Chirs was born in Portland, Maine on St. Patrick’s Day, 1960. As a child, he and his brothers would spend hours drawing pictures. They didn’t have video games or computers to entertain them, so they drew instead. One of his brothers would sketch intricate war scenes. Another would draw animals so realistic you’d swear they were breathing. Chris' specialty was aliens, robots and monsters.

Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were his heroes. He loved the rhythm of Dr. Seuss’ words and was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. Chris had no idea back then that he’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when he grew up.

After high school, Chris studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. It took him a while to figure out what he wanted to do. First he was a waiter, and then Chirs was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers. Eventually he started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born.

For more than ten years he worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. Chris was doing mostly editorial work and his illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun and Disney Adventures. One day he started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree. He thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration. At the same time, a refrain kept running through his head --- “Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee/ Hopped in the car and drove down to the sea”. The combination of these two things eventually became his first book, DOWN TO THE SEA WITH MR. MAGEE which was published in 2000. He's been busy writing and illustrating children’s books ever since.

Now Chris lives in a beautiful, little town on the coast of Maine with his lovely wife Lori, his two tall sons, Ethan and Tucker and a yellow lab named Opal. Life is good.

Books by Chris Van Dusen