A Small Tale from the Far Far North by Peter Sis

Full-color pictures by the author

Ages 6 up / 40 pages
ISBN: 0-374-37075-3 / $17.00
Sunburst Paperback ISBN: 0-374-46725-0/ $6.95
Frances Foster Books
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Boston Globe -- Horn Book Honor Book
New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year

One hundred years ago a young man named Jan Welzl left his home in Europe and headed for the Far North. He rode off in a horse-drawn cart, traded the cart for a sled pulled by reindeer, and was gone for thirty years. Like Robinson Crusoe, he turned adversity into adventure and the wilderness into a dream, where anything could happen and anyone could be a hero.

In this reissue of one of his earlier works, award-winning author/artist Peter Sís explores the life of Czech folk hero Jan Welzl and re-creates his extraordinary Arctic odyssey. Mixing fact with legend, he paints the fascinating story of a little-known explorer and the native people who became his teachers and his friends. With maps, storyboards, panoramas, and even a myth told in pictographs, Peter Sís has concocted a visual feast.

Reviews
"Sís casts a spell of enchantment . . . Jan Welzl never had a better friend." --The Washington Post Book World

". . . considerable imagination . . . The myriad, meticulous recorded details in the illustrations will be best appreciated upon close inspection." --The Horn Book

"Not to be missed." --Kirkus Reviews

". . . The overall effect is mysterious . . . children will enjoy poring over the detailed drawings and maps and fitting the story together." --Booklist