A Picture Book of Endless Possibility – The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Van Allsburg)

The following statement is the most important of this entire review:

No words have the power to effect the scope of imagination that went into the making of this book nor can they offer enough in the way of insight into the boundless possibility within the binding of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.

With that in mind, I will make an attempt at a worthy review.


The Idea Behind The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Looking for a good mystery? In Chris Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick you won’t find a main character, a protagonist, an antagonist, setting, time/place, plot, storyline or ending. Actually, other than the introduction and a few titles and captions, you won’t do any reading at all! But you will find yourself with 14 mysteries, and it’s your job to imagine, write or tell them.

Well, then, what in the world IS this bunch of bound paper anyway? In a few words, it is a selection of stories that may eventually unfold. Fascinating. The ideas that flow to you from each drawing are more powerful than any reviewer can relate because of the nature of inspiration. There isn’t a way to determine the effect the illustrations will have on a reader.

Chris Van Allsburg writes his own introduction to The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, relating some details of a meeting with Peter Wenders, a former employee of a children’s book publisher. Mr. Wenders met a man named Harris Burdick who called at Wenders’ office to tell him about fourteen stories he had written and the drawings he had made to accompany them. He brought along one drawing from each story to show and left them with Mr. Wenders with the promise that he’d return the next day with the stories. Peter Wenders never saw the man again and searches for him over the years proved unsuccessful. All that is left are the fourteen drawings, each with a title and caption that give a quick look into the stories that remain lost.

Mr. Wenders’ children and their friends felt inspired by these fourteen drawings, creating stories of their own, according to Van Allsburg’s introduction. Van Allsburg’s intent in the publication of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is to inspire other children to do the same.

Interesting concept. Valid purpose (home or school). Educational uses for parents and teachers. Discussion topics galore. Loads of possibility. Functional and entertaining.

And there’s more where that came from. Page through the book in a library or bookstore and you’ll know right away what I mean. Or, check out the following web page for a look at the drawings and read some of the stories (4th grade-level writing) that stemmed from each! http://www.lafsd.k12.ca.us/people/smoe/


The Nutshell

Take or leave each accompanying title and caption as you see fit. They either speak to you in a helpful way or they get in the way of your own idea. Only the mind of the viewer/reader can determine if these ideas are right for him/her, and that determination may change each time an individual looks at one of the illustrations.

No illustration is tied to another in any way. Same goes for the titles and captions accompanying them. Every two-page “section” of the book takes on a life of its own.

I’ll mention just three of the fourteen as examples that I’ve chosen randomly:

1.) Archie Smith, Boy Wonder, the first rendering in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, depicts a boy asleep in bed with his window open to the night air while through the window float several glowing spheres which give the appearance of searching for something, captioned, “A tiny voice asked, ‘Is he the one?’”
2.) Mr. Linden’s Library: a girl, evidently having fallen asleep while reading, lies peacefully against her pillows with a book open across her arm . . . while a creeping vine sprouts from the spine of the book . . . “He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late.”
3.) The Third-Floor Bedroom: in this room, the white dove and vine-patterned wallpaper appears to be missing one dove and another is peeling itself off the paper before your eyes . . . “It all began when someone left the window open.”

A reader may take this book at face value and simply take in the detail and enjoy the idea of the included title and caption. Someone else may look at the illustrations and begin to daydream about one or more of illustrations and have a nice little respite from a busy day. Another reader might rush off to find pen and paper or a computer keyboard with which to furiously list the thoughts that rushed to mind about something in the book. This book may evoke as many imaginings as there are imaginations in the world.


Don’t Let the Word “Mystery” Steer You Away from This One

Truly just for fans of fantasy . . . really? It all depends on how you view each page. I’ve watched children write poems, draw cartoons, and relate something from one of the illustrations to stories they create about real-life occurrences. It is impossible to predict what anyone will see, think, imagine or envision in regard to this book or any of its contents. The illustrations are black and white, but the translation to the imagination is most definitely full-color!

As a friend noted after a visit to an art museum with her daughters (ages 8 and 11), had she never given her older child that opportunity to view the old masters and the range of artistic periods displayed in gilded frames all around her, the child may never have discovered that she felt great admiration and a need to learn and see more in regard to the world of art. The same applies to the world of books, and especially The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. One quick look may have the child at the threshold of new worlds of discovery about himself. Another child may decide that he has no desire to look any further. For others, a longer look at the book’s contents may bring about similar reactions. The time a child takes with a book like this is relative to his/her needs at the moment. All they need is the chance to have a reaction at all! Just as Chris Van Allsburg’s drawings are black, white, and all shades of gray in between, so will be the reactions to this particular book.


A Bit About Chris Van Allsburg

I’ve been a fan of Chris Van Allsburg since the first time I saw a copy of The Polar Express at a book fair thirteen years ago. At first, I fell in love with his artwork and style: black and white or muted color drawings, expertly shaded, no part of the page unused . . . a wonder to see. In reading each one of his stories I felt mesmerized by the ideas themselves and often sat for a while in silence to contemplate what I had just read, viewed and imagined, then turned right around to read the stories again! I can’t wait for the day when Daughter is ready to go past The Polar Express to the more strange and mysterious in the Van Allsburg collection.

Chris Van Allsburg has received awards for many of his published stories, but for the purposes of this review I’ll list only those that honor his work on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick:

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Illustration: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1985)
• Parent's Choice Award for Illustration for The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984)
• The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books citation for The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984)

Van Allsburg, himself, uses the word “mysterious” to describe his illustrations. His shading technique reinforces and advances the idea of mystery, and the amazing detail in each illustration goes even farther to compound the impression left in a viewers mind. In every story Van Allsburg writes/illustrates, a sense of wonder abounds in the appearance of the artwork. The illustrations in every one of his books are a feast for the eyes and imagination. How does this man sleep at night with the avalanche of ideas he must have waiting to make themselves known? The following quote comes from Chris Van Allsburg:

“When I'm writing a book, I always try to create something strange or puzzling in each picture. By using artistic strategies of perspective, light, and point of view, I can give the drawing a kind of mysterious quality. In other words, the style I use allows me to make a drawing that has a little mystery to it, even if the actual things I am drawing are not strange or mysterious.” (Scholastic.com)

In The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, Van Allsburg’s flair for the mysterious meets and blends with the Harris Burdick’s ideas to give a reader fourteen books’ worth of gripping tales . . . if he lets his imagination take him that far.


Reflections on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

I always think of the drawings as the beginnings of stories, though I really mean the beginnings of IDEAS of stories. Each illustration will inspire or evoke thoughts from individual viewers in no predictable way, shape or form. While one child may see a story “starter”, another may see an ending and shape the beginning and middle later. As I stated above, the possibilities are endless.

I have not seen the book in a softcover version, but it is available as a packet of poster-size versions, possibly for large-group use. Amazing. The packet isn’t easy to find (an online search is probably your best bet), but it is a great tool for the classroom, the serious collector, and interested parties on any level. I think they are suitable for framing!

Age Range: definitely NOT for pre-schoolers or early elementary ages. I’d trot this out at the 4th grade year and go up from there through middle and high school levels. A ten-year old may need a little assistance in carrying out a story idea to its full extent (if the interest is there). My baby brother, a junior in high school, gets ideas from the pages of this book for his creative writing class and often has trouble choosing from among the ideas he’s collected because they all appeal to him so much.


Final Words

Clearly, I’m making up for the limited text in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick!

While I enjoy writing very much, I feel comfortable in the confines of the essay, a bit of poetry and in journal-keeping. Creative writing is something I wish I could do, and I do try, but it isn’t in me. However, I do own four copies of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick for use in my advanced summer writing classes . . . during the four weeks of the class I get to see these books only as I unpack them during the first week and repack them on the last day. With 15 – 18 kids in the group (4th and 5th grade), that’s a pretty good indicator of the book’s popularity. At the book fair that ends our class, this title is always on the request list from several of the students and teachers.