BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sís, Peter. 2007. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: New York. ISBN 9780374347017.
PLOT SUMMARY
This book is a true history of Czechoslovakia under Soviet occupation, an autobiography of Peter Sís’s childhood behind the Iron Curtain and a graphic novel all at the same time. Expertly crafted and well recognized for the impact it has had on millions of people –and now me.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, author, and filmmaker. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1949. He often writes about his life growing up during The Cold War in Czechoslovakia.
In The Wall Sís provides the narrative of his life at the bottom of each page. Surrounding the fascinating illustrations are italicized notes about socialistic influences and reactions of the people to the communist directives conveyed in the illustration. He repeatedly uses the word Compulsory to convey that the people had no choice but to conform to the new laws. He writes with the voice of a child in the beginning of his life. His voice matures as he does. Sís’s illustrations show his emotions maturing, his ideas changing with each page–taking the reader through those very experiences. Even giving the Communists pig faces! The narrative Sís focus on the influences of art and music on his generation and conveys his personal experiences -his own unique perspective on life. He uses a clever combination of text, photographs, maps, and drawings to contrast his natural creativity against the symbols and responses associated with communist ideology. He impresses on the reader that our dreams are our own; no one can take them away. He also teaches us –and this is important- that creativity can be discouraged but not revoked.
The Wall, as Sís draws it, divides two worlds. On one side the convivial lands of the west are labeled with positive experiences such as Equality, Happiness, Liberty, Justice, Truth, Knowledge, Integrity, and Freedom –even our Statue of Liberty beckoning from the background. On the other side are the darker lands east of the wall; home of Terror, Suspicion, Injustice, Corruption, Lies... Sís depicts himself flying away from these terrible lands on the wings of his art, his dreams carrying him to a new world and happier life.
Sís drew me into this book with his ingenious symbolism, his journal entries, and the way he uses color to communicate the relationship between real world and dreams. I’ve never made a connection like this with history before, particularly not with Eastern Europe. There are many details to pull out and study; it's a seek-and-find adventure for all readers, and a social history lesson for older students; an amazing introduction for lessons on European history, the cold war, or social oppression. After reading this book, my head is full of questions and curiosity about their culture and history.
Read this book with your children. Because we should never forget how precious freedom is.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
“Peter Sís, who has entranced children and adults with his magical stories and drawings, has taken his talent to a new level. Peter, born to dream and draw, is now also teaching the tragic history of his native Czechoslovakia under communism in this beautiful, poignant, and important work for those of all ages.” Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
"The ecstatic energy and big-spirited inventiveness of the artists drawings make the once all but unimaginable realization of that dream visible for all to see." The New York Times Book Review
“Peter Sís’s book is most of all about the will to live one’s life in freedom and should be required reading for all those who take their freedom for granted.” Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic
CONNECTIONS
“Peter Sís, who has entranced children and adults with his magical stories and drawings, has taken his talent to a new level. Peter, born to dream and draw, is now also teaching the tragic history of his native Czechoslovakia under communism in this beautiful, poignant, and important work for those of all ages.” Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
"The ecstatic energy and big-spirited inventiveness of the artists drawings make the once all but unimaginable realization of that dream visible for all to see." The New York Times Book Review
“Peter Sís’s book is most of all about the will to live one’s life in freedom and should be required reading for all those who take their freedom for granted.” Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic
CONNECTIONS
Featured Author: Peter Sís http://www.peterSís.com/
There is an interview with Sís on http://us.macmillan.com/thewall talking about The Wall and his work telling the stories of growing up in Czechoslovakia. This website was a joy to find -I particularly enjoyed the audio clips. To hear Sís talk about his experiences was insightful, and emotional. There are also reviews, biography, excerpts from the book, and even a teacher’s guide that provides classroom ideas for The Wall. From the teacher’s guide one lesson stuck with me: analyzing his emotions and how they evolve through the illustrations:
· Compare how Sís presents the realities of life and the way he responded to those realities.
· Ask how the Sís communicates his emotions in his pictures and how he changes when he discovers that “there were things he wasn’t told.”
· Also discuss the use of the color red in the book and the emotions that red provokes in the reader. What more information do you get from the use of color through the book, and what emotions are conveyed?
AWARDS FOR THE WALL
Caldecott Honor (2008) and Sibert Medal (2008)
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults; American Library Association Notable Children's Books; Caldecott Honor Book; IRA Notable Books for a Global Society; Boston Globe - Horn Book Award; New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Books of the Year; Orbis Pictus; Amazon.com Top 10 Editors’ Picks: Children; Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI); Children's Books: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library; Eisner Award Nominee; Parents' Choice Award Winner; NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies; Booklinks Lasting Connection; Booklist Editors' Choice; Booklist Top 10 Biographies for Youth; Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Award; Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List; Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice; Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year; School Library Journal Best Books of the Year; VOYA's Nonfiction Honor List; Robert F. Sibert Award - Medal; Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens; Illinois Read for a Lifetime Award Master List; Michigan Great Lakes Great Books Award Master List; New Mexico Battle of the Books Master List; North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Award Master List; Utah Beehive Book Award Master List
http://us.macmillan.com/thewall
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