The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Plot Summary:

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg begins with the reason behind the illustrations. Each illustration is correlated with a title and a caption about the illustration and nothing else. The magic and mystery about The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is that the story is told through the reader, not the author.

Impression about the book

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg is a well orchestrated picture book. The visual elements of this book surpass the qualities of a great picture book. Like all of Chris Van Allsburg books, the lines used in the illustrations are dominantly vertical. This is exemplified in the crown molding and the chair railing on the first two illustrations as well as the majority of the illustrations. The lines direct the viewer’s eyes to take pleasure in the illustration and allow the mind to wander to formulate insight of the illustration. The two-dimensional objects representing the illustrations in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick are appealing to the viewer allowing the viewer to appreciate the shapes on each page. Chris Van Allsburg uses achromatic illustrations by using dark values of hues with saturation of dullness to capture a mysterious mood as the title suggests. In The Mysteries of Harris Burdick the texture is depicted as smooth. The visual elements in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick depict the author’s intention of creating the illustrations to be left up to the viewer’s interpretation. Van Allsburg uses object dominance accurately on the pages to create the mysterious mood throughout the book.

Reviews / Reviews Excerpts

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg contains all the visual elements that make this picture book a must have in all classrooms and libraries. The story line is minimal, but the questions and stories the illustrations create in the viewer’s mind far exceed the limitations of the author’s intention. This book, as the title suggests, is mysterious and the illustrations are left up to the viewer’s interpretation.

Suggestions for library use:

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg can be used as story starters as inspiration for writing. This is a true example of how voice can be interpreted in various ways.