Zathura is a 2002 science fiction children's picture book written and illustrated by American author Chris Van Allsburg. In the story, implied to be set in the 1950s, two brothers; Danny and Walter Budwing are drawn into an intergalactic space adventure when their house is magically hurled through space. The book is a sequel to the 1981 children's 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.

Chris Van Allsburg is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he also wrote, and were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was a 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children's books. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan in April 2012.