The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

What amazing illustrations... I love that the children are supposed to imagine and develop the story

とてもたくさんの不思議なものがたりが広がっている。それがどんなものがたりなのかは、決まっていない。100人の読者がいれば、100通りのものがたりがあるだろう。そんな絵本。この絵本に触発されてほんものの作家たちがトリビュートの小説集をつくったと聴く。でもそれは作家だけの特権ではない。この絵本を開く人ならだれでも、じぶんだけのものがたりを紡げばいいのだ。

I've been a long-time fan of Chris Van Allsburg's works, and have been sharing his books with my first grader. This is one of our favorites, as each browsing gives us a chance to come up with our own storyline and enables our imaginations to take flight. The book contains fourteen pictures, with captions attached to each. Now these are not ordinary pictures, but feature something out of the ordinary, with equally mysterious captions that make one wonder at the various possibilities for a story! For example, one of my favorite pictures features a young girl sound asleep with a vine creeping out of a book with the title "Mr. Linden's Library" and the caption "He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late." I confess that my imagination took a macabre turn here! My first grader on the other hand imagined something along the lines of Jack (or Jill in this case) and the Beanstalk with the girl waking up and finding a tree growing in her room and going off on an adventure not unlike Jack/Jill. I've also used this book with my students, and they absolutely love the chance to create a story and come up with their own interpretations. Another charm of this book is that the pictures can be used to imagine stories of various genres such as science fiction, horror, mystery, adventure, fantasy, etc. This is a treasure trove of ideas, a great educational resource, and a wonderful way to keep one's brain meaningfully engaged!

I originally bought The Mysteries of Harris Burdick to use during a KS2 teaching interview, and it exceeded my expectations. Since then, it has become a regular feature in my KS2 classroom, and I even know colleagues who have successfully used it with KS1 children. Although it’s primarily a picture book, each illustration is paired with a simple title and caption that sparks curiosity. The images are mysterious and invite children—and adults—to imagine the stories behind them. While a few illustrations might feel slightly eerie to some younger pupils, the older children I’ve worked with find them intriguing and love using them as inspiration for imaginative writing. Overall, it’s a great stimulus for storytelling and a fantastic resource for the classroom.

Fabulous pictures. Evokes imagination, storytelling, invites child’s perspectives and interactive dialogue. This book is never the same story twice.