The Mysteries of Harris Burdick facts for kids
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Cover
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| Author | Chris Van Allsburg |
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| Illustrator | Chris Van Allsburg |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
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Publication date
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1984 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Preceded by | The Wreck of the Zephyr |
| Followed by | The Polar Express |
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a cool picture book from 1984. It was written by an American author named Chris Van Allsburg. The book is special because it shows a bunch of mysterious pictures.
These pictures were supposedly made by a man named Harris Burdick, who disappeared without a trace. Each picture has a title and just one line of text. These clues are meant to make you imagine and create your own stories! Many famous writers have even written their own tales based on these pictures.
There's also a special "Portfolio Edition" of the book. It includes an extra picture and caption from a story called "Missing in Venice." In 2011, another book came out called The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales. This book has full stories written by famous authors like Tabitha King and Louis Sachar, all inspired by Burdick's mysterious pictures.
Contents
The Mystery of Harris Burdick
The book starts with a fun mystery. A children's book editor named Peter Wenders met an artist and writer named Harris Burdick. Burdick told Wenders he had 14 amazing stories. He brought one picture from each story, along with a short caption.
Burdick promised to bring the full stories if Wenders wanted to buy them. But the next day, Burdick never showed up. He had mysteriously disappeared!
For many years, Wenders tried to find out who Harris Burdick was. But he never found him. Burdick was never seen again. The pictures and their captions are all that is left of his supposed books. The book challenges readers like you to imagine your own stories for each picture.
How the Book Was Published
In 1984, the author Chris Van Allsburg visited Peter Wenders' office. Wenders showed him Burdick's strange drawings. Van Allsburg thought that if he published the drawings, maybe someone would come forward with information about Harris Burdick.
Both Wenders and Van Allsburg hoped to learn more about Burdick. Then, in 1993, an antique book dealer told them something interesting. He had bought a whole library from a woman who had recently passed away. Inside, he found an old mirror.
The mirror fell and cracked open. Hidden neatly inside its frame was another picture, just like Burdick's other works! Its caption said it was from a Burdick story called "Missing in Venice."
The official Burdick website says that Peter Wenders passed away in 2000 when he was 91 years old. However, one of the pictures in the book shows a character named Fritz. Fritz is also in another one of Van Allsburg's books, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. This hints that maybe Harris Burdick and Peter Wenders were not real people, but part of Van Allsburg's creative imagination!
The Mysterious Pictures
Here are the titles of the mysterious pictures found in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick:
- Archie Smith, Boy Wonder
- Uninvited Guests
- The House on Maple Street
- Missing in Venice
- Under the Rug
- The Harp (Fritz, a character from another Van Allsburg book, appears in this picture!)
- A Strange Day in July
- Another Place, Another Time
- Mr Linden's Library
- Oscar and Alphonse
- Just Desert
- The Seven Chairs
- The Third Floor Bedroom
- Captain Tory
- Missing in Venice (This is the second picture with this title.)
Book's Impact and Adaptations
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick has inspired other writers and even movies!
Inspiration for Other Writers
The famous writer Stephen King was inspired by one of the pictures. His short story "The House on Maple Street" is based on the last image and caption in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. You can find his story in his book Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
Film Adaptation News
In July 2019, Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Fox announced exciting news. They bought the rights to make a movie based on "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"! Rafe Judkins is set to write the movie's script. Mike Weber, Bill Teitler, Ted Field, Shawn Levy, and Dan Cohen will be producing it.
Disney and Fox also bought the rights to another Van Allsburg book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. However, Chris Van Allsburg himself is not an executive producer for "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" film.
