Chris.Van Dusen author page

Chris.Van Dusen biography

Chris Van Dusen is a children’s author and illustrator. He wrote and illustrated Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee and If I Built a Car, and he illustrated Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson books.

His picture book The Circus Ship was written and illustrated by him and published on 22 September 2009 for readers aged 4 to 8. The book received the Comstock Read Aloud Book Award Honor Book, the Maine Library Association Lupine Award and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, and it was shortlisted for the New Hampshire Ladybug Award.

Van Dusen’s author-illustrator work includes Hattie & Hudson, Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit, King Hugo’s Huge Ego and The Circus Ship. He also illustrated the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive series and Mac Barnett’s President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath.

Big Truck, Little Island was written and illustrated by Van Dusen and published on 17 September 2024 for readers aged 3 to 7. The story was inspired by an incident on Vinalhaven, Maine, and was nominated for the New England Book Awards and the Connecticut Nutmeg Children’s Book Award.