Order of Book Series
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Chris Van Allsburg Books in Order

Chris Van Allsburg has written 20 books, published between 1979 and 2014. The first book is The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979) and the newest is The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie (2014). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
1979–2014
Pages on record
638 in 16 of 20 books
Reading time
11–16 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 638 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable Chris Van Allsburg checklist
Photo of Chris Van Allsburg, author

Chris Van Allsburg, born June 18, 1949, is an American author and illustrator of children's books. Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both written and illustrated by Van Allsburg, won Caldecott Medals and were later filmed, and The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979) was a Caldecott runner-up in 1980. Van Allsburg was the 1986 U.S. nominee for the International Hans Christian Andersen Award. The catalogue lists 20 books through The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie (2014), including The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (1984) and Two Bad Ants (1988).

How many Chris Van Allsburg books are there?

Chris Van Allsburg has 20 books, released between 1979 and 2014. They include 4 separate series.

Chris Van Allsburg Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 Chris Van Allsburg books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris Van Allsburg, book 1 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1979)
  2. Cover of Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, book 1 of the Jumanji series (1981)
  3. Cover of Ben's Dream by Chris Van Allsburg, book 2 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1982)
  4. Cover of The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg, book 3 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1983)
  5. Cover of The Mysteries of Chris Van Allsburg by Chris Van Allsburg, book 1 of the Chris Van Allsburg series (1984)
  6. Cover of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, book 4 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1984)
  7. Cover of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, book 5 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1985)
  8. Cover of The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg, book 6 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1986)
  9. Cover of The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg, book 1 of the Chris Van Allsburg Plays series (1987)
  10. Cover of Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg, book 8 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1990)
  11. Cover of The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg, book 9 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1991)
  12. Cover of The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg, book 10 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1992)
  13. Cover of The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg, book 11 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1993)
  14. Cover of Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, book 8 of the Todd Strasser Children's series (1995)
  15. Cover of Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg, book 12 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (1995)
  16. Cover of Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg, book 2 of the Jumanji series (2002)
  17. Cover of Probuditi! by Chris Van Allsburg, book 13 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (2006)
  18. Cover of Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg, book 14 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (2011)
  19. Cover of The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie by Chris Van Allsburg, book 15 of the Chris Van Allsburg Picture series (2014)
  1. 1
    The Garden of Abdul GasaziChris Van Allsburg Picture #11979 · 33 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197933
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    JumanjiJumanji #11981 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198131
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Ben's DreamChris Van Allsburg Picture #21982 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Wreck of the ZephyrChris Van Allsburg Picture #31983 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198331
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Mysteries of Chris Van AllsburgChris Van Allsburg #11984 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Mysteries of Harris BurdickChris Van Allsburg Picture #41984 · 16 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Polar ExpressChris Van Allsburg Picture #51985 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198532
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The StrangerChris Van Allsburg Picture #61986 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Z Was ZappedChris Van Allsburg Plays #11987 · 56 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198756
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Two Bad AntsChris Van Allsburg Picture #71988 · confirmed 1/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Just a DreamChris Van Allsburg Picture #81990 · 48 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199048
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Wretched StoneChris Van Allsburg Picture #91991 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199131
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Widow's BroomChris Van Allsburg Picture #101992 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199232
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Sweetest FigChris Van Allsburg Picture #111993 · 30 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199330
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    JumanjiTodd Strasser Children's #81995 · 139 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995139
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Bad Day at RiverbendChris Van Allsburg Picture #121995 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199532
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    ZathuraJumanji #22002 · confirmed 1/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Probuditi!Chris Van Allsburg Picture #132006 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Queen of the FallsChris Van Allsburg Picture #142011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Misadventures of Sweetie PieChris Van Allsburg Picture #152014 · confirmed 1/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Chris Van Allsburg books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Chris Van Allsburg Picture in order

15 books
  1. 1. The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
  2. 2. Ben's Dream
  3. 3. The Wreck of the Zephyr
  4. 4. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
  5. 5. The Polar Express
  6. 6. The Stranger
  7. 7. Two Bad Ants
  8. 8. Just a Dream
  9. 9. The Wretched Stone
  10. 10. The Widow's Broom
  11. 11. The Sweetest Fig
  12. 12. Bad Day at Riverbend
  13. and 3 more in the table above

Jumanji in order

2 books
  1. 1. Jumanji
  2. 2. Zathura

Chris Van Allsburg in order

1 book
  1. 1. The Mysteries of Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg Plays in order

1 book
  1. 1. The Z Was Zapped

Todd Strasser Children's in order

1 book
  1. 8. Jumanji

Do you have to read Chris Van Allsburg books in order?

You only need to read Chris Van Allsburg books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Chris Van Allsburg

Start with The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1979), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Chris Van Allsburg book?

The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie (2014) is the newest Chris Van Allsburg book released so far.

Is there a new Chris Van Allsburg book coming?

No next Chris Van Allsburg book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Chris Van Allsburg has won

Wikidata records 2 awards for Chris Van Allsburg. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Regina Medal1993Won
  • Caldecott Medal1986Won

Chris Van Allsburg at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Chris Van Allsburg title on record dates from 2014, 12 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Chris Van Allsburg books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
638 pages across the 16 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 32 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Chris Van Allsburg books, 9 of 20, were published in the 1980s.

What the Chris Van Allsburg books are about

19 of the 20 Chris Van Allsburg books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 13 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.