Peter Sís
In 1949, Peter Sís was born in Brno on 11 May, and he went on to receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration, a recognition that came to a person whose working life crossed graphic art, painting, illustration, animation, film direction, and children's writing.
Sís held Czechoslovak citizenship and was educated at Uměleckoprůmyslová škola Žižkov and then at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He later attended the Royal College of Art, extending his formal training further. At some point he also took up United States citizenship, and he worked in both Czech and English across his career.
His professional life ranged across a number of distinct roles. He worked as a graphic artist, painter, illustrator, animator, visual artist, film director, writer, and children's writer. Among his notable works is Happy City. Alongside these activities, he received a MacArthur Fellowship, an award given to individuals in recognition of their work.
Recognition came to Sís from multiple directions. In addition to the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration and the MacArthur Fellowship, he received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis Medal, the Czech Medal of Merit, the Magnesia Litera award, and the City of Brno Award. That last honor connected his wider career back to the city where he was born on 11 May 1949.
Quotes by Peter Sís
When I was about 12 or 13, my father gave me 'The Little Prince.' He was making sure that I knew it was a special book. I'd seen the name of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, but to me it seemed a very French name, and I was not excited about him as a person.
When I do my own books, I take it as more of my own confessional, but when I illustrate for other people, it is intriguing because I feel like I shouldn't be stepping too much into the limelight. It's like playing the piano while someone else is singing.
Ursula Nordstrom was famous for finding artists in unlikely places. Maurice Sendak was a window designer, and she just came across one of his windows. Everyone was looking to find a talent.
The birds never needed passports... We always thought, the birds can go wherever they want, and we couldn't, really. The birds were very much the symbol of... free movement for me.
People think children's books are about teddy bears and little flowers. I realize people sometimes don't know what to do with my books because they say, 'Is it a children's book, and what age group?'
If I would use anything from 'The Little Prince,' even some little quote, it's all copyrighted in France. Like Walt Disney in this country, it's a national treasure.
I'm a visual person, so it always starts with a picture, and then I get obsessed with the idea, sometimes too much. I have these blank books in which I take notes, and I add postcards and other physical items.
I didn't understand in the beginning that the editor didn't want me to know the author. I'd make an effort to meet the author, but it would end up being a disaster because then I had the author telling me what I should be doing.
I am afraid that people will think I re-illustrated 'The Little Prince,' when really, it was more a tribute to him as a dedicated pilot and a man who believed in the goodness of people.
