Tibet Through the Red Box : Through The Red Box

by Peter Sis

Release Date: 05 November, 1998

Edition: Hardcover

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Stunningly Beautiful

I feel so lucky to have stumbled across this book in a used books store (Sorry Amazon!) The illustrations are amazingly beautiful. You could spend a whole day reading this children's book and admiring the incredibly detailed illustration. The story is also a very different perspective on the Chinese invasion of Tibet, an exciting personal adventure, and a touching examination of a father/son relationship. I recommend it to children and adults, and anyone who would enjoy a beautiful book of art.

A gorgeous *adult* book in children's book format

Tibet: Through the Red Box is an entrancing and beautiful book. However, it is one of the new subgenre of "children's books for adults" - it may look like a picture book, but it is *not* suitable for young children.

Tibet is very like Maus: A Survivor's Tale, the award-winning graphic novel that bears only superficial resemblance to a standard graphic novel. In Tibet, as in Maus, a son tells his father's story - and what a story it is. Peter Sis' father was a documentary filmmaker who was hired by the Chinese to make a documentary about the building of a bridge in a remote province - and instead ended up losing his crew and witnessing the taking of Tibet.

Sis does a remarkable job of transmitting to the reader his father's love of Tibet and its mysteries and magic. Using tales his father told him, he creates an image of a dream land, a fantasy land, where weird and wonderful things happen. It's impossible not to love Sis' vision of Tibet - and therefore, impossible not to be sad that the Chinese take it.

I've said that the book is not for children, and I stand by that. However, I do believe that a child who is 6 or older could enjoy this book, provided it was read to him by an adult, and provided that that adult could cushion and explain some of the harder truths, not to mention some of the blending of fantasy and fact.

Peter Sis' father's story is incredible, and the book is marvelous. Any adult who loves books or history would love Tibet: Through the Red Box.