Peter Sís

Peter Sís
Born
Petr Sís

May 11, 1949 (1949-05-11) (age 77)
Brno, Czechoslovakia
CitizenshipUnited States (1988)
OccupationsIllustrator, cartoonist
SpouseTerry Lajtha
ChildrenMadeleine, Matej
Writing career
GenresChildren's picture books, editorial cartoons
Websitepetersis.com

Peter Sís (born Petr Sís; May 11, 1949) is a Czech-born American illustrator and writer of children's books. As a cartoonist his editorial illustrations have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Esquire, and The Atlantic Monthly. In 2012 he received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his "lasting contribution" as an illustrator of children's literature.

Background

Peter Sís was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia 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 Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. Sís was educated at The High School of Applied Arts, the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied with Quentin Blake. When he graduated, he began a career as a filmmaker, later winning a Golden Bear Award for an animated short, Hlavy, at the 1980 West Berlin Film Festival.

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 & PBS Kids, plus shorts for Sesame Street based on his book Madlenka.

Sís became a U.S. citizen in 1988.

Awards

Selected 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 (1998)
  • Tibet: Through the Red Box (1998)
  • Trucks, Trucks, Trucks (1999)
  • Ship Ahoy! (1999)
  • Madlenka (2000)
  • Dinosaur! (2000)
  • Ballerina (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 (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

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitaker, Barbara (December 19, 2004). "When Children Get to Vote". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 "Hans Christian Andersen Awards" (top page). International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  3. 1 2 "2012 Awards". Hans Christian Andersen Awards. IBBY. With presentation speech by jury president María Jesús Gil ( August 25, 2012), acceptance speech by Sís, and other contemporary material.
      "Peter Sís – Winner" Archived 2014-03-22 at the Wayback Machine. IBBY. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  4. 1 2 "Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners 2012" (DOC). IBBY. Press release March 19, 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  5. 1 2 "María Teresa Andruetto, Peter Sís Win Hans Christian Andersen Awards". Publishers Weekly. March 19, 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  6. 1 2 "Madlenka's Dog by Peter Sís" (PDF). Press release 2001/2002. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Reprint by Peter Sís (petersis.com).
  7. 1 2 Levy, Alan (December 19, 2001). "Christmas without carp at Peter Sís". Prague Post. pp. Prague Profile.
  8. 1 2 The Wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís" (PDF). Press release May 2007. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Reprint by Peter Sís (petersis.com).
  9. ↑ Golden Bear Award winner's list
  10. ↑ "Peter Sis biography" Deprecated link archived 2014-03-21 at archive.today. Peter Sís (petersis.com). 2008. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
      "In 1982 he was sent by the Czech government to Los Angeles to produce a film for the 1984 Winter Olympics. But the film project was canceled when Czechoslovakia and the entire Eastern bloc decided to boycott the Olympics. Ordered by his government to return home, Peter decided to stay in the United States and was granted asylum."
  11. ↑ "Peter Sís". R. Michelson Galleries.
  12. ↑ Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners Archived 2008-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "Peter Sís – Lifetime Achievement 2015". Society of Illustrators.
  14. ↑ "Illustrator and Author Peter Sis Receives the 2022 BBLA Award". Bohemian Benevolent Literary Association. Sep 5, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Peter Sis - illustrator & author of magnificent children's books". Radio Prague International. 2004-09-15. Retrieved 2023-07-11.