Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (2014), 48 pages
Description
A biography of French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
Every Peter Sís book with which I am familiar seems much more like a picture book for adults than for children. Nevertheless, his books continue to be catalogued with children’s materials, perhaps because there is no category as of yet for adult picture books. In this way, adults without young
This is a biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whom most modern Americans know and love only as the author of The Little Prince. But the accomplishments of Saint-Exupéry were much more extensive.
He became one of the first pilots to deliver mail by air, flying in Europe and along the West African coast (where European countries had colonies). He rescued stranded pilots too, which sometimes involved dealing with hostile nomads. He helped create new mail routes to South America. On an attempt to win a prize for the fastest flight from Paris to Saigon, he and his mechanic crashed in North Africa and wandered in the desert for days before being rescued. When WWII began, he became a war pilot.
When the Germans occupied France, Saint-Exupéry decided he could no longer live there, and sailed for New York. He didn’t speak English, but he could write and paint, and began working on a story about a little prince, published in April, 1943.
He missed France though, and rejoined his old Army squadron in North Africa. On July 31, 1944, he took off to photograph enemy positions east of Lyon, and was never seen again. The book ends with the thought, in obvious reference to The Little Prince:
"Maybe Antoine found his own glittering planet next to the stars.”
This lovely book, both written and illustrated by Sís, features clever, very detailed pictures full of cultural allusions and historical data. He uses a muted palette and mixed media in two-page spreads that include watercolor, pen-and-ink, rubber stamps and scratched color on gesso. Particularly inventive are the ways he comes up with to convey “the face of the landscape,” the scary nature of Manhattan, and the German invasion of France, ingeniously shown in bleeding watercolors.
Everywhere you look there is something to spot, from the famous image from filmmaker Georges Méliès’s 1902 film “A Trip to the Moon,” (featured prominently in Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret) to the crate of carrier pigeons used on airplanes before radios (there is a lot of information about early aviation). And repeatedly, maps are drawn into images, or images turn into maps.
Discussion: Although this book has many elements that will appeal primarily to older or even adult readers, Sís does cater to his younger audience by omitting the less pleasant or complicated aspects of Saint-Exupéry’s life, such as his relationships with women, his conflicts with General Charles de Gaulle, and the eventual discovery of the remains of his plane in 2000 and their recovery in 2003. The romantic notion that Saint-Exupéry flew off to a glittering planet is much more appealing….
Evaluation: The artwork of Peter Sís is not to be missed. And with this book, you can learn a great deal about a man who deserves to be known for more than his most famous book - which, however, deserves its almost universal adoration (The Little Prince has been translated into over 250 languages and dialects.)
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children miss out on a number of worthy books.This is a biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whom most modern Americans know and love only as the author of The Little Prince. But the accomplishments of Saint-Exupéry were much more extensive.
He became one of the first pilots to deliver mail by air, flying in Europe and along the West African coast (where European countries had colonies). He rescued stranded pilots too, which sometimes involved dealing with hostile nomads. He helped create new mail routes to South America. On an attempt to win a prize for the fastest flight from Paris to Saigon, he and his mechanic crashed in North Africa and wandered in the desert for days before being rescued. When WWII began, he became a war pilot.
When the Germans occupied France, Saint-Exupéry decided he could no longer live there, and sailed for New York. He didn’t speak English, but he could write and paint, and began working on a story about a little prince, published in April, 1943.
He missed France though, and rejoined his old Army squadron in North Africa. On July 31, 1944, he took off to photograph enemy positions east of Lyon, and was never seen again. The book ends with the thought, in obvious reference to The Little Prince:
"Maybe Antoine found his own glittering planet next to the stars.”
This lovely book, both written and illustrated by Sís, features clever, very detailed pictures full of cultural allusions and historical data. He uses a muted palette and mixed media in two-page spreads that include watercolor, pen-and-ink, rubber stamps and scratched color on gesso. Particularly inventive are the ways he comes up with to convey “the face of the landscape,” the scary nature of Manhattan, and the German invasion of France, ingeniously shown in bleeding watercolors.
Everywhere you look there is something to spot, from the famous image from filmmaker Georges Méliès’s 1902 film “A Trip to the Moon,” (featured prominently in Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret) to the crate of carrier pigeons used on airplanes before radios (there is a lot of information about early aviation). And repeatedly, maps are drawn into images, or images turn into maps.
Discussion: Although this book has many elements that will appeal primarily to older or even adult readers, Sís does cater to his younger audience by omitting the less pleasant or complicated aspects of Saint-Exupéry’s life, such as his relationships with women, his conflicts with General Charles de Gaulle, and the eventual discovery of the remains of his plane in 2000 and their recovery in 2003. The romantic notion that Saint-Exupéry flew off to a glittering planet is much more appealing….
Evaluation: The artwork of Peter Sís is not to be missed. And with this book, you can learn a great deal about a man who deserves to be known for more than his most famous book - which, however, deserves its almost universal adoration (The Little Prince has been translated into over 250 languages and dialects.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member Smiler69
I guess you could say I'm somewhat of a Peter Sís enthusiast by now, having read over a dozen books he's contributed to in one way or another, either solely as illustrator or as both writer and illustrator, and it's safe to say he's evolved a signature style when it comes to biographical subjects
Here the subject is the author of that iconic children's book The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whom Sís introduces to us from his birth onward and who seems to have led a fascinating and adventure-packed life, devoting most of it to flying and writing in more or less equal measures. Unbeknownst to me, he had made a name for himself as a hero for his flying adventures on the one hand and as a successful author on the other well before the publication of his iconic little book about the prince from another planet, with his books based on his flying adventures, one of which became an international bestseller in 1931 and won him the Fémina Prize and which inspired the venerable French perfume house Guerlain to issue a perfume named after that novel two years later, Vol de Nuit, (known as Night Fligh to English readers).
A gorgeous book, much recommended to lovers of Sís and/or Saint-Exupéry. I was already interested in reading more work by the famous author/adventurer, but I think I'll seek out his other books more actively now.
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(Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei and The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin immediately spring to mind) which is uniquely his, telling the stories with words and pictures, and pictures within pictures that give the impression at first glance of complex tapestries that you can stare at for a long time to discover endless fascinating detail. For this reason, I find I can never take in his books in one short sitting, no matter how slender the volumes are as they are intellectually stimulating and pack a lot of information. Here the subject is the author of that iconic children's book The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whom Sís introduces to us from his birth onward and who seems to have led a fascinating and adventure-packed life, devoting most of it to flying and writing in more or less equal measures. Unbeknownst to me, he had made a name for himself as a hero for his flying adventures on the one hand and as a successful author on the other well before the publication of his iconic little book about the prince from another planet, with his books based on his flying adventures, one of which became an international bestseller in 1931 and won him the Fémina Prize and which inspired the venerable French perfume house Guerlain to issue a perfume named after that novel two years later, Vol de Nuit, (known as Night Fligh to English readers).
A gorgeous book, much recommended to lovers of Sís and/or Saint-Exupéry. I was already interested in reading more work by the famous author/adventurer, but I think I'll seek out his other books more actively now.
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LibraryThing member pataustin
In his signature style, Sis tells the tale of Antoine de Saint Exupery who became not only a pilot but an author of one of the best loved or best known children's books The Little Prince. As usual the illustrations provide allusions far beyond the text. On the second page, you can't help but notice
Recommended for gifted readers, older readers. Read with The Wall in which Sis tells his own story and you'll be more inclined to take that extra time to read the illustrations. His art brings a child-like appreciation of the world (maps wherein the countries have eyes and smile at one another) and an incredibly sophisticated appreciation of the world at the same time.
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the man in the moon from the first movie (featured in Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret). On another page, the illustrations alone give the differing opinions of relatives - an aunt decrying, "He's so wild!" his mother stating, "He's such an angel!" To really take in all that is in Sis's book takes close examination of text and pictures.Recommended for gifted readers, older readers. Read with The Wall in which Sis tells his own story and you'll be more inclined to take that extra time to read the illustrations. His art brings a child-like appreciation of the world (maps wherein the countries have eyes and smile at one another) and an incredibly sophisticated appreciation of the world at the same time.
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LibraryThing member melodyreads
fairly advanced content
LibraryThing member jenniferm14
This beautifully illustrated biography recaps the adventurous life of Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Antoine grew up to be an experienced pilot who pushed records, made history, and fought for his country. This book is appropriate for primary readers.
LibraryThing member Sullywriter
A stunningly illustrated and designed picture book biography of the fascinating French pilot and author best known now for writing The Little Prince.
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Wonderful biography of Saint-Exupery, with intricate illustrations that pull the story along in a playful and engaging way.
LibraryThing member themulhern
Only 32 pages but full of detail. As with his other biographies, Sis places numerous small illustrations around or within a larger illustrations, and these smaller illustrations are captioned. The book is large format and he includes two double page illustrations with no text at all, and some, like
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his illustration of the invasion of France, with very limited text. After a few of his biographies, you get to know what to expect, and if you liked one, you'll probably like them all. Sis is similar to the d'Aulaire's in this respect. I might not have wanted to read a biography of Saint-Exupery if Sis had not written one, but now I'm glad I did. Show Less
Awards
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (Nominee — 2015)
UKLA Book Award (Shortlist — 2016)
The Best Children's Books of the Year (Five to Nine — 2015)
Nerdy Book Award (Nonfiction Picture Books — 2014)
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014
Physical description
48 p.; 9.39 inches
ISBN
0374380694 / 9780374380694