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library_brandy's review against another edition
I liked the stories I read--and I ultimately read a little more than half--so I'm not wandering off from this because it's in any way flawed. But reading full stories attached to these almost ethereal images was destroying the magic of the original work for me--part of what makes Mysteries so great is that each illustration has only a tiny snippet of text, which sometimes makes it a story in itself. Having a fully fleshed-out story drains some of the power from these (at times) unsettling images, so I'm putting it down before reading some undoubtedly impressive tales.
woodge's review against another edition
4.0
I think any fan of children's books would be familiar with the works of Chris Van Allsburg. After all, he's written Jumanji, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, The Polar Express and many others. One of which was a beguiling collection of strange pictures with tantalizing captions called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. In that book you were left to wonder what the stories were surrounding these unconnected pictures. Now 14 authors are trying their hand at it and the result is this handsome book. I decided to read it aloud to the kids. (I needed a book and this was handy.) Some nights I read one story, most others I could read two before lights-out. It's a pretty solid collection, there were only a couple stories I didn't really care for. One that the kids particularly liked was the third one, written by Sherman Alexie. It featured two naughty siblings and my kids giggled like mad as I read it. The last story was one by Stephen King and it's the longest of the bunch. Kids were riveted and had to tell Mama all about it afterwards. Fun stuff.
mamers's review against another edition
I wish I could say I loved this, but I just can't do it. I started with a story by one of my favorite authors, Jon Scieszka, and was completely bored. So I flipped to another of my favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo. Yawn. I never made it to any of the other equally fantastic authors, because I couldn't focus, couldn't keep my eyes on the boring pages. So sad.
I suppose part of my disappointment stems from the fact that by trying to read these stories, the stories I created in my mind (upon reading [b:The Mysteries of Harris Burdick|55734|The Mysteries of Harris Burdick|Chris Van Allsburg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170451702s/55734.jpg|489077]) are disappearing. I feel like I'm being told my imagination was wrong and that just feels wrong.
I suppose part of my disappointment stems from the fact that by trying to read these stories, the stories I created in my mind (upon reading [b:The Mysteries of Harris Burdick|55734|The Mysteries of Harris Burdick|Chris Van Allsburg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170451702s/55734.jpg|489077]) are disappearing. I feel like I'm being told my imagination was wrong and that just feels wrong.
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the mix of authors they brought to this collection. I would love to see another one with other authors. This could be repeated almost ad infinitum. I seriously want a Lemony Snicket one. And a Suzanne Collins one. And a Tahereh Mafi one. And a Brandon Sanderson one. Etc. Etc. Etc.
motsinsatiables's review against another edition
4.0
Ma chronique : https://auxmotsinsatiables.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/les-chroniques-de-harris-burdick-collectif/
lanikei's review against another edition
3.0
Considering the quality of contributors, I was expecting better. These are bestselling authors! But I suppose they aren't all used to writing short stories from prompts...
That said, there were some brilliant and haunting stories that fit the creepiness of the original concept. Just Desert was one of my favorites, and a few others captured the dark fantasy of Van Allsburg's illustrations.
Still somewhat disappointing, I think some of my fifth graders did better. I think this would be a really fun educational tool to use after having kids write their own stories. And what a neat feeling to know that your take was better than Stephen King's!
That said, there were some brilliant and haunting stories that fit the creepiness of the original concept. Just Desert was one of my favorites, and a few others captured the dark fantasy of Van Allsburg's illustrations.
Still somewhat disappointing, I think some of my fifth graders did better. I think this would be a really fun educational tool to use after having kids write their own stories. And what a neat feeling to know that your take was better than Stephen King's!
npaneni's review against another edition
4.0
I learned about Harris Burdick when I was in elementary school, and his story always interested me. He went to a Boston Publisher and gave them 14 very well drawn pictures, each with a single sentence beneath them. He said he would return with more, but he never did. Furthermore, he was never ound again, and no one knows what happened to him. The pictures are all very interesting, and they make you think, Where in the world would he have gotten the Ideas for them? This book is just a collection of the stories created using the pictures and sentences as inspiration. Each story was written by a different author, and they are all different in their own ways, but that just makes it better. If you ever feel like writing a story and need a prompt, just look up one of Harris Burdick's pictures. It'll definitely send ideas running through your head.
cosbrarian's review against another edition
2.0
This is an uneven short story collection, and some of the stories were really great, but some fell flat for me. It's worth picking up if you spun stories of your own about the illustrations in the original Van Allsburg book, but don't necessarily expect to adore all of them. My favorites in this edition are Jules Feiffer's morbidly mature "Uninvited Guests" and Sherman Alexie's creepy "A Strange Day in July."