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  • Peter SísCzech Republic ★ Illustrator
  • Erin Peters

“It comes from the things we hide in our mind, and the way can see things in terms of different layers. I enjoy it when someone looking at one of my books discovers something he or she hadn’t seen before. It’s like a book within a book.”

Peter Sís

Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1949, Peter Sís grew up with a talent and a love of art. Both his parents were artists and they encouraged him in his dream of becoming an artist too. Growing up under a communist regime, he faced repeated methods of indoctrination, but at home his family continued to stimulate his creativity and imagination. Sís was fortunate in that he had children’s books and comic strips that his grandfather had brought back with him from a trip to the United States in the 1920s. His father also traveled a great deal as a documentary filmmaker, bringing back with him rock-and-roll records that Sís fell in love with. Following his passion for music, Sís worked as a disc jockey, travelled with the Beach Boys during one of their tours, and began hosting a radio show in 1967. However, the Communist regime cancelled his show two years later.

Sís studied art at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague, specializing in poster design and animated short films, and at the Royal College of Art in London in 1977. Because of his talent as a filmmaker, Sís was sent to Los Angeles in 1982 to work on short films for the 1984 Olympic Steering Committee. When his government decided to boycott the Olympics, Sís decided to stay. Finding himself in the States with his future uncertain, Sís became acquainted with Maurice Sendak, who helped him begin a career as an illustrator in the American children’s book industry.

Throughout his career, Sís has worked as an author, illustrator, painter, and filmmaker. He has illustrated over 65 books, more than 25 of which he also authored. These books have been published in 30 countries and translated into over 20 languages. His work has drawn critical and popular attention due to his unique style of pointillism, meaning he crafts his illustrations in intricate detail, using painstakingly tiny dots which create a meticulous whole. His illustrations often present the recurring idea that dreams can survive even when outside forces try to limit or even crush the imagination. This can be seen in his illustrations which simultaneously depict multiple perspectives on the same page. His work has been recognized with many awards, including The New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year Award, and the Caldecott Honor.

Selected Publications

Hvězdný posel: Galileo Galilei [Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei]. Prague; New York: Albatros; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996. Print.
Strom života: Charles Darwin [The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin]. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003; Prague: Labyrint/Raketa, 2004. Print.
Tibet: Tajemství červené krabičky [Tibet: Through the Red Box]. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998; Prague: Labyrint/Raketa, 2005. Print.
Tři zlaté klíče [The Three Golden Keys]. Prague: Albatros, 1994; New York: Doubleday, 2001; Prague; New York: Labyrint/Raketa; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. Print.
Zed’: Jak jsem vyrůstal za železnou oponou [The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain]. Prague; New York: Labyrint/Raketa; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. Print. [End Page 19]
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