Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States on June 18th, 1949 and is the Children's Author. At the age of 74, Chris Van Allsburg biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Chris Van Allsburg (born June 18, 1949) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books.
He has won two Caldecott Medals for illustration in the United States, both for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he wrote; both of which were later published as successful motion pictures.
In 1980, he was also a Caldecott runner-up for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.
He was a nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international honor for children's books.
In April 2012, he received the University of Michigan's honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
Personal life
Van Allsburg and Lisa Van Allsburg, his wife since 1974, live in Beverly, Massachusetts. Sophia and Anna are two of their two children. Van Allsburg converted to Judaism, his spouse's faith.
Life and career
Van Allsburg was born on June 18, 1949 to a Dutch family in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, the second child of Doris Christianen and Richard Van Allsburg. He has a sister named Karen, born in 1947. His family lived in an old farmhouse, but when he was three years old, they moved to a Grand Rapids home near an elementary school that Chris was able to walk to for class. His family moved again to East Grand Rapids where he attended middle school and high school.
Van Allsburg attended the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan, which at that time included an art school. He majored in sculpture, learning bronze casting, wood carving, resin molding, and other techniques.
He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972 and continued his education at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with a master's degree in sculpture in 1975. After graduation, Van Allsburg set up a sculpture studio.
Van Allsburg struggled for a time with his sculpture studio. At home he began a series of sketches that his wife thought would be suitable for children's books. She showed his work to an editor who contracted his first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, in 1979.
As of 2022, Van Allsburg has written and/or illustrated 21 books. His art has also been featured on the covers of an edition of C. S. Lewis's series The Chronicles of Narnia, published by HarperCollins in 1994, as well as in three children's books written by Mark Helprin.