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Shaun Tan's 'The Red Tree'; John Marsden
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From: Wendy Blaxland <wendyblaxland>
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 00:45:40 +1000
I'm supporting Kim Caraher's comments on the achievement and potential of Shaun Tan as a ground-breaking writer/illustrator from Australia. While his work makes many adult critics uncomfortable, since they feel that his pictures are too 'adult' (and Shaun himself has said that he draws for himself and his friends, rather than specifically for a child audience), what interests me is that his books often work on a metaphorical and symbolic level, which means that they can be taken by people of different ages on different levels.
'The Red Tree' with its darkness throughout and then its final vibrant symbol as the red tree bursts triumphantly into the flames of hope is ultimately a life?firming book rather than a pessimistic one. Our children feel despair, boredom, understand horror and nightmares, and though we all wish them the best and sunniest of lives we do them a disservice to exclude them from the whole of human experience, and misunderstand them if we think they don't have the full range of human emotions, including rage, despair and even suicidal feelings. A book like this recognises this and lets children see their feelings reflected, and then offers them something more. Surely this is a more real gift than saccharine 'all's well' messages?
For a satiric take on Australian history try Shaun Tan's illustrations of John Marsden's The Rabbits, which controversially won a CBC (Children's Book Council of Australia) award a couple of years ago. It looks at the history of white involvem,ent in Australia through the metaphor of rabbits, which became a huge problem in Australia after being introduced for meat and as sweet lil pets.
And if you haven't read them, John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War began series is a totally involving series of books that my then twelve-year-old daughter insisted I read - and I found I couldn't put them down either. Australia is invaded by an unnamed South East Asian country hungry for our space, and a group of kids guerrilla-resist. Thought-provoking, nail-biting, perhaps prophetic (or maybe harking back to the WW2 Japanese invasion of Singapore...)
Enjoy, enjoy our wonderful kids' literature!
Wendy Blaxland 19 Lisa Valley Close Wahroonga NSW 2076 AUSTRALIA phone/fax 9489 4955 mob 0411 071 273
Received on Thu 18 Jul 2002 09:45:40 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 00:45:40 +1000
I'm supporting Kim Caraher's comments on the achievement and potential of Shaun Tan as a ground-breaking writer/illustrator from Australia. While his work makes many adult critics uncomfortable, since they feel that his pictures are too 'adult' (and Shaun himself has said that he draws for himself and his friends, rather than specifically for a child audience), what interests me is that his books often work on a metaphorical and symbolic level, which means that they can be taken by people of different ages on different levels.
'The Red Tree' with its darkness throughout and then its final vibrant symbol as the red tree bursts triumphantly into the flames of hope is ultimately a life?firming book rather than a pessimistic one. Our children feel despair, boredom, understand horror and nightmares, and though we all wish them the best and sunniest of lives we do them a disservice to exclude them from the whole of human experience, and misunderstand them if we think they don't have the full range of human emotions, including rage, despair and even suicidal feelings. A book like this recognises this and lets children see their feelings reflected, and then offers them something more. Surely this is a more real gift than saccharine 'all's well' messages?
For a satiric take on Australian history try Shaun Tan's illustrations of John Marsden's The Rabbits, which controversially won a CBC (Children's Book Council of Australia) award a couple of years ago. It looks at the history of white involvem,ent in Australia through the metaphor of rabbits, which became a huge problem in Australia after being introduced for meat and as sweet lil pets.
And if you haven't read them, John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War began series is a totally involving series of books that my then twelve-year-old daughter insisted I read - and I found I couldn't put them down either. Australia is invaded by an unnamed South East Asian country hungry for our space, and a group of kids guerrilla-resist. Thought-provoking, nail-biting, perhaps prophetic (or maybe harking back to the WW2 Japanese invasion of Singapore...)
Enjoy, enjoy our wonderful kids' literature!
Wendy Blaxland 19 Lisa Valley Close Wahroonga NSW 2076 AUSTRALIA phone/fax 9489 4955 mob 0411 071 273
Received on Thu 18 Jul 2002 09:45:40 AM CDT
