Picture Book Review: The Wall, by Peter Sis

Bibliographic Information:
Sis, Peter. The Wall: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

ISBN-13: 978-0374347017

Summary:

Peter Sis recounts growing up in Cold War-era Czechoslovakia in a mix of pictures, text, and excerpts from his childhood journals.  As a child, he loved to draw, and drew anything that he wanted.  As he grew older and started school, he learned to draw only what he was told, before he learned to question what he was told and started drawing the things he wanted to draw again.  This simple story is interwoven with the much more complex recounting of the political situation in Prague and the world, from the end of World War II to the Prague Summer to the fall of the Iron Curtain.

 Audience:

Grades 3-7

Strengths:

Lots of information
Can be read on many different levels
Excellent use of color as symbolism

Weaknesses:

Too complex for younger readers, while older readers may be turned off by the picture book format
Lots of things happening on every page
Not well suited for read-alouds

Uses:

This book would be great used in history lessons on the time period, especially since schools tend to gloss over life in Soviet Bloc countries outside of Germany.  It would work as an excellent introduction for younger students, as it talks about day to day life, not just the politics - although it covers that as well.  It could also be used as part of introductory lessons on communism and the cold war, more specifically.  It could also be used as an examination of the idea of censorship for younger kids, as part of a unit in an English class for example.

Read-alikes:
Dr. Seuss. The Butter Battle Book. New York: Random House, 1984.
Hesse, Karen. The Cats in Krasinski Square. New York: Scholastic Press, 2004.
Hoestlandt, Jo. Star of Fear, Star of Hope. New York: Walker, 1995.
Raven, Margot Theis. Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. Chelsea: Sleeping Bear Press, 2002.

Awards:
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2008 Winner Nonfiction United States
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2007 Winner Best Nonfiction Treatment of a Subject United States
Cybil Award, 2007 Finalist Non-fiction (Middle Grade and Young Adult) United States
New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year, 2007 Winner United States
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2008 Recommended Book United States
Randolph Caldecott Medal, 2008 Honor Book United States
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2008 Winner United States

(award info from the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database)