The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís is a powerful picture book about the author’s childhood in Czechoslovakia. This autobiography serves as a history lesson. "1948. The Soviets take control of Czechoslovakia and close the borders." Beside this text we see drawings of Sís as an infant and toddler. As a young child, he was required to learn lessons of Communism. He wears the red scarf of the Young Pioneers, waves a red flag, and draws tanks. Sís shares notes from his journal entries, drawings, and pictures from 1954 through 1977. We read about his discovery that life is much different on the other side of the wall. He dreams of freedom. "Sometimes dreams come true. On November 9, 1989, the wall fell."
Sís references art many times throughout the story. The first page reads, “As long as he could remember, he had loved to draw.” Page after page is about how Sís drew pictures all his life. My FREE Picture Book Talk focuses on this art.
The Wall is read aloud online by Alicia Weber. She
doesn’t read the many italicized notes in sidebars beside Sís’ drawings. She
also doesn’t read Sís’ journal entries. Readers need the physical book to
complete my lesson.
