The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain (Caldecott Honor Book)
by Peter Sis
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
By joining memory and history, SÃs takes us on his extraordinary journey: from infant with paintbrush in hand to young man borne aloft by the wings of his art.
The Whipping Boy
by Sid Fleischman
from HarperTrophy
For kids to get their dose of action and thrills, they need not always go to the local multiplex for the latest bang 'em up film. They could try such books as The Whipping Boy, which relies not on exploding spaceships and demonic robots but mythic story, humorous characters and, ready or not, a moral. The plot involves the orphan Jemmy, who must take the whippings for the royal heir, Prince Brat. Jemmy plans to flee this arrangement until Prince Brat beats him to it, and takes Jemmy along. Jemmy then hears he's charged with the Prince's abduction as this Newbery Medal winning book turns toward a surprising close.
A Prince
and a Pauper
and a Pauper
Jemmy, once a poor boy living on the streets, now lives in a castle. As the whipping boy, he bears the punishment when Prince Brat misbehaves, for it is forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne. The two boys have nothing in common and even less reason to like one another. But when they find themselves taken hostage after running away, they are left with no choice but to trust each other.
Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
The story of Galileo is at once inspiring and troubling. The brilliant astronomer was a celebrated scientist who was showered with honors and patronage until his greatest discovery--that the earth circled the sun rather than the other way around--proved to be too much of a threat to prevailing orthodoxy. Peter Sis, author of the wonderful children's book Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus, tells Galileo's tale for children ages 8 and older. A brilliant and sophisticated illustrator and a sensitive storyteller, he traces Galileo's life from childhood to his final days as a prisoner of the church. (Click to see a sample spread. © 1996 by Peter Sis. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) (Ages 8 and older)
Madlenka
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
"In the universe, on a planet, on a continent, in a country, in a city, on a block, in a house, in a window, in the rain, a little girl named Madlenka finds out her tooth wiggles." To further illustrate where exactly this girl fits into the universe, Peter SÃs's endpapers depict a tiny blue planet Earth with a red dot, then a bigger Earth and a bigger red dot, then an aerial view of the south part of Manhattan Island, then city blocks, then lo! a small Madlenka in an apartment window. And, since she has a loose tooth that wiggles, she simply must tell everyone.
As she traipses around New York, she sees the whole world in the way a child might peer into a sugar egg at a colorful three-dimensional diorama within. At Mr. Gaston's patisserie, he tells her about Paris as he bakes croissants and madeleines. Readers peer through a die-cut square in his bakery window to glimpse the Eiffel Tower. Turn the page, and an exciting blue landmark map of Paris unfolds. (Is that a tiny petit prince we see as well?) At Mr. Singh's newspaper stand, our window on the world takes us to winged elephants and onion domes and the many-armed gods of India. Mr. Ciao from Italy ("Buon giorno, Maddalena") makes visions of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and cats on gondolas and the Coliseum dance through our heads. Throughout SÃs's enchanting, moody illustrations dances blonde-haired, lavender-clad, yellow-booted Madlenka with her yellow umbrella--reminding us of what is really important. "Madlenka! Where have you been?" "Well... I went around the world. And I lost my tooth!"
Fans of SÃs's gorgeous work in Caldecott Honor Books Tibet: Through the Red Box and Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei will find an equally stunning, but more accessible book in Madlenka. Children will discover enough fascinating details to stand up to hours of fierce page perusal, and adults will, as ever, marvel at SÃs's breathtaking artistry. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson
Peeking out through a die-cut window on the jacket, Madlenka invites the reader to enter her world. And what a world it is! On the surface, it looks like an ordinary city block, but as we meet Madlenka's neighbors -- the French baker, the Indian news vendor, the Italian ice-cream man, the Latin American grocer, a retired opera singer from Germany, an African American school friend, and the Asian shopkeeper -- and look through die-cut windows to the images and memories they have carried from old country to new, we can see that Madlenka's block is as richly varied as its inhabitants. And why is Madlenka going around the block, jumping for joy? Her tooth is loose, and she wants everyone to know!
A Collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
by Rudyard Kipling
from Candlewick
In this gorgeous collection featuring eight of Kipling's JUST SO STORIES, each tale is illustrated by a different leading contemporary artist.
How did the rude Rhinoceros get his baggy skin? How did a 'satiably curious Elephant change the lives of his kin evermore? First told aloud to his young daughter ("O my Best Beloved"), Rudyard Kipling's inspired answers to these and other burning questions draw from the fables he heard as a child in India and the folktales he gathered from around the world. Now, in this sumptuous volume, Kipling's playful, inventive tales are brought to life by eight of today's celebrated illustrators, from Peter SÃs's elegantly graphic cetacean in "How the Whale Got His Throat" to Satoshi Kitamura's amusingly expressive characters in "The Cat That Walked by Himself." From one of the world's greatest storytellers come eight classic tales just begging to be heard by a new generation — and a visual feast that offers a reward with every retelling.
Featuring illustrations by:
Christopher Corr
Cathie Felstead
Jeff Fisher
Satoshi Kitamura
Claire Melinsky
Jane Ray
Peter SÃs
Louise Voce
The Dragons Are Singing Tonight
by Jack Prelutsky
from HarperTrophy
"If you don't believe in dragons, / It is curiously true / That the dragons you disparage / Choose to not to believe in you," matter-of-factly claims America's premiere children's poet Jack Prelutsky. Dragons aren't all the same, of course--some are amiable, some are disconsolate, and some are downright nasty. Here Prelutsky, who has written over 30 books of poetry for children, turns his considerable talents to the subject of dragons--a secret dragon, a thunder dragon, a mechanical dragon, even a lazy dragon who likes to sleep all day. The 17 poems range from the whimsical to the scary, but all reflect Prelutsky's incomparable flair for rhythm and humor. The fabulous fire-breathers are illustrated in all their irresistible splendor by award-winning artist Peter Sis. The sophisticated style of his large oil paintings is complemented by his trademark borders in antique gold, giving the pages an Old World look. If you don't believe in dragons then you need this book, because the magical combination of art and poetry will make you and your kids believers. If you listen closely, you might even hear the dragons singing tonight: "We are dragons! We are real!" (Click to see a sample spread. Text © 1993 by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrations © 1993 by Peter Sis. Permission by Greenwillow Books.) (Ages 5 to 9) --Marcie Bovetz
An "excellent collection....Prelutsky and Sis...bring to life so many sorts of dragons: the large, the small, the ferocious, the technological, the gentle, the ominous, and the disconsolate. There's a `just right' quality to the verse that makes it a pleasure to read the words aloud. Their sounds fit together with seamless craftsmanship and their sense rewards listeners with humor, imagination, and occasional poignancy....Because it appeals on so many levels, this is one poetry book that won't siton the shelf for long."--Booklist.
The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin (New York Times Best Illustrated Books (Awards))
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Here is a fascinating, detailed look at the life of Charles Darwin: naturalist, geologist, and independent thinker. In his author's note, Caldecott Honor illustrator Peter Sis (Starry Messenger, Tibet: Through the Red Box) writes that Darwin always regretted not learning how to draw. However, he could and did take "dense and vivid" written notes, from which Sis drew his inspiration. Readers will spend hours poring over the gorgeous, intricately crafted pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations depicting layer upon layer of DarwinÂ’s life as he developed his theories about the origins of life and natural selection. Tidbits from DarwinÂ’s extensive and legendary voyage on the Beagle, notes on Galapagos tortoises, bloodsucking benchuca bugs, and Toxodon skeletons, and particulars from his family life intermingle with each other--just as in real life. Crammed with a veritable muddle of diary entries, cameo portraits, diagrams, natural illustrations, maps, timelines, a gatefold spread, and narrative divided into "Public Life," "Private Life," and "Secret Life" blocks of text, The Tree of Life will certainly be overwhelming to some readers; for other, less linear thinkers, it will be sheer, chaotic delight. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter
As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of other men . . .
Charles Darwin was, above all else, an independent thinker who continues even now to influence the way we look at the natural world. His endless curiosity and passion for detail resulted in a wealth of notebooks, diaries, correspondence, and published writings that Peter SÃs transforms into a visual treasure trove. A multilayered journey through Darwin’s world, The Tree of Life begins with his childhood and traces the arc of his life through university and career, following him around the globe on the voyage of the Beagle, and home to a quiet but momentous life devoted to science and family. SÃs uses his own singular vision to create a gloriously detailed panorama of a genius’s trajectory through investigating and understanding the mysteries of nature. In pictures executed in fine pen and ink and lush watercolors – cameo portraits, illustrated pages of diary, cutaway views of the Beagle, as well as charts, maps, and a gatefold spread – Peter SÃs has shaped a wondrous introduction to Charles Darwin.
More Stories to Solve: Fifteen Folktales from Around the World
by George Shannon
from HarperTrophy
How did they do it?
How did a single firefly win a fight against onw hundred apes? How did the priest catch a thief with a rooster? How did a student outwit the king? How did a frog escape fron the picher of cream? These and eleven more tantalizing, brain-teasing mysteries are waiting in the pages of this book.
Scranimals
by Jack Prelutsky
from HarperTrophy
Poet Jack Prelutsky again pairs up with two-time Caldecott Honor artist Peter SÃs to create Scranimal Island, a fantastical, off-the-map place inhabited by unusual animals from Hippopotamushrooms to Potatoads to a pride of Broccolions. A boy and girl on a scooter, equipped with essentials from umbrella to inner tube, fly from habitat to habitat over SÃs's dreamy, mountainous landscapes à la Tibet: Through the Red Box. They make their way through the clutch of Spinachickens, past the Camelberta Peaches to the "Sweet Porcupineapple, / Unflappable chap, / You happily amble / All over the map." Prelutsky's biological inventions are as clever as they are silly, and it's wonderful that kids are allowed to figure out the hybrid themselves in Rhinocerose, Cardinalbacore, etc. Prelutsky's glee is contagious, and kids will get a kick out of the wordplay in poems like "Oh Sleek Bananaconda": "You slither on your belly, / And you slither on your chin. / You're only unappealing / As you shed your slinky skin." Pronunciation guides for each creature garnish each page, in case you can't pronounce Toucanemones right off the bat, and an iconic guide to the island's animals adorns the table of contents page. Gorgeous endpapers reveal SÃs's map of Scranimal Island and its curious denizens. It's impossible to pick a favorite, between the unbelievably cute Pandaffodil and the detested Radishark. Highly recommended. (Ages 6 to 10) --Karin Snelson
We're sailing to Scranimal Island,
It doesn't appear on most maps....
Scranimal Island is where you will find the fragrant Rhinocerose, the cunning Broccolions, and if you are really, really lucky and very, very quiet, you will spot the gentle, shy Pandaffodil. (You may even hear it yawning if the morning's just begun, watch its petals slowly open to embrace the rising sun.
So put on your pith helmet and prepare to explore a wilderness of puns and rhymes where birds, beasts, vegetables, and flowers have been mysteriously scrambled together to create creatures you've never seen before –– and are unlikely to meet again! Your guides –– Jack Prelutsky, poet laureate of the elementary school set, and two–time Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sis – invite you to join them on an adventure you will never forget!
Ages 4+
Tibet Through the Red Box: Through The Red Box (Caldecott Honor Book)
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
As a child in 1950s Czechoslovakia, Caldecott Honor-winning artist Peter SÃs would listen to mysterious tales of Tibet, "the roof of the world." The narrator, oddly enough, was his father--a documentary filmmaker who had been separated from his crew, caught in a blizzard, and (according to him, anyway) nursed back to health by gentle Yetis. Young SÃs learned of a beautiful land of miracles and monks beset by a hostile China; of the 14th Dalai Lama, a "Boy-God-King"; and of "a magic palace with a thousand rooms--a room for every emotion and heart's desire." Hearing these accounts--some extravagant but all moving--helped the boy recover from an accident. The stories also allowed SÃs's father to relate an odyssey other adults didn't seem to want to know about in cold war Czechoslovakia. "He told me, over and over again, his magical stories of Tibet, for that is where he had been. And I believed everything he said," SÃs recalls. Still, after some time he too seemed to become immune, and the stories "faded to a hazy dream." With Tibet: Through the Red Box SÃs finally pays tribute to this fantastical experience, illustrating key pages from his father's diary with complex, color-rich images of mazes, mountains, and mandalas. He also produces pictures of his family at home--simple, monochromatic images that are just as haunting as their Himalayan counterparts. In one, a wistful mother and two children gather around a Christmas tree, the absent father appearing as a featureless silhouette. Tibet is a treasure for the eyes and heart. Some will ask: Is it for children or adults? Others will wonder: Is it a work of art or a storybook? One of the many things that this book makes us realize is that such classifications are entirely (and happily) unnecessary. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustrations copyright ©1998 by Peter SÃs. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.) --Kerry Fried
By the author of the best-selling Three Golden Keys.
While my father was in China and Tibet, he kept a diary, which was later locked in a red box. We weren't allowed to touch the box. The stories I heard as a little boy faded to a hazy dream, and my drawings from that time make no sense. I cannot decipher them. It was not until I myself had gone far, far away and received the message from my father that I became interested in the red box again . . .
In New York, Peter Ss receives a letter from his father. "The Red Box is now yours," it says. The brief note worries him and pulls him back to Prague, where the contents of the red box explain the mystery of his father's long absence during the 1950s.
Czechoslovakia was behind the iron curtain; Vladimir Ss, a documentary filmmaker of considerable talent, was drafted into the army and sent to China to teach filmmaking. He left his wife, daughter, and young son, Peter, thinking he would be home for Christmas. Two Christmases would pass before he was heard from again: Vladimir Ss was lost in Tibet. He met with the Dalai Lama; he witnessed China's invasion of Tibet. When he returned to Prague, he dared not talk to his friends about all he had seen and experienced. But over and over again he told Peter about his Tibetan adventures. Weaving their two stories together - that of the father lost in Tibet and that of the small boy in Prague, lost without his father - Ss draws from his father's diary and from his own recollections of his father's incredible tales to reach a spiritual homecoming between father and son. With his sublime pictures, inspired by Tibetan Buddhist art and linking history to memory, Peter Ss gives us an extraordinary book - a work of singular artistry and rare imagination.
A Junior Library Guild Selection.
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