For years the surreal images in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Houghton Mifflin, 1984) have been used by classroom teachers and others to invite speculation and story-making by children. Here, they have invited speculation and accomplished story-making from fourteen contributing authors. The premise laid out in the introduction is that the drawings of the (fictional) Burdick, who disappeared over twenty-five years ago after leaving his extraordinary images with a (fictional) editor, have led fourteen different authors to spin these wide-ranging, far-reaching tales. (An introduction by Lemony Snicket speculates that Burdick himself is the author, with the contributors only acting as fronts. Snicket offers comic anecdotal evidence to support his theory.) This collection of stories stands out from most anthologies first and foremost for the consistent strength of the writing, although the unsettling, magical, or mysterious tenor of the tales and of course the images themselves are also noteworthy. The contributors are 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, and Stephen King. (Ages 9–13)

An inspired collection of short stories by an all-star cast of best-selling storytellers based on the thought-provoking illustrations in Chris Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.

For more than twenty-five years, the illustrations in the extraordinary Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg have intrigued and entertained readers of all ages. Thousands of children have been inspired to weave their own stories to go with these enigmatic pictures. Now we've asked some of our very best storytellers to spin the tales. Enter The Chronicles of Harris Burdick to gather this incredible compendium of stories: mysterious, funny, creepy, poignant, these are tales you won't soon forget.

This inspired collection of short stories features many remarkable, best-selling authors in the worlds of both adult and children's literature: Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket, and Chris Van Allsburg himself.

Van Allsburg's Harris Burdick illustrations have evoked such wonderment and imagination since Harris Burdick's original publication in 1984; many have speculated or have woven their own stories to go with his images. More than ever, the illustrations send off their eerie call for text and continue to compel and pick at the reader's brain for a backstory--a threaded tale behind the image. In this book, we've collected some of the best storytellers to spin them.