Peter Sís is an award-winning children's book writer and illustrator. Sís attended the Academy of Applied Arts in
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and the
Royal College of ArtThe Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In addition to writing and illustrating books, Peter's editorial illustrations have appeared in
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
,
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
,
EsquireEsquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, and
The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
.
Background
Peter Sís was born in
BrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
,
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1949. His father was a film-maker and his mother was an artist, and he has a younger sister, Hana. As a child, Sís loved to draw and paint, making his first picture book when he was in kindergarten. As a teenager, Sís developed an interest in Western culture,
Allen Ginsberg’sIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
beat poetry, long hair for men, blue jeans and rock and roll, particularly the music of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
,
The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and
The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. Sís was educated at The High School of Applied Arts, the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the
Royal College of ArtThe Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London, where he studied with
Quentin BlakeQuentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.-Education:...
. When he graduated, he began a career as a film-maker, later winning a
Golden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
Award for an animated short,
Hlavy, at the 1980 West Berlin Film Festival.
In 1982,Sís was given permission to travel to the USA in order to make an animated film of Czechoslovakia's participation in the Olympics. When Czechoslovakia boycotted the Games, Sís decided not to return home. He applied for
asylumRight of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in America and began working as an art teacher at the Otis Art Institute of Parson's School of Design in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
In 1983 he collaborated with
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
on an animated music video for the song
You Got to Serve Somebody, which won a
Golden EagleThe Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
Award.
A correspondence with illustrator,
Maurice SendakMaurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
culminated in an invitation to a meeting with Sendak and an introduction to children’s book editors. Peter Sís moved to New York City in 1984 and began a new career as a children’s books illustrator.
In 1986, his illustrations for
Sid FleischmanAlbert Sidney Fleischman , pen name Sid Fleischman, was a Newbery Medal-winning author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and books on magic. His works for children are known for their humor, imagery, zesty plotting, and exploration of the byways of American history...
’s
Newbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
winning novel,
The Whipping Boy, brought him national attention and his career as a children’s book illustrator started to take off.
Following the publication of
Follow the Dream in 1991, Sís met Jacqueline Onassis, then an editor at Doubleday Books, who then encouraged and oversaw
The Three Golden Keys, which was published in 2001.
In 2003, he became a MacArthur Fellow, an honor bestowed by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recognizing “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”
In addition to his work as a children’s books illustrator, Sís has contributed thousands of drawings to the New York Times Book Review, and many other magazines, including Time Magazine, Atlantic Monthly and
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
.
Other notable works by Peter Sís include a mural created for New York City’s 86th Street Lexington Avenue subway station and a
Pieces for Peace mosaic with
CITYartsCITYarts, Inc. is a nonprofit public arts and education organization founded in 1968, and then re-founded with a name change and new mission in 1989 when Tsipi Ben-Haim reopened the organization's closed doors. CITYarts brings together children and youth with professional artists to create public art...
at the Jacob H. Schiff Park at 138th St and Amsterdam Ave. He also created the poster artwork for
Miloš FormanJan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
’s film
AmadeusAmadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
. and the
Subway Whale poster for the New York City Transit Authority that was on view in subway cars throughout New York City.
His work has been exhibited in Prague, London, Zurich, Hamburg, Los Angeles, and New York in both group and one-man shows.
Peter lives with his wife and children in the New York City area.
Awards
Peter Sís has won
The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
Best Illustrated Book of the Year award six times. He was also awarded with the American Library Association's Caldecott Honor for the illustrations of his 1996 book, "Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei",1998 book "Tibet Through The Red Box" as well as his 2007 work, "
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron CurtainThe Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain is a children's book written and illustrated by Peter Sís. It received both the American Library Association's Caldecott Honor and ALA's 2008 Robert Silbert Medal for the most distinguished informational book for young readers...
." The latter book also received the ALA's 2008
Robert Silbert MedalThe Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award established by the Association for Library Service to Children in 2001 with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., is awarded annually to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the...
for the most distinguished informational book for young readers. He has received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award twice: for Tibet Through The Red Box (1999) and The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain (2008)
He won the
Deutscher JugendliteraturpreisThe Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 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 literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
for "Tibet Through the Red Box".
Sís has won the Golden Bear Award at the 1980 West Berlin Film Festival for an animated short. He has also won the Grand Prix Toronto and the Cine Golden Eagle Award.
Illustrations for Other Books (in alphabetical order)
- The Dragons Are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky
- The Dreamstealer by Sid Fleischman
- The Gargoyle on the Roof by Jack Prelutsky
- Little Wing Giver by Jacques Taravant
- Monday’s Troll by Jack Prelutsky
- More Stories to Solve by George Shannon
- Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky
- Still More Stories to Solve by George Shannon
- Stories to Solve by George Shannon
- The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
External links