#20-Zathura

Zathura: A Space Adventure

Written and Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg

Hougton Mifflin Company, 2002

38 Pages

Fantasy

      This is the story of two brothers, Danny and Walter. Danny is the youngest and Walter is always picking on him. One day, while the boys are in the park, Danny finds a game. They go back to the house and Danny starts to play the game. Soon he and Walter find themselves battling robots, pirate space ships, and learning about the effects of no-gravity. The game continues until Walter is sent back in time through a black hole. Walter finds himself back in the park with Danny and stops Danny from getting the game. Even though the boys never really finished the game they both learned how to get along with each other and how to do things together.

     Allsburg used pencil and pen to create the black and white illustrations for this book. Even though all the illustrations in this book are black and white they are very vivid. The illustrations in the book look very realistic. It almost feels like you are watching a black and white film when you read the book. The pictures are very detailed and the reader can tell that Alsburg spent a lot of time drawing the pictures. Allsburg also uses a technique that is similar to crosshatching in the pictures that give it an even more detailed look.

      This book would be great for older students. It is a great book to use to teach students that it is better to get along with the people around you than it is to fight with them all the time. It would be a good way to help students understand that cooperation is better than bullying. Also it would be a great book to use with a space unit. Even though it is a fantasy book I think it would be a fun way to introduce a unit on space. It could also be the basis for a writing activity in which students write a story about a space adventure they would like to have.