Peter Sís (born Petr Sís; May 11, 1949) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

illustrator and writer of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. As a cartoonist his editorial illustrations have appeared in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', and ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. For his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator he received the

Hans Christian Andersen Medal The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". The ...

in 2012.

Background

Peter Sís was born in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1949. His father was a filmmaker and his mother was an artist. He is the oldest of three siblings, has a younger sister Hana and younger brother David, who became a film director after his father. As a teenager, Sís developed an interest in Western culture, Allen Ginsberg's beat poetry, long hair for men, blue jeans and rock and roll, particularly the music of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

. Sís was educated at The High School of Applied Arts, the Academy of Applied Arts in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It ...

in London, where he studied with

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

. When he graduated, he began a career as a filmmaker, later winning a

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

Award for an animated short, ''Hlavy'', at the 1980 West

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

. Sís travelled to the United States in 1982 "to create an animated film based on Czechoslovakia's participation in the Olympics" that were upcoming in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union initiated a boycott that included Czechoslovakia but Sís did not return home. He remained in America and was granted asylum. In the U.S. he began illustrating and writing books. He has occasionally returned to filmmaking, producing commercials for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

, plus shorts for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' based on his book ''Madlenka''. Sís became a U.S. citizen in 1988.

Awards

Peter Sís has won ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' Best Illustrated Book of the Year award seven times. He has also been awarded with the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for the illustrations of his 1996 book, ''Starry Messenger'', the 1998 book ''Tibet Through The Red Box'', and his 2007 work, '' The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain''. The latter book also received the ALA's 2008 Robert Silbert Medal for the most distinguished informational book for young readers. He has received a

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

four times: for ''Komodo'' (1993), ''A Small Tall Tale From the Far Far North'' (1994), ''Tibet Through The Red Box'' (1999), and ''The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain'' (2008).Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners
He won the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's onl ...

for ''Tibet Through the Red Box''. He also won the MacArthur Fellowship Award in 2003. Sís has won the Golden Bear Award at the 1980

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

for an

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

. He has also won the Grand Prix Toronto and the

Cine Golden Eagle Award Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

. The biennial

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Sís received the illustration award in 2012. On July 15, 2014, Sís was announced as a finalist for the prestigiou
2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature

Works

*'' Rainbow Rhino'' (1987) *'' Waving'' (1988) *'' Going Up!'' (1989) *'' Beach Ball'' (1990) * '' Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus'' (1991) *'' An Ocean World'' (1992) * '' Komodo!'' (1993) *'' A Small Tall Tale from the Far Far North'' (1993) * '' The Three Golden Keys'' (1994) * '' Starry Messenger: ... Galileo Galilei'' (1996) * ''

Fire Truck A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...

'' (1998) * '' Tibet: Through the Red Box'' (1998) * '' Trucks, Trucks, Trucks'' (1999) *''Ship Ahoy!'' (1999) * '' Madlenka'' (2000) *''

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

'' (2000) *''

Ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

'' (2001) *'' Madlenka's Dog'' (2002) * '' The Tree of Life: ... Charles Darwin ...'' (2003) * '' The Train of States'' (2004) *'' Play, Mozart, Play'' (2006) * '' The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain'' (2007) *'' Madlenka Soccer Star'' (2010) *''

The Conference of the Birds ''The Conference of the Birds'' or ''Speech of the Birds'' ( fa, منطق الطیر, ''Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr'', also known as ''Maqāmāt-uṭ-Ṭuyūr''; 1177) is a Persian poem by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar, commonly known as Attar of Ni ...

'' (2011) *'' The Pilot and the Little Prince'' (2014) *'' Ice Cream Summer'' (2015) *'' Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued'' (2021)

As illustrator only

* '' Stories to Solve: folktales from around the world'' (1985), by George Shannon * '' The Whipping Boy'' (1986), by

Sid Fleischman Albert Sidney Fleischman (born Avron Zalmon Fleischman; March 16, 1920 – March 17, 2010) was an American author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and nonfiction books about stage magic. His works for children are known for ...

* '' The Scarebird'' (1987), Fleischman * '' The Midnight Horse'' (1990), Fleischman * '' More Stories to Solve: fifteen folktales from around the world'' (1990), Shannon * '' The Dragons Are Singing Tonight'' (1993), by

Jack Prelutsky Jack Prelutsky (born September 8, 1940) is an American writer of children's poetry who has published over 50 poetry collections. He served as the first U.S. Children's Poet Laureate (now called the Young People's Poet Laureate) from 2006–08 ...

* '' Still More Stories to Solve: fourteen folktales from around the world'' (1994), Shannon * '' The 13th Floor: a ghost story'' (1995), Fleischman * '' Le marchand d'ailes'' (1997), by Jacques Taravant ('' The Little Wing Giver'', 2001) * '' The Gargoyle on the Roof'' (1999), poems by Prelutsky * '' Monday's Troll'' (1996), Prelutsky * '' Scranimals'' (2002), Prelutsky * ''

The Book of Imaginary Beings The ''Book of Imaginary Beings'' was written by Jorge Luis Borges with Margarita Guerrero and published in 1957 under the original Spanish title ''Manual de zoología fantástica''. The subsequent English version contains descriptions of 120 myt ...

'' (2006), by

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

* '' The Dream Stealer'' (2009), Fleischman * ''

The Dreamer The Dreamer may refer to: Comics * ''The Dreamer'' (comics), a 1985 semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Will Eisner * ''The Dreamer'' (webcomic), a 2007–2017 comic book series and webcomic by Lora Innes Film and television * ''The Dreamer' ...

'' (2010), by Pam Muñoz Ryan —about

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

References

External links

*
Peter Sís's public artwork at the 86th Street station, commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit.CBS Interview with Peter Sís
by Leonard S. Marcus, ''The New York Times''
Peter Sís
at publisher

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...