, this will certainly spark the imagination and give ideas for stories.
We looked through this in bed and the nephew made up some stories to go with the pictures. For not having robots in the pictures, they had a whole lot of monsters in them. The next day, I made some copies of the pictures and we sat down and they had to write a story based off one of the pictures. I had to scribe for the nephew.
My niece is pretty gifted at story telling and she came up with two interesting stories. She liked the one with the Nun floating up in the air on a chair and the bird on the wallpaper that is coming to life.
There is no real story here. This is a great resource for creative writing and I wish I had known about it when I was running a creative writing class one summer. The kids liked the pictures so they both gave this 4 stars.
1st: This is a wordless story once you read the first page.
2nd: The set-up is, Chris was at his editors house and found these 14 drawings that someone sent in that would be 14 stories and the man never came back who dropped them off. They are beautiful drawings.
3rd: It is basically a group of prompts to tell stories with.
This wordless book has some great pictures that can make great stories. For any little writers out there, this will certainly spark the imagination and give ideas for stories.
We looked through this in bed and the nephew made up some stories to go with the pictures. For not having robots in the pictures, they had a whole lot of monsters in them. The next day, I made some copies of the pictures and we sat down and they had to write a story based off one of the pictures. I had to scribe for the nephew.
My niece is pretty gifted at story telling and she came up with two interesting stories. She liked the one with the Nun floating up in the air on a chair and the bird on the wallpaper that is coming to life.
There is no real story here. This is a great resource for creative writing and I wish I had known about it when I was running a creative writing class one summer. The kids liked the pictures so they both gave this 4 stars.
February 25, 2017
Me encantó.
Este es un libro con micro cuentos increíbles, acompañados de ilustraciones asombrosas. Todo me dejó perplejo, las 14 historias y los 14 dibujos. Todo es maravilloso.
Me fascinó como con esto tu imaginación trabaja el doble y empiezas a pensar el por qué de casa situación ocurrida en el libro. De como se llegó a ese punto y de que es lo qué está pasando en realidad.
Desde los títulos de las historias hasta los cuidados en los detalles de las ilustraciones. Un libro encantador que tanto un niño como un adulto pueden leer y quedar maravillados.
Corran a comprarlo.
Este es un libro con micro cuentos increíbles, acompañados de ilustraciones asombrosas. Todo me dejó perplejo, las 14 historias y los 14 dibujos. Todo es maravilloso.
Me fascinó como con esto tu imaginación trabaja el doble y empiezas a pensar el por qué de casa situación ocurrida en el libro. De como se llegó a ese punto y de que es lo qué está pasando en realidad.
Desde los títulos de las historias hasta los cuidados en los detalles de las ilustraciones. Un libro encantador que tanto un niño como un adulto pueden leer y quedar maravillados.
Corran a comprarlo.
June 16, 2021
Chris Van Allsburg is one of my must-collect illustrators, as I just love his work. He combines detail with imagination and he has never let me down. While I still rank
Queen Of The Falls
as his best, this mysterious book of wordless stories comes very close.
The premise of this book is explained by a fictional backstory about drawings from a puzzling artist who never provides the stories for each illustration. Therefore, it's up to each reader to provide the possibilities and each of us could certainly come up with our own explanations. There is even a website devoted to the endless combinations. However, I'm just there for the artwork as Van Allsburg never fails to fascinate me.
Book Season = Autumn (disappearing stones)
The premise of this book is explained by a fictional backstory about drawings from a puzzling artist who never provides the stories for each illustration. Therefore, it's up to each reader to provide the possibilities and each of us could certainly come up with our own explanations. There is even a website devoted to the endless combinations. However, I'm just there for the artwork as Van Allsburg never fails to fascinate me.
Book Season = Autumn (disappearing stones)
May 25, 2009
14 illustrations. 14 captions. A picture book, then? Yes, but each scene is a loaded gun and you are the trigger.
It's introduction is somewhat apocryphal: the author is not the actual author but merely a messenger of sorts. Chris Van Allsburg discovered the set of drawings whilst visiting the home of Peter Wenders. Thirty years ago (as of 1984), these drawings were presented to Peter Wenders by a man named Harris Burdick with the intent of publishing 14 stories for a children's book. Harris Burdick procured these drawings and promised to return the following day with the stories. He never did. He simply disappeared, never to resurface again.
In viewing the illustrations of the book, one wonders what the original stories might have been. I see something like a Rorschach, the stories that the viewers might come up with might reveal the structure of their inner mind. Therefore, it is quite conceivable that one might spend hours just staring at a single picture, composing his own story, getting lost, and then come face to face with a fiercer fear, a deeper love, or maybe disappear altogether into a stranger unknown.
It's introduction is somewhat apocryphal: the author is not the actual author but merely a messenger of sorts. Chris Van Allsburg discovered the set of drawings whilst visiting the home of Peter Wenders. Thirty years ago (as of 1984), these drawings were presented to Peter Wenders by a man named Harris Burdick with the intent of publishing 14 stories for a children's book. Harris Burdick procured these drawings and promised to return the following day with the stories. He never did. He simply disappeared, never to resurface again.
In viewing the illustrations of the book, one wonders what the original stories might have been. I see something like a Rorschach, the stories that the viewers might come up with might reveal the structure of their inner mind. Therefore, it is quite conceivable that one might spend hours just staring at a single picture, composing his own story, getting lost, and then come face to face with a fiercer fear, a deeper love, or maybe disappear altogether into a stranger unknown.
December 30, 2022
I used illustrations in this book for years as writing prompts for high school Juniors. I compiled anthologies of student work, fitting each on its own page. A story I wrote based on "The Third Floor Bedroom" was the first for which I was actually paid! It is "If It Were True Owls Dream" and would not seem in any way connected to the illustration, yet that was where it began. Thank you, Chris Van Allsburg.
It is worth noting that Allsburg, like Joni Mitchell, was first a visual artist.
It is worth noting that Allsburg, like Joni Mitchell, was first a visual artist.
August 24, 2009
Beautifully illustrative and wonderfully imaginative, not only in the execution but in the way it will inspire readers to think of "the rest of the story." Each illustration is accompanied by just a few words of text--they are supposedly taken from manuscripts by "Harris Burdick" and are only one piece to the whole story... so it is left to the readers to imagine the rest. Almost like visual "story starters." The illustrations contain a variety of themes, from mysteries to joys to sorrows to mysteries to a tad of spookiness. Though younger readers may find the black and white illustrations a lack of narrative flow a bit frustrating/boring, I think most older children would love this and it would make a fun group read as everyone could discuss their own versions of the stories/illustrations.
June 9, 2015
I find this book totally amazing. The only word that comes to my mind after reading it is MYSTERY. Not only is the whole story of Mr. Burdick who never returns to Mr. Wender mysterious. In fact, every picture in this book is baffling. Due to the fact that the drawings are black and white, the author skillfully plays with light making the illustrations appear uncanny. The captions are so puzzling that they allow the readers to come up with a multitude of possible stories. I enjoyed the fact that the readers are left to create the story for each picture themselves, because it is very engaging. My favorite captions from this book: “He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late”. Yeah, it is definitely too late, because it is yet another book I must have in my home library :) .
December 29, 2017
Me recordó lo mágicas que pueden ser las formas y las palabras cuando de usan correctamente o en conjunto.
Para tener tan poco texto, me hizo pensar demasiado. Lo quiero en mi librero.
Para tener tan poco texto, me hizo pensar demasiado. Lo quiero en mi librero.
August 17, 2023
I just read the entire Chris Van Allsburg collection today, and I feel that since it was multiple picture books I’ll count them all as one single entry in my reading challenge.
This man reminds us that children’s picture books can still be works of art if done correctly. As author and illustrator, his books are a perfect display of the beauty of the picture book medium. If you love your children, cultivate their imaginations with these books. They will thank you.
Ranking Chris Van Allsburg:
1. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
2. The Wreck of the Zephyr
3. The Stranger
4. Jumanji
5. The Wretched Stone
6. The Polar Express
7. The Sweetest Fig
8. The Widow’s Broom
9. The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
10. Zathura
11. Queen of the Falls
12. Bad Day at Riverbend
13. Two Bad Ants
14. The Z was Zapped
15. Probuditi!
16. Just a Dream
17. Ben’s Dream
Read them all. It’s a entire universe of beauty and mystery waiting to be explored.
This man reminds us that children’s picture books can still be works of art if done correctly. As author and illustrator, his books are a perfect display of the beauty of the picture book medium. If you love your children, cultivate their imaginations with these books. They will thank you.
Ranking Chris Van Allsburg:
1. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
2. The Wreck of the Zephyr
3. The Stranger
4. Jumanji
5. The Wretched Stone
6. The Polar Express
7. The Sweetest Fig
8. The Widow’s Broom
9. The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
10. Zathura
11. Queen of the Falls
12. Bad Day at Riverbend
13. Two Bad Ants
14. The Z was Zapped
15. Probuditi!
16. Just a Dream
17. Ben’s Dream
Read them all. It’s a entire universe of beauty and mystery waiting to be explored.
December 7, 2017
Have you ever read a book when you were really young and then forgot about it to the point that you thought you imagined the whole thing? Yeah, that's this book for me.
I read it when I was 9 or 10 years old for a school project. I remember being really creeped out by the pictures, but also really fascinated. I recently discovered it again, and it's just as eerie as I remember it to be. Each one is creepy and strange and there's so much ambiguity and ah. So cool. So much imagination. I love it.
(I must say that Under the Rug is the one that unnerves me the most. What is under the rug??? We will never know, hahaha).
Anyways. Really interesting drawings and the story is eerie and fascinating. would definitely recommend you check this out.
I read it when I was 9 or 10 years old for a school project. I remember being really creeped out by the pictures, but also really fascinated. I recently discovered it again, and it's just as eerie as I remember it to be. Each one is creepy and strange and there's so much ambiguity and ah. So cool. So much imagination. I love it.
(I must say that Under the Rug is the one that unnerves me the most. What is under the rug??? We will never know, hahaha).
Anyways. Really interesting drawings and the story is eerie and fascinating. would definitely recommend you check this out.
April 16, 2017
Beautiful art, and it's true- you can't help but fill in the blanks.
May 8, 2019
Would've loved this if it had been twice as long
May 14, 2020
Si estas acostumbrado a leer historias absurdas a lo Lemony Snicket, este libro es para vos en la cual el autor bajo un seudónimo intenta dejar en incertidumbre al lector mediante sus ilustraciones y una breve descripción de cada una. ¿De qué tratará cada historia? ¿Están conectadas? ¿Son misterios por resolver o ya están resueltos? Es hora de descubrirlo.
February 15, 2023
‘Under the Rug’ made me laugh, but my favorite picture was ‘Oscar and Alphonse’; it was so tender and lifelike. A great book. Whimsical, weird, and wacky. In another words: Perfect.
May 3, 2019
The story behind how the author found the drawings is fascinating yet eerie. Where did Mr. Harris Burdick go? Did he die before meeting with the publisher? Or is all of this just a made-up story? By the time I write this review, I am still wondering about the drawings. Are they really Mr. Burdick's works or the author works?
And, I realized this book is created by the same author as Jumanji and the drawings are quite similar. Let me stop thinking about this.
I figured this book because of an anthology that has Kate DiCamillo's short story in it, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 Amazing Authors Tell the Tales.
And, I realized this book is created by the same author as Jumanji and the drawings are quite similar. Let me stop thinking about this.
I figured this book because of an anthology that has Kate DiCamillo's short story in it, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 Amazing Authors Tell the Tales.
March 22, 2019
I visited a book sale this weekend, and I won't even tell you how many titles I walked away with. But I want to talk about this gem. It's one of my favorite children's books and has been since I was the intended audience.
It's by Chris Van Allsburg whose name you may have seen with regard to Jumanji, The Polar Express, Zathura, and several other amazing books. He is known for his incredible illustrations and wildly imaginative stories. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is no different.
The idea is this (don't worry about spoilers, this is all from the introduction.): A mysterious writer, Harris Burdick, appeared in the office of Van Allsburg's editor and left him with a file containing a single illustration from each of several stories he had written. Each illustration is labeled with the title of the book from which it came and a single caption to describe the illustration.
The editor was intrigued, but Harris Burdick was never heard from again.
Okay, so anyone who knows Van Allsburg's art will not be fooled by this entertaining, but clearly fictitious introduction. Nevertheless, the rest of the book is simply one illustration, a title and a caption. The rest is up to you and your own wild imagination. Every picture is full of so much pent-up story, my brain just can't help but fill in the gaps.
This is different from what we usually expect from books. For some readers, it may be an exercise in frustration. But it's still a book I readily recommend to anybody who is looking for an afternoon escape from reality. It will give you that in spades!
It's by Chris Van Allsburg whose name you may have seen with regard to Jumanji, The Polar Express, Zathura, and several other amazing books. He is known for his incredible illustrations and wildly imaginative stories. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is no different.
The idea is this (don't worry about spoilers, this is all from the introduction.): A mysterious writer, Harris Burdick, appeared in the office of Van Allsburg's editor and left him with a file containing a single illustration from each of several stories he had written. Each illustration is labeled with the title of the book from which it came and a single caption to describe the illustration.
The editor was intrigued, but Harris Burdick was never heard from again.
Okay, so anyone who knows Van Allsburg's art will not be fooled by this entertaining, but clearly fictitious introduction. Nevertheless, the rest of the book is simply one illustration, a title and a caption. The rest is up to you and your own wild imagination. Every picture is full of so much pent-up story, my brain just can't help but fill in the gaps.
This is different from what we usually expect from books. For some readers, it may be an exercise in frustration. But it's still a book I readily recommend to anybody who is looking for an afternoon escape from reality. It will give you that in spades!
February 2, 2018
I first encountered The Mysteries of Harris Burdick years ago, when my kids were much younger. It was at a time when we were enjoying Chris Van Allsburg's classics (I especially remember reading The Z Was Zapped many, many times; I still have it memorized). I loved Harris Burdick, but never got a copy for our home bookshelf. Yesterday at the Public Library, on the shelf in front with books for sale, there it was: $1.00 for a pristine hardcover copy. I brought it home and admired each story once again. It's all so beautifully eerie and just slightly, possibly, very disturbing. This copy will stay with us, and I'll gaze at it now and then, and smile.
I think my favorite is "The fifth one ended up in France."
I'm grateful to Peter Wenders, as well as to Van Allsburg and, of course, to Burdick himself. :)
I think my favorite is "The fifth one ended up in France."
I'm grateful to Peter Wenders, as well as to Van Allsburg and, of course, to Burdick himself. :)
June 9, 2015
Loved it. The old-fashioned tradition of the past returns: the author purports to believe that the real author of the pictures has disappeared and the quest to unearth some details from his life still continues. That is an efficient method to capture the reader's attention and heighten a sense of mystery. The pictures are silent stories that have a chance to flourish in our imagination: we have no plot but a short caption. A splendid chance to stimulate our imagination. After all, we can spend minutes on just one picture, not actually studying it in detail, but delving into our own visualizations of the story the picture only introduces. I was surprised by how intrigued I was by this book.
September 19, 2017
Encontré este libro en la biblioteca de mi escuela por casualidad y lo leí mas de tres veces en un día, es sin dudas un libro muy corto pero no escatima calidad, todos los dibujos y los epígrafes son hermosos, es un libro mas que inspirador para hacer cualquier actividad creativa, si lo tienen a mano no duden en leerlo.
December 21, 2017
I bought this book for my niece for Christmas. I’m so excited to share it with her. This was one of my favorite books as a kid. It made me feel excited and a little bit scared.
September 14, 2023
Es un libro interesante y que motiva a crear. Un libro que se construye en las reflexiones con las que se intenta relacionar, por un lado, las curiosas, oscuras y únicas ilustraciones, y por el otro, los misteriosos e inconexos títulos de los cuentos perdidos.
Lo recomiendo generar momentos de creatividad y escritura o narración oral.
Lo recomiendo generar momentos de creatividad y escritura o narración oral.
July 29, 2019
This would be a great "story" to share with an older toddler and let them make up the stories as you look at the pictures together. The illustrations are beautiful, almost haunting and the captions may trigger a story in your imagination. I wish I had discovered this book when my girls were young!
February 14, 2023
You have to experience this.
No, don’t bother reading the summary…or skimming through more reviews. Just order this and give yourself a delightful ramble of imagination.
No, don’t bother reading the summary…or skimming through more reviews. Just order this and give yourself a delightful ramble of imagination.
August 27, 2021
I love short stories. I think they're underappreciated. Awesome collection by some of the biggest names out there.
July 7, 2020
Totally amazing.
June 26, 2020
Зіграла в Діксіт
November 11, 2021
Un excelente libro álbum donde cada imagen muestra un misterio audiovisual.
May 17, 2019
The author is so very very creative....and his readers will be very very imaginative as they read.
March 26, 2013
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
The brilliance of anything someone recommends is that there is the slim chance you might just have that little connection when you both love it as much as one another. It’s something that is surprisingly rare but when it happens, it’s a joy. Not only do you get the experience of the recommended item but also the shared connection. When this happens with a book it is all the more rewarding for all the reasons that lead us as adults to love books. That is exactly what happened with this book for me. Not only do I get the book but I also get the little background story to go with it and life is all about the stories.
The actual content of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is marvellously simple. There is a fictional editor’s note at the beginning of the book, presented as fact, which creates a sense of the unknown. Following that are fourteen grainy, black and white illustrations, each accompanied by a short caption. Within each drawing is something unusual, teasing, dark or mystifying for which no answer is provided.
The fact the illustrations have inspired successful authors to pen their own versions of stories which were later published in a follow up book, The, attests to the possibilities opened up by what is contained within this book’s pages. There is something simply magical about the drawings as if from a time just passed but still reachable. The fictional editor’s note sets the scene for mysterious world where the imagination is fired, stoked and burns bright. Needless to say I will be recommending this book for a very long time to anyone that will listen to me. Everything about it is fantastic.
As a resource in the classroom The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is relevant across year groups. There is little in terms of text and the illustrations are in no way aimed specifically at children, meaning anybody can pick this book up and be fascinated or inspired by it. There are a range of options for how this book could be used in the classroom and some of my suggestions are below:
• Carry out an investigation into the differing responses to Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations dependent of viewers’ ages, ranging from young children, to peers and then adults within the school
• Using the book as the start point Investigate how text adds to a picture or overall by first just providing an illustration and then the caption to see how children respond differently or change their perceptions
• Write new captions to go with the illustrations. How do the new captions change your interpretation of the pictures?
• Invite students to create their mysterious drawings and captions by providing a caption for them to create their own drawing
• Alternatively, ask students to create their own drawing and caption
• How does the letter Chris Van Allsburg writes to readers affect the way we read the book? How would our experience of reading the book be different if we skipped reading the letter?
• Each of the pages creates an evocative mood, but we might all interpret the moods differently because not everything is spelled out for us. Some of us might think, for example, that the picture of the man and the lump under the rug is frightening, and some of us might think it is funny. What do you think? Why?
• Write an answer to the mystery of Harris Burdick himself
• Give different pairs/groups an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them to collectively write a story.
• Give different pairs/groups an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them create and act out a dramatic scene from a story they make up.
• Give individuals an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them to write a story using that as their start point or that as the end point for their story.
The brilliance of anything someone recommends is that there is the slim chance you might just have that little connection when you both love it as much as one another. It’s something that is surprisingly rare but when it happens, it’s a joy. Not only do you get the experience of the recommended item but also the shared connection. When this happens with a book it is all the more rewarding for all the reasons that lead us as adults to love books. That is exactly what happened with this book for me. Not only do I get the book but I also get the little background story to go with it and life is all about the stories.
The actual content of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is marvellously simple. There is a fictional editor’s note at the beginning of the book, presented as fact, which creates a sense of the unknown. Following that are fourteen grainy, black and white illustrations, each accompanied by a short caption. Within each drawing is something unusual, teasing, dark or mystifying for which no answer is provided.
The fact the illustrations have inspired successful authors to pen their own versions of stories which were later published in a follow up book, The, attests to the possibilities opened up by what is contained within this book’s pages. There is something simply magical about the drawings as if from a time just passed but still reachable. The fictional editor’s note sets the scene for mysterious world where the imagination is fired, stoked and burns bright. Needless to say I will be recommending this book for a very long time to anyone that will listen to me. Everything about it is fantastic.
As a resource in the classroom The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is relevant across year groups. There is little in terms of text and the illustrations are in no way aimed specifically at children, meaning anybody can pick this book up and be fascinated or inspired by it. There are a range of options for how this book could be used in the classroom and some of my suggestions are below:
• Carry out an investigation into the differing responses to Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations dependent of viewers’ ages, ranging from young children, to peers and then adults within the school
• Using the book as the start point Investigate how text adds to a picture or overall by first just providing an illustration and then the caption to see how children respond differently or change their perceptions
• Write new captions to go with the illustrations. How do the new captions change your interpretation of the pictures?
• Invite students to create their mysterious drawings and captions by providing a caption for them to create their own drawing
• Alternatively, ask students to create their own drawing and caption
• How does the letter Chris Van Allsburg writes to readers affect the way we read the book? How would our experience of reading the book be different if we skipped reading the letter?
• Each of the pages creates an evocative mood, but we might all interpret the moods differently because not everything is spelled out for us. Some of us might think, for example, that the picture of the man and the lump under the rug is frightening, and some of us might think it is funny. What do you think? Why?
• Write an answer to the mystery of Harris Burdick himself
• Give different pairs/groups an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them to collectively write a story.
• Give different pairs/groups an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them create and act out a dramatic scene from a story they make up.
• Give individuals an illustration or caption from the book (or both) and ask them to write a story using that as their start point or that as the end point for their story.
June 2, 2010
“The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” is a brilliantly surreal book from Chris Van Allsburg and it is full of various stories that a mysterious man named Harris Burdick leaves behind for Chris Van Allsburg’s friend Peter Wenders to read over and the stories that the mysterious man leaves are only drawings that have titles and small captions under the titles. “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” is a beautifully surreal book that will enchant children for many years.
Chris Van Allsburg had done a magnificent job at reviving this lost collection of stories from Harris Burdick. The stories are beautifully surreal as the audience only sees an image on the right of the page along while there is only a title with a small caption underneath it is on the left and the title and the captions are the only clues on how the story should be, such as the story “The House on Maple Street” the audience could only indicate that the house was a rocket and it was set for lift off. Also, each image portrays a dark or tranquil story, such as in “Mr. Linden’s Library,” there are vines growing out of the girl’s book indicating that she will be tied up by the vines. Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations are both haunting and beautiful at the same time as there are various images of people being either sad or frightened by whatever supernatural situation befalls them. Also, the images are all in black and white colors which give the book an ominous feel to the stories being portrayed here.
Parents should know that this book may be a bit too confusing for smaller children since the only evidence of a story for each image portrayed in this book is the title of the story and a small caption giving a brief dialogue from the story. Small children might have a hard time trying to understand what each story is about since there is no clear evidence of an actual story going on for each image.
“The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” is a brilliant book for children who love to read about mysteries. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might not be able to understand the stories.
Chris Van Allsburg had done a magnificent job at reviving this lost collection of stories from Harris Burdick. The stories are beautifully surreal as the audience only sees an image on the right of the page along while there is only a title with a small caption underneath it is on the left and the title and the captions are the only clues on how the story should be, such as the story “The House on Maple Street” the audience could only indicate that the house was a rocket and it was set for lift off. Also, each image portrays a dark or tranquil story, such as in “Mr. Linden’s Library,” there are vines growing out of the girl’s book indicating that she will be tied up by the vines. Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations are both haunting and beautiful at the same time as there are various images of people being either sad or frightened by whatever supernatural situation befalls them. Also, the images are all in black and white colors which give the book an ominous feel to the stories being portrayed here.
Parents should know that this book may be a bit too confusing for smaller children since the only evidence of a story for each image portrayed in this book is the title of the story and a small caption giving a brief dialogue from the story. Small children might have a hard time trying to understand what each story is about since there is no clear evidence of an actual story going on for each image.
“The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” is a brilliant book for children who love to read about mysteries. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might not be able to understand the stories.
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