Article: TALKING VOLUMES; DRAWING room; Children's author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg, creator of "The Polar Express," inhabits a world that's much more low-tech than the movie, but every bit as imaginative, filled with shadows and light.(VARIETY)(TALKING VOLUMES)

Byline: Kristin Tillotson; Staff Writer

Providence, R.I. -- Before motion-capture computer technology, before digitally created characters all played by Tom Hanks, before the movie version of "The Polar Express," there was Chris Van Allsburg.

Van Allsburg, 55, who wrote the 1985 children's book that became the 2004 film, is so low-tech that he's slow-tech: He uses an old-fashioned dial telephone, doesn't like answering machines or e-mail, and takes several months to create a 25-page book.

But never mind. Van Allsburg makes magic out of thin air, just by following his humbly sparked daydreams. It was not Christmas or Santa or nostalgia that ...

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