The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg

Harris Burdick could be anyone, the same as the story behind the drawings he dropped off with Peter Wenders  twenty-five years ago could be anything. In the years following the discovery of these entrancing pictures, children have woven their own stories around Burdick's art. Now, fourteen esteemed children authors, including the likes of Sherman Alexie, Walter Dean Myers, Lois Lowry and Kate DiCamillo, have put their own spin on these timeless strokes of genius.

There is no specific theme, length or voice to tie all of the tales together, simply the pictures. You will be captivated by a possessed shirt, dumbfounded by a dust demon, and pulled in by a struggling children's book illustrator. There is some apprehensiveness about allowing children to read the stories that children literature greats have written to accompany Burdick's masterpieces since they may feel that their own stories could never compare. However, I think these stories are a point of inspiration rather than the source of defeat. Children are now able to see how a story can develop from anything: a ball, a friend, a trip, or a drawing. This realization will make way for them to let their own stories unfold.