The Books
A Small Tall Tale From The Far Far North
Paperback, 40 pages
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (2001-04-23)
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Amazon Description
"Not to be missed" -- Kirkus Reviews
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 SÃs 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 SÃs has concocted a visual feast.
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 SÃs 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 SÃs has concocted a visual feast.
One Potato Review
There are two ways to read this book, and for one you would probably need hours. Sis has packed this story so full of topographic and historical fine print that the experience of following his restless explorer to the top of the earth can seem like a trip through the museum. Or you can read around the details - how to make a watertight canoe and trap seals and build a frame for a tent - and get right to the heart of this strange little fable about the spoils - and fortuitous perils - of the North. Featuring, finally, a golden, magnetic mountain that seems truer for all of the substantiation.
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