Customer Reviews

Tibet Through the Red Box (Caldecott Honor Book)

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Tibet: Through the Red Box is an entrancing and beautiful book. However, it is one of the new subgenre of "children's books for adults" - it may look like a picture book, but it is *not* suitable for young children.

Tibet is very like Maus: A Survivor's Tale, the award-winning graphic novel that bears only superficial resemblance to a standard graphic novel. In Tibet, as in Maus, a son tells his father's story - and what a story it is. Peter Sis' father was a documentary filmmaker who was hired by the Chinese to make a documentary about the building of a bridge in a remote province - and instead ended up losing his crew and witnessing the taking of Tibet.

Sis does a remarkable job of transmitting to the reader his father's love of Tibet and its mysteries and magic. Using tales his father told him, he creates an image of a dream land, a fantasy land, where weird and wonderful things happen. It's impossible not to love Sis' vision of Tibet - and therefore, impossible not to be sad that the Chinese take it.

I've said that the book is not for children, and I stand by that. However, I do believe that a child who is 6 or older could enjoy this book, provided it was read to him by an adult, and provided that that adult could cushion and explain some of the harder truths, not to mention some of the blending of fantasy and fact.

Peter Sis' father's story is incredible, and the book is marvelous. Any adult who loves books or history would love Tibet: Through the Red Box.

It is never too early to educate children in the ways of the world, and "Tibet - Through the Red Box" does so with beauty and compassion. Labeling something as "political" (as if that was automatically a negative) and discarding it for that reason is symptomatic of the thinking that has kept Tibet repressed for so long. When a story is as moving and as beautifully illustrated as this one, it is the perfect vehicle to introduce children to new ideas, and should be held up as a model rather than kept away from the little darlings. I know my children will benefit greatly from reading books that open their minds and expose them to new thoughts and new cultures, and once our children benefit from that intellectual process, we all benefit.

"Tibet" is an artistic triumph from Sis, whose illustrations have always been wonderful. This book, however, is a highly personal tale that he seeks to tell, and it is a rather complex and mystical one - for this reason I recommend it more for adults, though there's no harm in reading it to your child if you think it will go over (just don't be surprised if they don't appreciate it as you do.) I say the tale is complex, because the plot has many layers. Sis himself is a child in Cold War Europe, whose father disappears. The father then returns, saying he had been sent to make documentary films in Tibet. His memories are contained in a red box, which Sis does not open until later in life. These memories tell of tales both possible (meeting the Dalai Lama, Chinese takeover of Tibet) and exxaggerated (mythical cities, wild adventures, etc.) The overall tone of the book is not a political one, but a spiritual one. Having taken us through a dazzling series of illustrated mandalas and different colored rooms, Sis concludes that he isn't really sure what went on with his father in Tibet, and whether it was all a mystical dream on the part of his father or on the part of himself. It's difficult to explain all this, but I hope you get the picture as to how sophisticated the book really is. It will merit careful revisiting by adults, and its beautiful, stylized artwork and haunting mysticism will render rich rewards.

Tibet: Through the Red Box was presented by my son during a weekly book share in a K-1 class. The teacher was fascinated by the book and read it to the class. The children were captivated by the story for days. Many of the students ask to borrow the book. It is a tale of the magical land of Tibet and the travels (described in journal form) of a young man's father. The illustrations are well done and provoke imagination. A wonderful and unique book, it would also make a great gift.

I once had the great good fortune of seeing Peter Sis speak before a large audience of New York City Public Librarians. Charming, blessed with an uncommon eloquence, and funny as well Sis spoke of his work over the last few decades. From this speech I learned that Sis designed the poster for the movie of "Amadeus", that he was originally from Prague, and that one of his best works was something called, "Tibet: Through the Red Box". I was intrigued, but months passed and I filed away "Tibet" into my To-Be-Read pile of picture books. It was only with my steady reading of every single Caldecott Honor (of which "Tibet" won one in 1999) that I at last came to the book itself. I expected a title that was some sort of early-reader-this-is-what-Tibet-is kind of a thing. I had apparently forgotten that this was the man who brought us that remarkable Charles Darwin biography, "Tree of Life". "Tibet: Through the Red Box" is no mere picture book. It's a personal history and unreliable memory combined into the ultimate tribute to the author's father.

In 1994 Peter Sis received a note from his father that said merely, "The Red Box is now yours". Rushing home, Sis found the box in question and opened it to reveal a diary kept by his father of his time in Tibet in the mid-1950s. Sis the elder was a documentary filmmaker, and as such he was sent by the army film unit to China to make and teach filmmaking. The job was supposed to be about the Chinese highway currently being built in the Himalayas that would open Tibet up to the rest of the world. While there, Sis was separated from his project and explored the world of Tibet deeper than (he suspected) any Czech citizen before him. In this book, Peter Sis takes sections from this diary and illustrates them with his signature dotty style. Interspersed with his father's written recollections, Peter includes his own childhood memories of the fantastical elements of the trip his father would tell him. There were Yetis that cared for him while sick, and lakes filled with fish that had human faces. The final meeting with the Boy-God-King, the Dali Lama himself, is expressed with riveting finesse.

Back we go to that old question that comes up whenever a picture book doesn't fall strictly into a set category: Is it a book for adults or for kids? Which is to say, will kids want to read it, or get anything out of it if they do? And the answer, of course, isn't all that simple. As many of the reviews for this book already state, there are multiple uses for this title. Readers vary from reluctant teens to awe-struck ten-year-olds. What I've always loved about Sis's work is his ability to write something meaningful for people of all ages. So on the one hand you have a fun story about a father seeing fantastical things (it's no coincidence that Sis chooses to include a quote about Marco Polo at the end) and on the other hand you've a complex story of a son trying to figure out who his father is and at what price a world can be utterly destroyed.

When I saw Sis speak, he made a self-deprecating statement that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Sis said that when he was first trying to get jobs, he though the best way to distinguish himself from everyone else was to draw using millions of tiny dots. In retrospect, he realized this wasn't such a bright idea. For while the dot style was unique and much sought after, it meant he had to spend countless hours dotting and redotting his books. "Tibet" is dot-o-licious, this is true. And while not quite as insanely detailed as the aforementioned, "Tree of Life", it still an eye-popping wonder. My favorite section however, chronicled the father's trip through the magic palace of Potala, where every room is different. There's a red room that is "sunrise and sunset, heart of time" and a green room that is "square and circular, ear of earth". At this point the book begins to resemble nothing so much as the book, "Maze" by Christopher Manson. If you're a fan of crazy rooms leading nowhere at all, check out that book as well.

Don't pick up "Tibet: Through the Red Box" if you're looking for some light picture book fare. That is the number one wrong way to approach this kind of material. Instead, fix yourself a hot cup of tea, snuggle on a comfy couch with a child or adult that you love, and page through the remarkable and touching story of one man's ode to his father. We should all be so lucky to have done so much, lived so well, and be remembered in such an evocative way.

It has been my privilege to read and re-read this book with some teenagers who have formerly claimed their reluctance to read. Peter Sis gave us all the opportunity to read the pictures first: why the sepia toned photos and the father-shaped holes? Why the mandelas? The maps? The diary entries? Once engaged, and fuelled by the tidal oscillations of the various layers of drawings, composed symphonically, we could not help but read the book. For a generation accustomed to video players this book let us pause, fast-forward, rewind... a book to read forwards, backwards, and inside out. Sis lets us know that books are a treasure, that books can walk beside us for a lifetime and nourish the mind and soul in imaginings... I add this one to my list of 1000 books I would proudly give to any child.

Tibet: Through the Red Box by Peter Sis is a book that I would recommend to almost anybody. Its beautiful and very unique illustrations keep the interest of the reader to the very end, and the many short but magical tales about the palace with thousands of rooms, the messenger adorned with bells who brought his letters to the depths of the forests etc. are so enchanting yet poignant too. All the stories of his father's encounter in Tibet arouses our interests about Tibet and the hidden magics in it.

A bonus of this book is that it contains hidden messages that can be discovered by the careful and attentive reader, on technology and its devastation and the thin line between fact and fiction.

Be warned, if you have no intentions to visit Tibet in the future or be greatly tempted to, do not read this book. It is so enchanting that you could not resist a visit there yourself.

My ten year old son recently did a report on the Dalai Lama, and wanted to more of Tibet. He totally consumed this book, marveling at the art, the stories and their combination with real experiences. This is a book which combines the best of all of these venues!

My children are mostly grown; and today, when we remember growing up "together", we sometimes talk about books that they (we) loved when they were young. This is one such book, published just in time to share with my youngest, who was ten at the time. The story is mysterious and complex and involves simple spiritual discoveries made by the artist's father when he was lost in Tibet. The rich, delicate artwork and thoughtful reflections are layered and you can return to the book over and over and find new ideas, beautiful images, magical details . This book will feed the spirit of a thoughtful child and remain with them as they grow. My daughter and I treasure this book.

This was a delightful journey to an exotic area of the world filled with magnificent physical beauty and mystical traditions. Told through the mutual views of an early Czech filmaker and later his son, we glimpse a wonderous place as it is about to be changed forever, like the storytellers themselves.