| Author | Peter Sís |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Peter Sís |
| Cover artist | Peter Sís |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir, non-fiction |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | November 5, 1998 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 64 |
| Awards | Caldecott Honor Book, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis |
| ISBN | 0-374-37552-6 |
Tibet Through the Red Box is a children's book written and illustrated by Peter Sís, published by the Farrar, Straus and Giroux imprint Frances Foster Books in 1998. It was adapted into a play by David Henry Hwang in 2004.
Peter Sís 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. For his "lasting contribution" as a children's illustrator he received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2012.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and Nobel Peace Prizes. The publisher is currently a division of Macmillan, whose parent company is the German publishing conglomerate Holtzbrinck Publishing Group.
The book is an illustrated memoir based on the author's childhood recollections of his father's experiences as a documentary filmmaker in China and Tibet during the early 1950s, as well as Sís's response to reading the diary his father kept in the titular red box for the first time, more than forty years later. [1]
A memoir is a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public or private, that took place in the subject's life. The assertions made in the work are understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiography since the late 20th century, the genre is differentiated in form, presenting a narrowed focus. A biography or autobiography tells the story "of a life", while a memoir often tells a story "from a life", such as touchstone events and turning points from the author's life. The author of a memoir may be referred to as a memoirist or a memorialist.
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area. Governed by the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities, and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
It received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Special Citation, [2] the American Library Association's Caldecott Honor, [3] and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1999. [4]
The Randolph Caldecott Medal annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children", beginning with 1937 publications. It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are the most prestigious American children's book awards.
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries have been recognised, including non-German speakers.
