10/16/06

"Even the most reluctant imagination will not be able to resist..."

Diane brought in a treasure to work today – a children’s book called “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick”. It is a series of 14 single illustrations from 14 different stories, which were to be written and the artwork completed by their original author, Harris Burdick. Mr. Burdick never contacted his publisher in order to complete the assignment, and the illustrations remained unused for a few years.

Chris Van Allsburg, the author of "The Polar Express", discovered the drawings in the home of his publisher friend. Each illustration was accompanied only by the title of the story and a short caption. The caliber of the artwork and the teasing captions, however, tantalized Van Allsburg's imagination enough that he determined the work was indeed worth printing.

As it stands, the book contains a marvelous exercise for the imagination. The reader cannot help but create stories in her head; I can pretty much guarantee that some of the images will be settings in my dreams tonight. I looked through the book and thought of endless ways to use it as a teaching tool. You could write dialogues between the characters in the pictures, or do a "what happened before/after" assignment. You could even have kids re-create the scene in color (all the drawings are black and white), and see what happens.

When I was younger, I didn't particularly enjoy the imagination exercises we were assigned in class. Now, however, I can see the incomparable value in cultivating this skill. Van Allsburg's book of drawings has just made it to #1 on my list of gifts I will be giving my neices and nephews when they are old enough.

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