彼得·西斯，149年生于捷克，国际知名图画书作者、插画家、设计师、电影导演。自幼学画，自伦敦皇家美术学院毕业后，他投身电影创作。他导演的短片曾先后获得柏林电影节金熊奖、多伦多影展大奖等国际奖项。

移居美国后，彼得·西斯转向图画书创作。他的许多作品，包括《追随梦想》、《星际信使》、《生命之树》等反映出他对那些有创造力的、勇于挑战世俗的探险家和梦想家经久不息的兴趣。繁复如锦缎的画面，新颖的创意，深厚的文化意蕴以及深刻的哲理，使得他的作品同时赢得了成人和儿童的喜爱。获纽伯瑞儿童文学金奖之后，他多次获得美国插画家协会金奖、。《纽约时报》书评周刊年度最佳儿童图书等荣誉，虽然《星际信使》（Starry Messenger）只获得了凯迪克银奖，但西方评论界认为，彼得·西斯获得凯迪克金奖，只不过是时间的问题。

目前，彼得·西斯与妻子及两个孩子——玛德琳和马特，共同生活在纽约。

A trip around a city block is like a trip around the world!

Peeking out through a die-cut window on the jacket, Madlenka invites the reader to enter her world. And what a world it is! On the surface, it looks like an ordinary city block, but as we meet Madlenka's neighbors -- the French baker, the Indian news vendor, the Italian ice-cream man, the Latin American grocer, a retired opera singer from Germany, an African American school friend, and the Asian shopkeeper -- and look through die-cut windows to the images and memories they have carried from old country to new, we can see that Madlenka's block is as richly varied as its inhabitants. And why is Madlenka going around the block, jumping for joy? Her tooth is loose, and she wants everyone to know!