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Summary: Not Just for Kids
Review: I was actually introduced to this book as a 17 year old in a creative writing class. It's incredible. The pictures are gorgeous, typical Chris Van Allsburg stuff. It's great for creative exercises for kids and adults. I think the whole class had a great time making up stories to fit the pictures, I know I did, and high school students are certainly not the most willing suspenders of their cynicism, amd disbelief. This is the kind of kids book you like so much, and that is so beautifully done that you're reluctant to actually let the kids touch it.
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Summary: A Work Of Great Imagination
Review: I was first introduced to this book in a children's literature class taught by Jack Gantos. I must confess The Mysteries of Harris Burdick has never left me since. Is there a story? Not really. I think this is precisely why The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is able to take such a profound hold of your imagination. Each of the 14 haunting black & white illustrations are accompanied by a caption. Nothing more. We as the readers are left to ponder the meaning of each picture and make up our own stories to go along them. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is the perfect way to introduce a child to the joys of reading and writing.Preston McClear, author The Boy Under the Bed
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Summary: oh the nostalgia....
Review: in third grade i read this book and did what many children do...wrote stories to accompany the fragments in the book. something about the book haunted me and for years i thought about it. but i could never remember the name of it. there really hasn't been a week in my life since i was eight that i didn't try to remember the name...or fumble around with close ones (for awhile i was convinced it was harrison murdock and didn't understand why i couldn't find the book). it has been 13 years now and just today as i was walking through the campus of my university i saw a utility truck with the name "murdock" on it and suddenly it came to me. "not murdock, silly...BURDICK!" i ducked into the nearest library and now here i am...reconnected with one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. my point is, this is a book to tickle the imagination, haunt the spirit, and ignite any child's passion for storytelling. it had a profound effect on me and i plan to share it with my future children...if only i can remember the name!
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Summary: Charming and Intriguing for Both Adults and Children Alike
Review: Like many of the other people sharing a review, I first discovered this book as a child. (...)So I picked up a copy today and it's startling how much I remember. The images in this book have a very evocative, dreamy and sureal look to them. They instantly engage you and get the wheels turning in your mind. It's impossible not to make up a story about them. The artwork is fabulous, and almost reminds me of infrared photography because of it's unusual shading and the preternatural glow emanating from some of the subjects. These images will haunt you and stay with you - you'll find yourself thinking about them even when you aren't looking at the book. The fact that so many people have mentioned remembering this book from their school years attests to this book's ability to draw you in and awaken your immagination. It's definately worth space on the bookshelf of kids and creative souls that are kids at heart.
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Summary: Very Memorable
Review: Mr McCaffery, my 6th grade teacher, gave us creative writing assignments using this book. He copied the pictures, let us chose between four and told us we had to incorporate the sentence given somewhere in the story. I loved that assignment which helped inspire me to find the enjoyment of writing. However I could never remember the title/author of that book. Now, nearly 15 years later, I was extremely excited when I stumbled upon it by accident and without hesitation bought it. For young or old, this book is absolutely amazing and it will stimulate the imagination and storyteller in all of us. It's a must have for those with kids or for those of us who simply need a journey to a world we have forgotten...
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Summary: you'll want to read it & look at it over and over!!
Review: My seventh grade language arts teacher has used this book as an important tool in our writing skills and encourages us to write about a paragraph for each caption one a day. I think this book is extremely interesting and you could spend hours just thinking of stories to write about or tell to others. I think this book would be great for little kids;it would keep them busy for a long time. It's good for adults, too.
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Summary: The *best* book for creative writers
Review: My sixth grade teacher used this book for a creative writing assignment. We were supposed to pick one of the pages and write a story based on Chris Van Allsburg's wonderful illustrations. Chris Van Allsburg, known to me as the author/illustrator of Jumanji and The Polar Express, outdoes himself in this book. It is a book to get the mind thinking, especially for children. Each illustration has a caption that is supposed to get the mind thinking. A child cannot read this book without formulating a story, perhaps unconsciously, in his mind. Chris Van Allsburg is a wonderful artist. Each illustration, done in only simple black and white, is so breathtaking that I could stare at them time and again and be amazed at the detail, the realness. The sentence-long captions that go along with each picture even today cause me to dream up a story. It is a terrific book to get a child interested in writing. :)
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Summary: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Review: Never before have I read a story as intriguing or thought-provoking as The Mysteries of Harris Burdick . The pictures hold a magical quality of intense beauty and mystery. Each one is full of detail and causes the imagination to go to work. When I look at one of the drawings, my mind immediately begins to develop an elaborate story, as will yours. The title and caption add to the suspense and are as much a part of the story as the drawing. In the past, I have always had trouble coming up with ideas for my writing. This book gave me hundreds of wonderful stories. Whether you are old or young, a writer or just a reader, I would definitely recommend this book.
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Summary: Been looking for this book for years!
Review: One of my elementary school teachers introduced me to this book years ago. I think I was only in fifth or sixth grade. Being someone who loves to write, I was captivated immediately by the illustrations and the single sentence from the beginning of the stories that went along with them. I lost track of this book, until last semester when I saw it in my college book store. At the time I didn't have enough cash on hand to buy it, and by the time I went back the book was gone. Sadly for me, I had also forgotten the title and author! Thanks to a friend, I finally found this book again, and I cannot wait to get my own copy to share with my elementary students!
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Summary: Curiouser and curiouser
Review: Picture books have a wide range of purposes in this world. They can teach and inform. They can amuse and entertain. Sometimes, though, I think that the most impressive picture books are the ones that inspire. And not in a gosh-doesn't-that-drawing-of-a-sunset-make-you-want-to-draw-a-sunset-too type mentality. I mean true inspiration. The kind you might find, for example, in Chris Van Allsburg's incredibly entertaining and mysterious picture book, "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick". I can think of no other source in this world better able to inspire children to write their own highly interesting stories. "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" has been used for years as a uniquely original source for stirring up potential tales in the minds of kids everywhere. More importantly, though, it's just a darn good book. Darn good!
Few books for small children actively encourage you to read a long wordy Introduction to them first. This is one of the few. Before we see any of the pictures we are told a tale of one Mr. Wenders and one Mr. Burdick. Mr. Wenders was once a children's book publisher. As he was sitting in his office one day a Mr. Harris Burdick arrived with fourteen illustrations. It seems that Mr. Burdick had written fourteen stories and he had brought an illustration from each of these for the perusal of Mr. Wenders. After dropping off the pictures (each with its own title and line from the book it belonged to) he left and was never seen again. This book is a presentation of those mysterious images, all suggesting that they belong to magical stories of their own. The introductory story, I should probably point out, is utterly false. But it gives some nice context to the images that follow and hopefully kids will still dig them.
If you've ever read "Jumanji" or "Polar Express" then you are familiar with Van Allsburg's style of mysterious eerily realistic drawings. All pictures in this particular book are in black and white, but they each seem just a little too real to be completely fantastical. Some pictures are sublime. There's an especially amusing one that displays a nun flying above two men in what looks to be a cathedral. The title of the print is, "The Seven Chairs" and the accompanying quote reads, "The fifth one ended up in France". Other pictures in the book vary in creepiness and wonder. There's a picture of a man attempting to beat something large under his carpet with a nearby chair. Another illustration a house lifting off into space. Another shows a woman lowering a knife to a pumpkin as it glows like a brightly lit luminary.
The advantage of this book is that as kids page through it, they feel the need to tell the rest of the stories they see presented here. If a kid looks at the picture of a boy being abducted by a ship's captain they may wish to write a tale of adventure and derring-do on the high seas. Consequently, each tale told here can be interpreted a variety of different ways. I don't want to make this book sound as if it's sole purpose is as a method of teaching writing exercises. I just want to point out that it's so lovely a collection of images that I think anyone that reads it will be pleased by what they see. Pleased to the point of extravagant imaginings, in some cases.
Every Chris Van Allsburg book contains some sort of deeply mysterious tone to it. He's the kind of illustrator that causes great love and adoration in his fans. "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" is not your normal run-of-the-mill type picture book. And if you're looking for something to read your five-year-old to sleep with, look elsewhere. You will not find anything here that will interest them. What you will find instead is a book like no other. One of my favorite picture books, even at the grand old age of 26.
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