I told my 3-year-old that today, May 11, is Peter Sís’s birthday, and for a while, he was running around the house singing at the top of his lungs, “Happy birthday, Peter Seeeeees!” True story—I kid you not. This prolific, highly acclaimed author-illustrator is a familiar name in my house (though more people may associate him with books for older children). That’s because he’s the creative genius behind two of my son’s favorite books: Fire Truck and Trucks Trucks Trucks. These books, inspired by Sís’s son, feature a young truck lover with a vivid imagination. In Fire Truck, the boy, named Matt, wakes up one morning and discovers he’s transformed into a fire truck. In Trucks Trucks Trucks, Matt starts off cleaning his truck-cluttered room and ends up behind the wheel of these mighty machines. The text is minimal and the illustrations are simpler than what you’ll find in his books for older children, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot going on. Here, as with many of his other works, Sís reveals children’s inner fantasy lives and celebrates the power of their rich, unfettered imagination.
Next up on my family’s reading list is Madlenka, which was inspired by Sís’s daughter. In it, a young city dweller visits the various people on her block (among them, a French baker, a newsstand vendor from India, a Latin American grocer) to share with them the news about her loose tooth. What seems on the surface a walk around the block turns into a marvelous adventure that takes us around the world. I’m looking forward to poring over the intricate illustrations in this book (and its sequels, Madlenka’s Dog and Madlenka Soccer Star) with my daughter. And the good news is that Sís’s books will grow with us. When my kids are older, we’ll dive into his biographies. My favorite is The Tree of Life, a visually stunning, amazingly informative account of the life and accomplishments of Charles Darwin.
Born in Czechoslovakia, in 1949, Sís started out as a filmmaker. In fact, he initially came to this country to make a film for the 1984 Winter Olympics. When Czechoslovakia and the other Eastern bloc countries boycotted the Olympics, he was ordered home. But Sís refused to leave and was granted asylum in the United States. Here, he met the late great Maurice Sendak, who helped introduce him to children’s book editors—and a new career was born. Since then, Sís has illustrated many books by other authors (The Whipping Boy, Scranimals) as well as written and illustrated his own. Over the years, he’s received a mind-boggling number of awards, including being the first children’s book artist to be named a MacArthur Fellow and three Caldecott Honors (for Tibet: Through the Red Box, Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, and The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain). Most recently, it was announced that Sís will be awarded the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator’s Award.
What have you read that’s been written and/or illustrated by Peter Sís? Do you have a favorite? Do share!
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