Tibet Through the Red Box (Caldecott Honor Book)

This book was given to me by my friend XS. I became totally entranced by the illustrations and caught up in the story/dream, transported to high altitudes and mysterious, forbidden memories. I am giving this as a birthday to a dear friend who is embarked on a landscaping course.

A superbly illustrated tale reconstructing the author's father's trip into Tibet in 1959 when he was meant to photograph a road construction project at the time of the Chinese take over of the country. The father becomes separated from the road project and ends up in Lhasa. This is one of the best

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illustrated books I've ever seen, tiny little drawings, each one a gem. I am so grateful to an artist friend who told me about Peter Sis and his remarkable work.

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Grade 7 Up-Through personal memories, old tales, and intriguing pictures, Sis opens a door to the little-known land and religion of Tibet. There is a room, a study, in a house in Prague where a red box waits to be opened. It holds a diary of a long ago journey to Tibet made by the author's

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filmmaker father, sent to record the building of the first road from Communist China into the high mountains of Tibet. The room appears again and again, suffused with the colors of memory. Throughout the book are small sketches and large landscapes, and handwritten diary pages on yellowed sheets with the texture of parchment. Similar in structure and art style to Sis's The Three Golden Keys (Doubleday, 1994), this book is more solidly grounded in the reality of an adventurous journey to central Asia. Then, like a nest of boxes, it reveals layers of memory, tales of Tibet and, finally, references to the present era of political oppression and the hopes that rest on the singular figure of the Dalai Lama. Most intriguing are the eight full-page illustrations inspired by circular, symmetrical patterns and detailed symbols of the Tibetan wheel of life, creatively adapted to the text. Who will venture to study and decipher this artful book with its postmodern structure, its mysterious figures, and its interweaving of past and future? Adults will see the book as a way to introduce children to the geography, culture, and religion of Tibet. Attentive young people will be drawn to puzzle out the meaning of the stories and pictures. Art-conscious readers of all ages will appreciate the author's groundbreaking, creative use of the picture-book format in ways that challenge both eye and mind.

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"Tibet Through the Red Box" is a very interesting book where Peter Sis takes us on a journey through Tibet. His father leads him back on his on journey as a documentary filmmaker though his diaries in the red box. The journal entries and stories lead the reader on a journey of Tibet. We learn of

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the Yeti, the Dali Lama, and other traditions in Tibet. The illustrations are amazing. Peter Sis also uses the font to jump between his father's journal entries and the stories his father has told him.

This book reads just like fiction, but helps introduce the reader to the wonder that is Tibet. I think this would be great for students learning about geography, traditions of foreign lands, or religion to read.

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Another of this authors great 'picture' books. While I still prefer his book on Galileo this one is quite interesting being a mix of the authors memories and his father's journal entries with richly detailed illustrations.

When Sís was a boy in the 1950s, his father was drafted into the army film unit and sent to China for a two month long expedition. Instead he was gone 14 months, and the family never received world of where he was or if and when he would return. His father learned that he was actually recruited to

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film the Chinese army building a road into Tibet in preparation for an invasion. This book is the story of his father's experience as seen from both the eyes of the father and son.

Once again the artwork is exquisite, and the story captures the confused emotions of the boy, as well as the adventures of the father. This book is a Caldecott Honor Book, which indicates that the intended audience is children. In my opinion, children would be hard pressed to enjoy all the nuances of the artwork or the relationship that underlies the story.

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An otherworldly tale of Sis' father's experiences in Tibet and a parallel tale of Sis' experiences with his dad's absence from his childhood and a parallel tale of the later remembering of the stories his dad told. All this and intricate, fascinating drawings as well. It looks like a children's

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book at first glance, but there is much here to reward anyone who pays close attention. Dreamlike, hypnotic, multi-layered and recommended without reservations.

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The author recounts tales his father told him from his travels in Tibet. Sections of his fathers diary are used to tell of the travels as well as the Tibetan myths that were part of the author's upbringing.

Peter Sis just has an amazing life story. This is about when his father was sent to teach the Chinese how to make documentary films, got lost in Tibet (which he didn't know was Tibet at first), and then discovered that what the Chinese were doing was building the road that gave them access to Tibet.

Peter Sis delves into childhood memories and his father's diary to create a book for young readers filled quite literally with wonder and magic. As a child, Sis' father disappeared to Tibet for many months, and returned with secrets that took years to gradually divulge to his son. Less a travelogue

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and more an exploration of our shared inner psychologies and myths, Tibet transports and transforms.

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