Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he also wrote, and were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was a 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children's books. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan in April 2012.

18 June 1949

Born on the same birth date (18 June 1949): Jarosław Kaczyński • Lech Kaczyński

Born on the same birth day (18 June): Alf Francis • Antonio Gates • Antonio Maria Bononcini • Blanche Sweet • Dudley R. Herschbach • Frank Müller • George Essex Evans • Lisa Randall • Nathan Cavaleri • Ray McKinley

Born in the same month (June 1949): Adrian Gurvitz • Alan White (Yes drummer) • Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee • Antony Sher • Dusty Baker • Gordon Bray • Gotabaya Rajapaksa • Jim Lea (musician) • Jim Varney • John Illsley • John Wetton • Mary Styles Harris • Patrick Tambay • Paulo Cézar Caju • Ralph Mann • Roger Powell (scientist) • Russell Hitchcock • Russell Smith (singer)