Chris Van Allsburg Author Study and Thematic Unit


CVA Thematic Unit (Portner)

Introduction for Students



You have a number of activities that you will be working on during your unit on Chris Van Allsburg, Historical Monuments, and Environmental/Life Science.

This unit surrounds itself with the work of Chris Van Allsburg. Please look under specific headings or the title(s) of the book(s) (in italics) in which your project stems from to find access to internet sources you will need to use for your projects.

Ben's Dream



Choose from the following list of links. (You may return to this page or continue your search as necessary if you find more information on the web.)

1. Statue of Liberty Type in "Statue of Liberty" for the historic site to visit.

2.Big Ben

3. Eiffel Tower

4. Leaning Tower of Pisa

5. Parthenon

6. Sphinx

7. Red Square

8. Taj Mahal

9. Great Wall of China

10. Mount Rushmore Type in "Mount Rushmore" for the historic site to visit.


Just A Dream



Choose from the following list of links. (You may return to this page or continue your search as necessary if you find more information on the web.)

1.Acid Rain

2. Acid Rain

1. Auto Emissions Information

2. Auto Emissions/EPA Information

3.Automobile Emissions Overview

1.US EPA

2.Ohio EPA


Two Bad Ants



Choose the following link. (You may return to this page or continue your search as necessary if you find more information on the web.)

Insects Home Page Click on Index, then click on anatomy.html. Study the picture of the ant. Scroll down the page and read about the ant's head, thorax, and abdomen.
For further research on ants, click on the ants.html in the index section.


Author Study: Chris Van Allsburg



Choose from the following list of links. (You may return to this page or continue your search as necessary if you find more information on the web.)

Chris Van Allsburg's Homepage

Chris Van Allsburg's Web Site

More information on Chris Van Allsburg

Since you are required to respond to another book by Chris Van Allsburg, you may want to see a brief description of his books. Click hereto tour the author's work.


The Mysteries of Harris Burdick



You may use the following links to help you in your understanding of the story.

1.Mysteries of Harris Burdick

2. Mysteries of Harris Burdick



Writing a Review



Send in a Kidview on your favorite Chris Van Allsburg book. It may be published in the Chris Van Allsburg Author Spotlight. To write your Kidview, select one of Chris Van Allsburg's books that you read from the list on the page. Write and submit your Kidview. Check back later in the month to see if your Kidview was selected to be published.
You can also find out what other kids thought about a book by clicking on the pencil next to one of the book titles.
To see other Kidviews and/or Submit Your Own, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on "Submit Kidview" when you are ready to submit your review.