RANGELEY — Maine children’s author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen will be at the Rangeley Public Library on Wednesday, July 2, at 11 a.m. Children (and their accompanying adults) are invited to come visit with Chris as he shows some of his artwork and some of his books. He will read one or two of his stories and then do a couple of drawings to show how he illustrates his books. A question and answer session will finish out the hour.

Chris grew up in Portland, Maine in the 1960s and spent hours with his brothers drawing, with robots, aliens, and monsters being his specialty. Chris studied fine art at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982.

After a number of years of working as a freelance illustrator, Chris published his first book, “Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee” in 2000. He has been writing and illustrating children’s books ever since. Chris is the author of “Big Truck Little Island”, “The Circus Ship”, and “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee” among others. He has also illustrated books for other authors including Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series and Mac Barnett’s “President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath”.

If you would like to have Chris Van Dusen sign a book for you, please be sure to bring a book with you as we will not be selling books at the library. However, Books Lines and Thinkers on Main Street in Rangeley will have a limited supply of Chris Van Dusen books available to purchase. This program was paid for by the Eleanor Haugh Memorial Fund. Eleanor was a long-time summer resident of Rangeley, and as a former teacher, was very interested in and supportive of children’s literacy. Please sign up in advance at the library or call (207)864-5529 to reserve a space at this free program.