I made a decision when I started the second book, which was Jumanji, that as long as I kept on doing books I would provide the dog a cameo appearance. He unfortunately passed away - he had an accident, so he didn’t live that long. I told him, “Gee, that’s such an ordinary dog, you should get something a little more interesting, a little more exotic.” And he said, “Like what?” And I said, “You should get a bull terrier.” I sold him on the idea, and I used the dog that he had acquired as my model for the dog in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. My brother-in-law was visiting around that time, and he told me that he was about to acquire a golden retriever. I found them peculiar looking and charming in an idiosyncratic sort of way, but did not have access to one. When I wrote my first book, I had in mind that the story would include a dog, and the dog I had in mind was a bull terrier. Why did you put that bull terrier in all of your books? Well, that’s a bull terrier, and that’s probably more dog than I can handle at my age.

So not like the one that you have in all of your books. Van Allsburg: You may hear some barking in the background because I have a new puppy. TIME caught up with Van Allsburg, 68, who continues to write children’s books to this day, ahead of this week’s release of the Jumanji reboot. His drawings are both realistic and uncanny, whether in black and white, sepia or color, and they take children on previously unimagined adventures. After bursting onto the picture book scene with 1979’s The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, he went on to win two Caldecott medals - for Jumanji(1981) and The Polar Express (1985) - both of which also became beloved films.

Chris Van Allsburg is responsible for some of the most iconic stories and images of American childhood.

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