Chris Van Allsburg had a legendary run, scoring two Caldecott Medals ("Jumanji," "Polar Express"), tossing off classics ("Two Bad Ants," "Gardens of Abdul Gasazi," " The Widow's Broom"). In that span, he outdid himself with "The Wreck of the Zephyr."
This is essentially a mystery story. Our detective arrives at the scene of the crime. A boat has deposited itself at the edge of a cliff; it seems impossible that waves threw the boat so, so high above the sea level. But this is the story narrated by certain so-called witnesses.
Our detective digs deeper. An erratic, sketchy townsperson has a story that no one else is sharing. Once, a boy went out in a ship. A storm transported the ship to a magical land, where maritime navigators had special gifts. These navigators could actually command their vessels to fly through the clouds. The boy demanded to learn the secrets of this land. But he was impatient; he woke in the middle of the night, took his boat on his own, and tried to replicate the efforts of the magical navigators he had just observed.
For a while, the boy's boat achieved an "airborne" state--till it crashed into the steeple of a church and tumbled to the Earth (just short of a cliff's edge).
Having heard this story, the investigator encounters one final twist. It's too good to spoil here.
I like that the plot doesn't have an obvious moral; while some writers try to lecture children, Van Allsburg simply tells a captivating tale. Also, I see this work as a parable about an artist's life. Chasing inspiration, the artist is like a little boy who wishes to invent a flying sailboat. It doesn't really matter whether or not the artist fails. The *chase* is the thing that is addictive.
Van Allsburg's oddness makes him an icon. I love "The Wreck of the Zephyr."
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