More than 25 years ago, Chris Van Allsburg wrote a book that captured imaginations and got kids writing stories.
Van Allsburg, Chris (1984). The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Ages 5+).
Mr. Harris Burdick brought 14 pictures (complete with titles and captions) to a publisher, promising to bring the accompanying stories and some more pictures the next day. He never returned. Chris Van Allsburg, a friend of the publisher, saw the pictures and decided to put them all together in a book. (That’s the story, at least, and Chris is sticking to it.) This book has inspired creative writing assignments ever since.
It’s not only children who have found the pictures irresistible fodder for new stories. Famous authors also think the pictures are intriguing.
Van Allsburg, Chris (2011). The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (Gr. 4-8).
That’s where this book comes in. Take the 14 pictures from Mysteries, then add short stories from 14 well-known authors. The stories are sometimes eerie, sometimes funny, and always just as mysterious as the original pictures. Of course, no one knows what the real stories were, and even famous authors can only take their best guesses. Would your stories turn out the same way?
The authors included in this compilation:
Lemony Snicket
Tabitha King
Jon Scieszka
Sherman Alexie
Gregory Maguire
Cory Doctorow
Jules Feiffer
Linda Sue Park
Walter Dean Myers
Lois Lowry
Kate DiCamillo
M. T. Anderson
Louis Sachar
Chris Van Allsburg
Stephen King
