Picture Books: The Wall

My mother's good friend who is a librarian recommended "The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain" by Peter Sis to me.

This book chroniciles the author's life, who was born and raised in what was formerly called Czechoslovakia at the start of the Cold War. He includes illustrations he has done for the book as well as illustrations he did during that actual time period, which is really cool. He mixes his memories, including diary entries he wrote growing up, with facts, so a reader gets a good dose of history as well as an interesting and visual look into Peter's life.

The pages start out black and white because everything was so regulated and censored, except for pieces of red everywhere because of communism. Then, as Peter decribes the Western influences that seeped in (he wanted to be a part of the Beatles) we see a welcoming change in the pictures with color, until we get a glorious two full pages of color, reminiscent of a Beatle's album cover, circa Sgt. Pepper and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. There are some entertaining journal entires: "turns out she's a he!" referring to Elvis, and according to the goverment, "jeans are a sign of Western decadence."

And then, it is back to black and white when the Russians invade. (The current Czech president was too light on censorship in their opinion). We follow Peter, an aspiring artist, all the way to when he becomes a radio jockey and tours with the Beach Boys. Then the Wall falls in 1989 and as he says "sometimes dreams do come true."