Facinating Picture Book Where You Can Make Up The Stories

The past 11 months have found me back in college in pursuit of a college degree. As my goal is to be a teacher I have spent time in the Fall '07 semester spending time observing a 4th grade classroom. When I have the gift of downtime I peruse the classroom's bookshelf to find books that my household has yet to discover.

I first read one of Chris Van Allsburg's books "The Polar Express" in my teens when I was babysitting. However, as an adult I never made the connection between Mr. Van Allsburg and the movies , Jumanji, and Zathura which were based on his stories. It was not until this past week that I found myself exploring more of his work. I wound up reading "The Sweetest Fig, fell in love with it, and read my way through several other of his works including "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick."

It opens with an introductory letter from the author, in the way of explanation, and the words "I first saw the drawings in this book a year ago, in the home of a man named Peter Wenders." It is further explained that the pictures were supposed to accompany stories but the author never returned with them to the publisher and left only these pictures behind (complete with their titles and captions). Mr. Van Allsburg puts forth the hope that the pictures will serve to stimulate the imaginations of his readers and perhaps even cause them to create their own stories.

Parents can even use each picture with children too young to write to launch into imaginative discussions, using such questions as:

"what do you think is happening?"
and
"what do you think will happen next?"

This books falls into the category of what hubby and I call "eye candy." Each of the fourteen illustrations is simply delicious to look at. Each picture induces a sense of wonder and awe and I could easily see a child using each as a jumping off point for a short story or poem. Despite being black and white they are expressive and intense. Each is truly thought-provoking and emotive.

My favorite depicts a boy sleeping in his bed. Small glowing orbs are floating (flying?) in through the open window. It is titled "Archie Smith, Boy Wonder" and the caption reads "A tiny voice asked, 'Is he the one?'" Each picture in the book elicits the sense that something truly wondrous is just about to happen.

For teachers this book can be a wonderful jumping off point for a creative writing workshop. A page going in to more detail with specific suggestions on using this book for this purpose can be found here:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/mysteriesofharris.shtml

For parents this book is a wonderful way to jump start your own child's creative juices and to encourage them to make up their own stories. In fact, there is a contest on currently that allows readers to do just that. Entries are due by 1/15/2008 and you can find out more details at the official website:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/submit_story.html

You can even read stories that have previously been inspired by the illustrations included in this book:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/readers_stories.html