Sieger, Ted 1958-

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Sieger, Ted 1958-

Personal

Born May 18, 1958, in Coquimbo, Chile; married; children: two. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, traveling.

Addresses

Home and office—Switzerland. Agent—Kickback Media, Silverlocks, Cradducks La., Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0DN, England.

Career

Author, illustrator, and animator. Worked variously as roofer, ferryman, farmhand, forest worker, street musician, night clerk, chestnut salesman, egg counter in an egg factory, horse groom and assistant engineer on a freight ship. Director of short films, including Jean-Claude des Alpes, 1991, (and producer and editor) Die Kleine Monsterin, 2005, and The Fourth King, 2005.

Writings

(And co-director and producer) Die Kleine Monsterin (animated film screenplay), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (Germany), 2005.

The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man (based on Sieger's animated film of the same name), Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Author and animator of Ted Sieger's Wildlife (animated short film), produced on British Broadcasting Television.

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Sidelights

A Swiss-based artist and animator, Ted Sieger has created programming for British television as well as producing and directing short films and creating comics. Among his best-known work is the animated television series Ted Sieger's Wildlife, a humorous animated program that airs on the British Broadcasting Corporation's child-focused CBBC network. Sieger's work is known for its quirky cartoon art and a wry point of view that mixes philosophical musings with humor. Sieger made his literary debut with a picture-book adaptation of his animated film The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man.Based on Henry van Dyke's The Story of the Other Wise Man, The Fourth King became part of many families' Christmas tradition following its first airing by the CBBC in 2005. In the book, King Mazzel sets out for Bethlehem, planning to meet up with the three other wise men. after news comes of the birth of the Baby Jesus. As he explains in his narration, a series of events conspire to prevent the king's timely arrival, among them a desert sandstorm and time spent wandering around, lost. Although the stable is empty by the time Mazzel arrives with his camel Chamberlin, in the eyes of the all-knowing Almighty, the fourth wise man's good intentions shine through. "Sieger's detailed illustrations in ink with digital color" bring to life the vastness of the ancient desert," noted a Kirkus Reviews writer, while in School Library Journal Susan Patron wrote that the "colorful cartoon art," drawn from its animated source, "… adds to the book's child appeal." In Publishers Weekly a critic dubbed The Fourth King "the offbeat Nativity tale of the season."