Peter Sís is a stylistic illustrator whose detailed drawings have rendered both the fantasies of children's stories and adult yearnings for freedom. In The Conference of the Birds, the three-time Caldecott Honor Award winner takes inspiration from a 13th-century fable by Persian poet Farid Ud-Din Attar to create a visual feast of color and Escher-like images on textured paper.
The Conference story is a traditional quest tale where courage and determination overcome adversity, but it is the combination of Sís's complex geometrical landscapes with Middle Eastern influenced mazes, swirls and deep earth colors printed in full-page portfolio fashion that lift this book above the simplicity of its narrative. With tactile paper, elegant design, scrolling text and deftly detailed illustrations joined to a moving story, it reminds us how a well-made book transcends its parts to become itself a work of art. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.