Chris Van Allsburg
Chris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children’s books.
