Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg is an American illustrator and writer of children’s books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), 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 creators of children’s books.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick – Missing in Venice

This full-sized pencil study is 34×24 in, from the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. The image, left, is the published artwork.

The Mother Goose Portfolio – Around the Green Gravel

The Mother Goose Portfolio is a collection of six serigraphs by world-renowned illustrators, including Maurice Sendak, Barry Moser, Chris Van Allsburg, and others.

Around the Green Gravel illustrates the nursery rhyme of the same name. The rhyme is as follows:

Around the green gravel the grass grows green,

And all the pretty maids are plain to be seen;

Wash them with milk, and clothe them with silk,

And write their names with a pen and ink.

And the first to go down shall be married.