The Stranger » (None)

The author of such bestselling children's books as Jumanji and The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg is a two-time winner of the coveted Caldecott Medal, as well as that National Book Award and the Regina Medal for lifetime achievement in children's literature.

The enigmatic origins of the stranger that Farmer Bailey hits with his truck and brings home to recuperate seem to have a mysterious relation to the weather. Could he be Jack Frost?

Publishers Weekly

Farmer Bailey thinks he's hit a deer while driving his truck, but in the middle of the road lies a man, an enigmatic stranger. He goes home with Farmer Bailey, his memory apparently gone. Weeks pass at the Bailey farm; the stranger seems happy to be around them, and helps with the harvest. Oddly, while trees to the north of the farm turn red and gold with the arrival of fall, Bailey's land seems to be in a state of perpetual summer. One day, the stranger sees geese flying south and knows that he, too, must leave. Not long after that, the leaves at the farm change color and the air turns cool. And every year since, summer lasts a week longer at the Bailey farm than anywhere else. Van Allsburg's story is strangely melancholy, and his straightforward writng is uncannily dry, in contrast to the vivid green and golden landscapes of his paintings. The mood and suspense in this book make it compellinga chance to see the artist take a slight incident and create a truly mysterious event. (All ages