Jumanji
"As in any successful picture book, the illustrations are at least as important as the text, so let's look carefully. They're done in gray tones with something
called Conte dust and Conte pencil and, like much of Van Allsburg's work, they have a surreal quality. He manipulates space and perspective. In the last
picture, for instance, we seem to be looking down on the boys, yet we are standing at the foot of a tree. Objects and figures have a sculpted quality
with some intriguing flat planes where we least expect them. Look at the figure of the guide sitting on the dollhouse. His back has a flatness to it which i
sn't right somehow, especially when you notice how carefully rounded the bowling pins are. And take a look at that dollhouse. Isn't it the
dullest-looking one you've ever seen? It looks unfinished and certainly unplayed with."
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/jumanji.html
"As in any successful picture book, the illustrations are at least as important as the text, so let's look carefully. They're done in gray tones with something
called Conte dust and Conte pencil and, like much of Van Allsburg's work, they have a surreal quality. He manipulates space and perspective. In the last
picture, for instance, we seem to be looking down on the boys, yet we are standing at the foot of a tree. Objects and figures have a sculpted quality
with some intriguing flat planes where we least expect them. Look at the figure of the guide sitting on the dollhouse. His back has a flatness to it which i
sn't right somehow, especially when you notice how carefully rounded the bowling pins are. And take a look at that dollhouse. Isn't it the
dullest-looking one you've ever seen? It looks unfinished and certainly unplayed with."
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/jumanji.html
NY TIMES
Those eternal picture book fixtures, adorable ducklings and idyllic
clambakes, do not feature in Chris Van Allsburg’s darkly fanciful works, nor do
the friendly steam shovels and tugboats of storybooks past. Van Allsburg’s
books, starting with “The Garden of Abdul Gasazi,” published in 1979, and
“Jumanji,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, instead offer wonder
with an edge to today’s eerily savvy and media-smart children
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/books/review/the-chronicles-of-harris-burdick-14-amazing-authors-tell-the-tales-by-chris-van-allsburg-and-othersillustrated-by-chris-van-alls.html?_r=0
Those eternal picture book fixtures, adorable ducklings and idyllic
clambakes, do not feature in Chris Van Allsburg’s darkly fanciful works, nor do
the friendly steam shovels and tugboats of storybooks past. Van Allsburg’s
books, starting with “The Garden of Abdul Gasazi,” published in 1979, and
“Jumanji,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, instead offer wonder
with an edge to today’s eerily savvy and media-smart children
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/books/review/the-chronicles-of-harris-burdick-14-amazing-authors-tell-the-tales-by-chris-van-allsburg-and-othersillustrated-by-chris-van-alls.html?_r=0