An amazing confluence of history, memory, and the magic of dreams, this sophisticated picture book is based in reality, though it shoots off in several unexpected directions. Sis adds to his father's story layer upon layer of his own experience as a child when his father was missing. He also approaches the story from a fascinating visual perspective, using some of the sketches from his father's diary and many more drawn directly from the younger Sis's imagination.

Mandalas, mythical figures, Tibetan architecture and landscape, dreamscapes, decorative patterns, and scenes from the stories are woven together to form a book as colorful, rich, and complicated as a piece of Tibetan fabric. This is a work of literary, visual, and historical art unlike anything else ever published.

What little story there is, concerning the author's father's travels through Tibet, is never really concluded. It just ends with his father reaching Potala and meeting the Dalai Lama. But this isn't meant to be a storybook--it's a book of memories and dreams, rooted in reality but not clinging to it. Though it looks like a picture book, this is really written for older readers, who may need to be encouraged to try it, since they may think it looks too young.