The Wall Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís

Peter Sís – Author and illustrator. The wall: growing up behind the Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-374-34701-7

Author website: http://www.petersis.com/noflash.html

Media: Multi-media, pencil, marker, crayon, colored pencil, pen and ink

Genre: biography, memoir, nonfiction, history, Juvenile literature, graphic novel, picture book

Annotation

Visual award-winning personal memoir of artist Peter Sís growing up on the oppressed Russian Communist totalitarian dictatorship side of the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War and his desire for freedom.

My thoughts

This is an award-winning book, Peter Sís brings the reader to his past in Communist controlled Prague during the Cold War. The information brought by the illustrations and prose brings this period vibrantly alive describing the struggles for freedom and expression under the harsh control of a totalitarian regime. For the beginning, Sís uses bright color and different symbols to show the contrast between his natural childhood desire to express his imagination against the repetitive and monotony of the symbols and colors associated with the Soviet Red Army.

His personal story is juxtaposed with a timeline of historical events. Sís adds first personal journal entries from his journal at that time and the reader can understand his perspective and move with him from the tacit acceptance during his childhood to his shift of awareness as he grows up and is exposed to the world.

The colors reflect the personal reactions to the time. During the most oppressive and difficult times, Sís restricts his color choice to black white and red. When he begins to express himself there are bursts of color. “Slowly he started to question. He painted what he wanted to- in secret.” A two page full-color vibrant spread shows the revolution of the 60’s leaking into Sís awareness. It concludes with the fall of the wall on November 9, 1989. This book contains lots of talking points.

Peter Sís provides an introduction, his chronological timeline journal entries, and an afterward to provide additional information to the already expressive illustrations.

Curricular connections

In classrooms, the rise and fall of Communism focuses on the political shifts and oppression in an impersonal manner. This book provides a very personal account that makes the effects of Communist very real and clear. It’s told in a way that is relatable.

Literary devices

Use of repetition: The word “COMPULSORY” is used like an unspoken brand after each description of Communist mandates or suggested activities. (Example: “Joining the Young Pioneers, the Communist youth movement- COMPULSORY. Collecting scrap metal- COMPULSORY. First of May parade celebrating the workers of the world- COMPULSORY. Public displays of loyalty- COMPULSORY. The practice of religion- DISCOURAGED.” This really hammers home the point.


Use of Symbol: Communist ideology and symbols are also repeated throughout the book. The hammer and sickle. 

Reading level/ Interest Age

Age 8 and up/ Grade 3 and up

Reviews and Awards

Caldecott Honor Book

Sibert Medal

Booklist Starred Review

School Library Journel Starred Review

Kirkus Starred Review

Horn Book Starred Review

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

And, many other positive reviews…

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan- author and illustrator. The arrival. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-439-895293

Author website: http://www.shauntan.net/

Media: pencil on paper

Genre: graphic novel, steampunk, wordless graphic novel

Annotation

The Arrival, a wordless graphic novel, is the story of a man leaving his home and family to establish a new life in a new unseen land and the process of becoming familiarized with this strange and unfamiliar new land.

My thoughts

The Arrival is an award winning tale that provides an allegorical depiction of the emigrant experience. The protagonist of the story represents the universal emigrant travelling to a strange and unfamiliar land and experiencing new people, things, and places all at the same time. The man is willing to lose everything to move to a land far away to find a new life for his family.

By creating a fictional imaginary world, one that is unfamiliar with all readers of all different backgrounds, Shaun Tan lets the reader experience what it is like to travel to a new country. Even the most basic details are strange. The protagonist has to relearn and assimilate in order to make this his new home. Even the most basic aspects of his life seem confusing at first. He attempts to pour a glass of water from some odd highly complex mechanism and ends up squirting water all over. He goes to the market and discovers that none of the fruit is recognizable. These are all new species. The fruit sellers pantomime that the fruit tastes good. He is in a predicament where he must trust people. Light switches, running water, refrigeration, clothing, the weather, the creatures, pets and wildlife … everything is different.

The protagonist is wordless in this new world. He cannot speak because he doesn’t know the language. Shaun Tan decision to make this a wordless graphic novel heightens this experience of not being able to communicate. The reader is limited to looking and experiencing all of these strange beings, symbols, and invented alphabet with the same level of knowledge as the protagonist. The reader is required to really look at the images to see that there is a lot of communication happening without words. The lack of words really slows the reader down so that they have to focus on the visual details and think about each small object or action.

Gestures and facial expressions effectively carry communication. The emigrants are from all different lands but manage to communicate even through huge cultural and linguistic differences. The lack of words and dependence on the visual is mystifying experience and a very apt way to express this feeling of being in a new land. This really catapults the reader into the immigrant’s shoes.

In addition, because he uses images to tell the story it is interpreted differently depending on where each person is coming from. Some people might focus on the experience of the immigrant, while some people might focus more on the imaginative realm that Tan has created, and others might see it as a bizarre science fiction graphic novel. For me,  

About multiculturalism, this new land is full of people like the main character. The people are new and are also immigrants to this new land. They are all on the same journey and all are trying to find their bearings.

The society is built on ideas of pluralism with multiculturalism in its roots. There are so many different types of people in this society leaving harmoniously together. (They are recognizable by things like different hats). It is something that really can and should be appreciated.

This imaginative and magical realm is quite an experience and the illustrations are amazing and fantastical. The sepia-toned illustrations give the impression of an old photo album that can serve as reminders of the broader context of migration that many share in their family histories. It adds a bit of nostalgia.

At first, I paid more attention to the surreal illustrations and did not think about the book as an experience. Now, after living in Taiwan for a while, it is clear and the book has taken on new meaning for me. Shaun Tan definitely accomplished something very interesting and special with this book.

Curricular connections

Social Studies- Grade 7 and 8. Provides a good impetus for discussions about multiculturalism, pluralism, and diversity in addition to developing interpretation skills. The text offers opportunities to apply multiple critical perspectives to a single text and engaging student discussions.

In addition, The Arrival can be used for high school creative writing and senior English classes.  The graphic novel can help teach students how to identify formal literary devices, perspectives (feminist, cultural, historical, Marxist, etc), analyzing themes, et cetera .

Simulates visual literacy. From Shaun Tan’s Essay “PICTURE BOOKS: Who Are They For?”- “This is perhaps what reading and visual literacy are all about - and what picture books are good for - continuing that playful inquiry we began in childhood, of using imagination to find significance and meaning in those ordinary, day-to-day experiences that might otherwise remain unnoticed. The lessons we learn from studying pictures and stories are best applied to a similar study of life in general - people, places, objects, emotions, ideas and the relationships between them all. At it’s most successful, fiction offers us devices for interpreting reality, and imagining how many such interpretations might be possible.”

Lesson Plan
See 'Lesson Plan' page

Literary devices

Use of Symbolism: Shaun Tan uses symbolism throughout the novel. Nonsensical symbols and an invented alphabet is used to represent a foreign language. Being unable to understand the meaning of these symbols, Tan places the reader in the same frustrating shoes as the emigrant.

Symbolism also includes all of the archetypal imagery of the universal migrants’ experience. Also the shadow of the dragon’s tail wrapping through the migrant’s original city is a symbol/metaphor for oppression of some sort. The impression is that the migrant is leaving a fascist or oppressed city to find a new land for his family.

Birds are also symbols used through the book. The migrant lifts his hat to show his family a paper origami crane on his head and then gives it to his daughter. When in the new magical land, birds are all around.

Use of Metaphor: provides readers an insightful metaphor for the immigrant experience.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 7 and up/ Ages 12 and up

(Some of the imagery might by too ‘scary’ or too abstract for younger ages.)

Reviews and Awards

Booklist Starred Review

School Library Journal Starred Review

2007 Parents’ Choice Gold Award

2007 Booklist Editor’s Choice

2007 School Library Journal Best Book Selection

2007 Amazon.com Best Teen Book

2008 ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults

2008 ALA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens

2008 Boston Globe / Horn Book Award

Hugo Award, Nominated for Best Related Book for The Arrival

Hugo Award, Nominated for Best Professional Artist (also in 2009 and 2010)

Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book for Là où vont nos pères, the French edition of The Arrival

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award for The Arrival

The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards: Picture Book of the Year for 'The Arrival'.2006

Premier's Prize and Children's Books category winner in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for 'The Arrival'

Peter Pan Award 2011 for the Swedish translation of The Arrival

Many other positive reviews for The Arrival…

Shaun Tan also won the Swedish Astrid Lindgren prize in 2011 (The World's richest children's literature award), Academy awards Oscar for best animated short film for The Lost Thing.

Rose Blanche by Christophe Gallaz and Roberto Innocenti.

Gallaz, Christophe, and Roberto Innocenti. Rose Blanche. Mankato, Minn.: Creative Editions, 1985. Print. ISBN: 978-2921620802.

Author website: No website found.

Illustrator website: http://www.robertoinnocenti.com/

Media: oil paint

Genre: juvenile fiction, historical fiction

Annotation

Rose Blanche is fictional story about a German schoolgirl risking her life to secretly bring food to the imprisoned children in a nearby Nazi concentration camp.

Summary

Rose Blanche follows a group of Nazi soldiers after they arrest a fleeing boy and discovers a concentration camp. After seeing the imprisoned children, Rose tried to help by taking food to the camp daily until the town is liberated. Tragically, on the same day as the liberation, Rose travels to the concentration camp to bring food to the children and is deeply saddened to discover that the camp is gone. At this point, through the fog, “there was a shot.” Rose Blanche is killed by an allied bullet in the end.
 

My thoughts

Rose Blanche honestly depicts the atrocities of war. Because this is a story about World War II from the perspective of a young girl, the author does not provide historical details and doesn’t explain many things in the story. The effect of capturing the viewpoint of a young girl who does not completely understand the war is very effective. Most people usually do not understand what occurs during wars. Innocenti and Gallaz leave the reader intentionally unenlightened during many parts of the book to reinforce this feeling of limited knowledge.

Key concepts such as Nazi, Swasticka, Holocaust, Jewish, concentration camp, are also not mentioned but are descriptively shown in the illustrations. The tragedies of the Holocaust are expressed through imagery and limited language leaving the reader to follow visual cues and graphic allusions to the concluding events. This method of leaving symbols and events seen but wordless and unexplained is really a horrifying concept. These are unexplained tragedies, ruthless savagery, and horrifying monstrosities, but to Rose Blanche it is simple: she must help the children.

There is so much unspoken but implied in this book that will make it more appropriate for a mature audience. Then there is the disappearance of the children and Rose’s own death which was the result of a careless mistake. Even the final liberation is also not understood by the young child. Soldiers enter the town and are identified in the text as ‘speaking another language and wearing different uniforms.’ This book does an excellent job at bringing the experience alive but the reader should have a basic understanding of the war.

Innocenti’s powerful and very realistic paintings are amazing. These illustrations are what captured my attention when I was trying to decide on a book for this genre.

Banned Book

This is considered a controversial picture book. This is partially because of its graphic nature and mature content. This book truly captures the true horror of war and the feeling of being helpless. That is something that should not be banned. I do feel that teachers should teach the material to bring a complete understanding to young children to get the full picture. In addition, librarians should use discretion and should suggest this book for older readers already familiar with the Holocaust and World War II. But I don’t think that it should be censored or re-edited from the original text. Many things should be challenged, the Holocaust was a terrible event that many would like to forget. It is, however, important to keep younger generations educated and aware of these events and perspectives. Rose Blanche provides a springboard for discussion and allows children find a viewpoint that will in turn change their own. Hopefully, through witnessing Rose’s perspective young readers will become empowered. 

Literary devices

Use of symbolism: The main character is named after the "Rose Blanche" (or the French White Rose) was a group of young German protestors that were executed for their resistance to the war.

Curricular connections

Social Studies grade 4-8  (Holocaust, World War II, European front)

Humanities grade 4-8 (Discussion: historical fiction and narrative shifts)

Reading level/ Interest Age

There is controversy surrounding this book due to it graphic nature and deep topics. Because of this controversy and mature discussions (the Holocaust and Rose’s death), I would recommend this book for older students rather than elementary students.

Reviews and Awards

Roberto Innocenti received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, 2008

Mildred L. Batchelder Award, 1986. This award is given to an American publisher for an outstanding children's book that was originally published in a foreign country in another language.

Golden Apple, Biennale of Illustrators, Bratislava, 1985

American Library Association Notable Book, 1986

Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book citation, 1986

Anne Frank by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett

Poole, Josephine. (2005) Anne Frank. Illustrations by Angela Barrett. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. ISBN: 978-1-60060-439-3

Author website: No website found.

Ilustrator website: No website found.

Media: drawn and painted

Genre: Juvenile literature, biography, history

Annotation

Meticulously researched visual narrative picture book that captures the beautifully inspirational moments along with the haunting and horrifying times of Anne Frank’s life.

My thoughts

Anne Frank’s story is told simply but in no means is it simple. The story begins “with an ordinary little girl, someone you might sit next to in class” and proceeds from her birth in Frankfurt (1929) to being discovered by the Nazi’s in the attic, to the posthumous discovery of her diary after World War II. Many facts about the social conditions and social transitions are effectively communicated by visually and through the text.

Focus on the artwork
The illustrations really make this book special. In an interview by Magic Pencil, Angela Barrett discusses the research that went into creating the illustrations. She states that it was important to get all the details correct and she kept in mind that there are people alive who remember those details. She aimed for historically authenticity and incorporated symbolism into both her technique and the elements within the illustrations. “Things matter and the way people persecute you is they take the things away from you.” The transition from wealth to disparity is represented in the book by showing in the beginning that the family did have beautiful things to the end where Anne and Peter sit side by side with basically nothing…. just each other.

Additionally and very importantly, are the emotional elements that are depicted within the representation of the character of Anne Frank. From photographs, Bennett seems to capture her likeness. The last picture of the Anne’s nightmarish apprehension by the Nazi’s is haunting and full of emotional punch. Her eyes look out from the page affixed to the helpless reader but her lips are pressed tightly together. It seems to be a wordless cry out to the reader.

Oddly, for this genre and topic, the book presents a great deal of information in a very manageable way making it a good book to be further deconstructed and discussed. This is an easy-to-understand introduction to the Holocaust.

Quotes

“There was a man called Hitler- a stiff little man with a mustache- he talked a lot and made big promises. Huge crowds gathered round him. They had no jobs, no hope. No wonder they cheered when he promised to make Germany rich and strong again.”

This point can be added into a discussion to understand what was going on with the Germans during this period. Many people can’t understand how they would allow such atrocities to occur. These simple sentences provide a rationale that young audiences can understand and can be added into the discussion in addition to racism and prejudices that brought forth the genocide of the Holocausts. Many times historical events can be broken down to economic foundations.

Curricular connections

History 6^th or 7^th grade- provides Anne’s Frank’s personal perspective in a visual narrative. This book can accompany the literary classic The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 4-7 Grade level 3-5?

Reviews and Awards

Booklist Starred Review

School Library Journal Starred Review

Interview-

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/magicpencil/learning_barrett_interview_4.html