Awards
A 2002 Caldecott Medal Honor book
Synopses & Reviews
She had visited the Falls as a child and could remember, clearly, the thundering waters and crowds of people drawn to them. She could remember standing in a park near the Falls, hypnotized by the sight and sound, and holding her fathers hand as they took a walk that would lead them closer. Thats what everyone wonders when they see Niagara…How close will their courage let them get to it? Well, sir, you cant get any closer than I got. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Annie Edson Taylor decided to do something no one in the world had ever done before: she would go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. The sixty-two year old woman would perform one of the greatest feats in American history and this is precisely why they called her the Queen of the Falls. Mrs. Taylor, a short, plump, and fussy sixty-two year old widow, finds herself in Bay City, Michigan after her travels around America as a charm schoolteacher, teaching at her very own charm school, right by Niagara Falls. But when her charm school starts to fail, Annie needs a plan to keep from becoming penniless; a way to strike it rich and put her money worries behind her for good. After reading about Niagara Falls in a newspaper, she had an epiphany: shed find fame and fortune in being the first person to ever to go over the thundering waters of Niagara Falls.
Review
"The book is impeccably designed . . . In this unromantic and bittersweet account, Van Allsburg presents the feat as born as much out of need as of courage, with Taylor portrayed as a hardheaded eccentric and an unlikely queen."
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Taylors gender and age make her as unlikely of a hero as any child protagonist; readers will embrace her resolve."Booklist
Jumanji
Caldecott Medal, 1982
• Caldecott Medal winner 1982
• New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award
• School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year
• ALA Notable Book for Children
• Booklist Editors' Choice
• IRA/CBC Children's Choice
• 1995 blockbuster movie starring Robin Williams
"A beautiful simplicity of design, balance, texture, and a subtle intelligence beyond the call ofillustration." New York Times Book Review
The Polar Express
Caldecott Medal, 1986
• Caldecott Medal winner, 1986
• 5 million copies sold worldwide
• New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year
• New York Times Bestseller
• 2004 blockbuster movie starring Tom Hanks
"The Polar Express is magic indeed." The New York Times
"This is one of Van Allsburgs most treasured visions." Newsweek
Zathura
A New York Times Bestseller
A major motion picture in 2005
"On the twentieth anniversary of Jumanji, Van Allsburg picks up right where his Caldecott Medal book left off, with similarly terrifying adventure set this time in outer space." Booklist, starred
"Van Allsburg illustrates the surreal events in a grainy charcoal-black that seems to shimmer on a rough, cream-colored ground...Zathura, like Jumanji, is a satisfying enigma" Publishers Weekly
"Van Allsburg is a terrific illustrator, and his images here, including one where the boys open their front door and are greeted with a breathtaking views of the cosmos, are memorable." The New York Times Book Review
Review
She could remember standing in a park near the falls, hypnotized by the sight and sound, andholding her fatherand#8217;s hand as they took a walk that would lead them closer.Thatand#8217;s what everyone wonders when they see Niagara . . . How close will their courage letthem get to it? At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired sixty-two-year-old charm school instructor named Annie Edson Taylor, seeking fame and fortune, decided to do something that no one in the world had ever done beforeand#8212;she would go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. Come meet the Queen of the Falls and witness with your own eyes her daring ride!
"Van Allsburgand#8217;s foray into nonfiction is filled with the same suspense, surrealism, and menace that have thrilled readers of his fiction."and#8212;School Library Journal,starred review
"In this unromantic and bittersweet account, Van Allsburg presents the feat as born as much out of need as of courage, with Taylor portrayed as a hardheaded eccentric and an unlikely queen."and#8212;Publishers Weekly,starred review
"An odd, unsettling meditation on fame."and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
"This illustrated biography climaxes beautifully with a double-page spread of the great falls, a tiny barrel bobbing in the current, and a powerful one-line text: '"Oh, Lord," she whispered, and then she was gone.'"and#8212;The Horn Book
Review
Who could resist? Staring straight out from the handsome album-like cover is a slight man with a shock of white hair and an intense, intelligent gaze. Over his shoulder looms the enormous mouth of a dinosaur. This is perfectly designed to pique reader's curiosity with one of the strangest true stories dinsoaur lovers will ever read. The man is Waterhouse Hawkins, who, in Victorian England, devoted his life to making ordinary people aware of dinosaurs at a time when most had never heard of them and could not imagine what they looked like. Hawkins, an established author/illustrator of books on animal anatomy, estimated the scale of the dinosaurs from their bones, made clay models, erected iron skeletons with brick foundations and covered them over with cement casts to create dramatic public displays. Such was Hawkin's devotion to his work that he engaged the Queen's patronage, catered to the fathers of paleontology at a dinner party inside an iguanadon model, and was invited to bring his dinosaur models to Central Park. It was in New York that Hawkins's story turned grimly sad. Antagonizing Boss Tweed with some ill-chosen words, Hawkins thereafter found his dinosaurs smashed and buried beneath Central Park, where they remain today. The fascinating story, well documented in authoritative, readable author and illustrator notes, is supported by creative decisions in illustration, bookmaking, and design. Hawkins was a showman, and Selznick presents his story pictorially as high melodrama, twice placing the hero front stage, before a curtain revealing a glimpse of the amazing dinosaurs. turns of the page open onto electrifying, wordless, doble-page spreads. A boy who appears at the book's beginning and end (where he sits on a park bench in Central Park while fragment of the dinosaurs lie among the tree roots below) affects a touching circularity. Stunning.
---Kirkus Reviews, July 1st 2001 starred review
What a marvelous pairing: the life of the nineteenth-century British dinosaur maven Watehouse Hawkins and Selznick's richly evocative, Victorian inspired paintings. Hawkins had been drawing and sculpting animals from his childhood. As an adult he set to work trying to recreate what a living dinosaur looked like based on fossil remains. Hawkins' dinosaur sculptures still stand in Sydenham, England, a better fate than what happened to those he built in New York City. There, Hawkins ran afoul of Boss Tweed; children can thrill to the idea that broken pieces of Hawkins' dinosaurs still lie buried in Central Park. Kerley also regales her audience with the story of Hawkins' New Year's Eve dinner, with guests seated inside the shell of the iguanodon he was building. Selznick's art is wonderfully wrought, innovative in its choices, clever in what and how he chose to illustrate. Equally fantastic is the execution: oh, those dinosaurs! Extensive notes from the author and illustrator are clear enough even for younger children and provide a genuine sense of the thrill of research. Although many of Hawkins' dinosaur modles are now known to be inaccurate, the passion of his life and his single-minded pursuit of it rings loud and clear. Appealing on many levels, this will be a favorite dinosaur book for years to come.---GraceAnne A. DeCandido
--Booklist, September 1, 2001 starred review
Hawkins,a British artist who combined scientific observation with sculptorly imagination to create the earliest full-scale dinosaur reconstructions, receives fanciful biographical treatment in three 'ages' (chapters), corresponding to stages in his career. Kerley focuses on his commissions in England and the United States and on the destruction of his models--doubtless at the orders of New York's infamous Boss Tweed. Although there is much intrinsic interest in this aspect of Hawkins' story, dinophiles are here to see how Hawkins' interpolations stand the test of subsequent scholarship, and this ju
Review
"Van Allsburgand#8217;s foray into nonfiction is filled with the same suspense, surrealism, and menace that have thrilled readers of his fiction."and#8212;School Library Journal, starred review
"In this unromantic and bittersweet account, Van Allsburg presents the feat as born as much out of need as of courage, with Taylor portrayed as a hardheaded eccentric and an unlikely queen."and#8212;Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A daredevil story is an easy sell for almost any kid audience, and a daredevil story by a beloved storyteller is just about as good as it gets."and#8212;The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review "An odd, unsettling meditation on fame."and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
"This illustrated biography climaxes beautifully with a double-page spread of the great falls, a tiny barrel bobbing in the current, and a powerful one-line text: '"Oh, Lord," she whispered, and then she was gone.'"and#8212;The Horn Book
Synopsis
Can you fathom a time when almost no one in the world knew what a dinosaur looked like? That was true in the mid-nineteenth century, until Victorian artist Waterhouse Hawkins built the first life-size models of dinosaurs, first in his native England and later in New York City, and dazzled the world with his awe-inspiring creations.
With impeccable attention to detail, Barbara Kerley unearths a story of consuming passion, triumph, loss, and courage--and ultimately, of an extraordinary legacy that lives on today. Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick celebrates this complex and fascinating individual through luminous, soul-stirring paintings that form a visual masterpiece.
Synopsis
This extraordinary true story introduces readers to the unforgettable Waterhouse Hawkins: Victorian artist and visionary who built the world's first life-size models of dinosaurs
Can you fathom a time when almost no one in the world knew what a dinosaur looked like? That was true in the mid-nineteenth century, until Victorian artist Waterhouse Hawkins built the first life-size models of dinosaurs, first in his native England and later in New York City, and dazzled the world with his awe-inspiring creations. With impeccable attention to detail, Barbara Kerley unearths a story of consuming passion, triumph, loss, and courage--and ultimately, of an extraordinary legacy that lives on today. Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick celebrates this complex and fascinating individual through luminous, soul-stirring paintings that form a visual masterpiece.
Synopsis
In the mid-1800s, almost nobody knew what a dinosaur was until Victorian artist Waterhouse Hawkins built the first life-size models of the creatures in his native England and later American. This is the true story of how he dazzled the world with his awe-inspiring creations. Full color.
Synopsis
She could remember standing in a park near the falls, hypnotized by the sight and sound, and holding her fatherand#8217;s hand as they took a walk that would lead them closer. Thatand#8217;s what everyone wonders when they see Niagara . . . How close will their courage let them get to it?
At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired sixty-two-year-old charm school instructor named Annie Edson Taylor, seeking fame and fortune, decided to do something that no one in the world had ever done beforeand#8212;she would go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel.
Come meet the Queen of the Falls and witness with your own eyes her daring ride!
About the Author
Barbara Kerley's award-winning biographiesincluding WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE? and THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY), both illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, and THE DINOSAURS OF WATERHOUSE HAWKINS and WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA, both illustrated by Brian Selznickare consistently praised for their lively prose, meticulous research, and artistic presentation style. Kerley lives in Portland, Oregon. You can visit her online at www.barbarakerley.com.
In addition to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick is the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor winner, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and The New York Times Best Illustrated Walt Whitman: Words for America, both by Barbara Kerley, as well as the Sibert Honor Winner When Marian Sang, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, and numerous other celebrated picture books and novels. Brian has also worked as a set designer and a puppeteer. When he isnt traveling to promote his work all over the world, he lives in San Diego, California, and Brooklyn, New York.