The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home... But they were bored, restless and looking for something interesting to do... so they thought they'd give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizarre adventure of their lives. In his second book for children, Chris Van Allsburg again explores the ever-shifting line between fantasy and reality with this story about a game that comes startlingly to life. His marvelous drawings beautifully convey a mix of the everyday and the extraordinary, as a quiet house is taken over by an exotic jungle. Chris Van Allsburg (1949-) is an American illustrator & author born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, among other awards, for 'Jumanji' (1981) and 'The Polar Express' (1985), both of which he also wrote. These two books were later adapted as successful motion pictures.

Acclaimed author Chris Van Allsburg’s daring companion to Caldecott-award winning Jumanji—a tale of intergalactic adventure and sibling rivalry where a roll the dice transports two brothers to the mythical land of Zathura. On the last page of the Caldecott-winning book Jumanji, young Danny Budwing is seen running after his brother, Walter, with a game tucked under his arm. Now after twenty years, Chris Van Allsburg is ready to reveal what happens when Danny and Walter roll the dice. This time the name of the game is Zathura and the battling Budwing boys are in for the ride of their lives. The first book in seven years by Chris Van Allsburg, Zathura is a dramatic adventure that promises a breathtaking and unforgettable experience. At the story's end which becomes, miraculously, the beginning, we find that Walter's feelings for his little brother are greatly altered. Only the mind and hand of Chris Van Allsburg’s could create this fantastic world where shifts in time and space and perspective take the reader on such an extraordinary journey. In double spread illustrations that shimmer against the surreal events of the story, readers will be holding their breath with each new threat the boys face in the satisfying enigma that is Zathura.