Background
*born in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1949*
*lived next to his grandpa's creamery with his mom, dad, and sister until the age of 3*
*at 3, lived in a development home with open fields and creeks*
*moved to a brick house on a street like the one in his book Polar Express in 6th grade*
*didn't show an interest in art until high school where he simply enjoyed drawing (no art classes)*
School
*was admitted to the University of Michigan in 1967 after impressing the admissions counselor at a meeting*
*majored in sculpture*
*graduated from MU in 1972
*went on to Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a masters in sculpture in 1974*
Work
*In 1975, Chris opened his own sculpture studio in Providence, RI.*
*In the same year, he married Lisa Morrison, an elementary school art teacher*
*In 1978, he began drawing pictures and Lisa encouraged him to turn them into stories for children*
*The first story he wrote was based on pictures of a garden, and The Garden of Abdul Gasazi was published in 1979*
*In 1980, he was awarded the Caldecott Honor Medal for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi*
*He has written 16 books since then and won many awards for them!*
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/vanallsburg/
*born in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1949*
*lived next to his grandpa's creamery with his mom, dad, and sister until the age of 3*
*at 3, lived in a development home with open fields and creeks*
*moved to a brick house on a street like the one in his book Polar Express in 6th grade*
*didn't show an interest in art until high school where he simply enjoyed drawing (no art classes)*
School
*was admitted to the University of Michigan in 1967 after impressing the admissions counselor at a meeting*
*majored in sculpture*
*graduated from MU in 1972
*went on to Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a masters in sculpture in 1974*
Work
*In 1975, Chris opened his own sculpture studio in Providence, RI.*
*In the same year, he married Lisa Morrison, an elementary school art teacher*
*In 1978, he began drawing pictures and Lisa encouraged him to turn them into stories for children*
*The first story he wrote was based on pictures of a garden, and The Garden of Abdul Gasazi was published in 1979*
*In 1980, he was awarded the Caldecott Honor Medal for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi*
*He has written 16 books since then and won many awards for them!*
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/vanallsburg/