Zathura

This article is about the children's book. For the film, see Zathura: A Space Adventure. For the document viewer, see Zathura (document viewer). For other uses, see Zathura (disambiguation).

Zathura

Author	Chris Van Allsburg
Illustrator	Chris Van Allsburg
Cover artist	Chris Van Allsburg
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature, science fiction
Published	2002 (Houghton Mifflin)
Publication place	United States
Pages	32
ISBN	978-0-618-25396-8
OCLC	49031916
LC Class	PZ7.V266 Zat 2002
Preceded by	Bad Day at Riverbend
Followed by	Probuditi!

Zathura is a 2002 illustrated children's book by the American author Chris Van Allsburg. In the story, two boys are drawn into an intergalactic space adventure when their house is magically hurled through space. The book is a standalone spinoff to the 1981 children's picture book Jumanji, also by Van Allsburg, and visual and textual references are made to "Jumanji" in the story. The book was adapted into a film, titled Zathura: A Space Adventure, in 2005.

Plot

Zathura picks up where Jumanji left off, as the parents of two brothers, Danny and Walter Budwing, are leaving. The two brothers don't get along with each other. Danny wanted to play catch, while Walter wanted to watch television. Danny tossed Walter a baseball which hits him on the head. Walter then chased Danny through the house and caught him in the park across the street from their house, where they find the insidious Jumanji board game. Danny brings the game home, where he then loses interest in playing it.

Underneath Jumanji, Danny finds another game called Zathura. Danny starts playing this game, then he gets a card that said, "Meteor shower, take evasive action.", to which an actual meteor shower occurs. Danny and Walter soon realized that the game is affecting reality and has sent them into outer space. Danny soon concludes that they must finish it in order to return home, so they continue playing. Soon, Walter loses his gravity and Danny saves him from disappearing into space.

When Walter takes his turn, a defective robot chases him through the house. When Danny takes his, he gets close to a planet called Tsouris 3 and gets shorter and wider. Soon, a ship carrying extraterrestrials known as Zorgons arrive and they board the house. The robot chases the creatures away as Walter takes his turn and got sucked into a black hole and is sent back in time. Walter transported back to when he was with Danny in the park. When Danny finds Jumanji and is about to take it home, but Walter throws it out and instead offers to play catch with Danny. Evidently, having gone through these dangerous adventures and helping each other has brought the two brothers closer to each other.

Reception

"Publishers Weekly" said the book was a "satisfying enigma" like its predecessor. "Booklist" said readers of Jumanji would also like Zathura. Alternatively, "The Horn Book Magazine" said the book did not work as a sequel to Jumanji but worked as part of a series.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of the book titled Zathura: A Space Adventure was made in 2005, directed by Jon Favreau. It received positive reviews from critics but was not a commercial success.

See also

• "Jumanji" (picture book)

External links

• "Zathura" on the author's site