Chris Van Allsburg Books in Order

Sweetie Pie is a hamster passed from one excited child to the next, and every home turns out to be less caring than promised. His narrow escapes and growing frustration raise tough questions about what pets really need from people.

Retired charm-school teacher Annie Edson Taylor decides that the only way to secure her future is to do the unthinkable, ride a barrel over Niagara Falls. This picture-book biography follows her daring plan, the plunge itself, and the sobering life that comes afterward.

After seeing a stage hypnotist, Calvin and his friend try the trick on Calvin's little sister, who begins acting like a dog. As the boys scramble to undo what they have started, the story plays with the thin line between real magic and a good performance.

When brothers Danny and Walter uncover a forgotten space game beneath the Jumanji board, a single turn blasts their house into deep space. Meteor showers, a rampaging robot, and visiting aliens force them to put aside rivalry and work together to get home.

In the quiet Western town of Riverbend, Sheriff Ned Hardy wakes up to reports of a strange greasy color coating horses, buildings, and people. As the 'stain' spreads, readers slowly realize they are watching a coloring-book world under attack from an unseen artist.

Monsieur Bibot, a cold-hearted Parisian dentist, is paid for his work with two figs that are said to make dreams come true. When he tries to use their power for selfish gain, his long-suffering dog Marcel turns out to have dreams of his own.

When a tired witch crashes in Minna Shaw's garden, she leaves behind a broom that still has a mind of its own. The widow soon relies on the broom for chores, but fearful neighbors demand it be destroyed, leading to a clever, quietly spooky act of revenge.

Written as a ship's log, this story follows Captain Randall Ethan Hope and his crew after they haul a glowing stone aboard. The crew becomes obsessed with its flickering images, losing their skills and even their humanity until stories and music slowly bring them back.

Walter throws trash on the sidewalk and scoffs at recycling, until a vivid dream carries him into a polluted, overbuilt future shaped by carelessness like his. Waking up shaken, he begins making small changes, including planting a tree, to help change the outcome.

Two ants abandon their marching line and decide to stay behind in a human kitchen, gorging themselves on sugar meant for their queen. Their private feast turns into a series of terrifying close calls with coffee, toasters, sinks, and electricity before they rethink their plan.

In this theatrical alphabet, each letter stands alone on a curtained stage and suffers an unfortunate fate, from being buried to being zapped. Stark black-and-white drawings turn a simple ABC concept into a slightly ominous guessing game for children and adults.

After Farmer Bailey accidentally hits a mysterious man with his truck, the stranger comes to stay while he recovers, unable to remember who he is. As summer lingers unnaturally long around the farm, the family begins to sense that their guest is tied to the changing seasons.

On Christmas Eve, a sleepless boy boards a mysterious train that appears outside his house and rushes him and other children to the North Pole. Chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas, he asks for a single sleigh bell that only true believers can hear ring.

This book presents fourteen eerie, finely detailed illustrations, each with just a title and one teasing line of text. Framed as the lost work of a vanished storyteller, the images invite readers to invent their own explanations for what came before and after each scene.

This exhibition catalog gathers essays and artwork from a mid-career retrospective of Van Allsburg's picture books. Reproductions from stories such as The Polar Express, Jumanji, and The Sweetest Fig highlight the recurring motifs, visual puzzles, and quiet strangeness in his illustrations.

High on a seaside cliff, a traveler finds the wreck of a small sailboat and hears an old man's tale about it. He describes a proud young sailor who once learned to make his boat fly above the waves, only to discover that showing off can have a steep cost.

On a pounding rainy afternoon, Ben falls asleep over his geography homework and dreams that his house floats away like a boat. Drifting past landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Sphinx, and Mount Rushmore, he experiences the world in a way textbooks never quite provide.

Looking for something to do, Judy and Peter bring home an old jungle board game they find in the park and start to play. With each roll of the dice, real animals, storms, and vines invade their house, and the game will not let them stop until someone wins.

When Alan agrees to walk Miss Hester's mischievous dog Fritz, the outing leads them into the forbidden garden of retired magician Abdul Gasazi. After Fritz disappears and seems to return as a duck, Alan must decide whether he has witnessed real magic or an elaborate trick.