From: Barbara Tobin <barbarat>
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 22:46:18 +0800

How wonderful to see a children's author getting extended air time tonight on our national television, on ABC's (Australian Broadcasting Commission) "The 7:30 Report". Shaun Tan, one of our hottest new talents, was interviewed about his work, and his newest picture book, The Red Tree (short-listed on this year's book awards, I believe) was featured at length. Shaun was shown working on his illustrations, and Lesley Reece, director of the Fremantle Children's Literature Centre, was also interviewed and shown doing a workshop with teenagers on The Red Tree.A surprising amount of the book was shown and read aloud by what seemed a young reader's voice. Just lovely exposure-- for Shaun, for young readers, and for children's literature.

Shaun's original illustrations were on display at ths Centre all last month, along with editorial correspondence concerning the book. These reveal the editor's initial resistance to the seeming bleakness of this book that has little plot, but rather explores the deep feelings that we all suffer to some extent at times, from melancholy to sadness to depression. There was a concern that the young girl protagonist is all alone in dealing with her worries, even at the end, when hope is offered in the bright blooming of a red tree in her bedroom. The total absence of parents was seen to be unsettling. Was there nobody to help support this child, or share in her eventual rising from the depths of gloom? Shaun justifies this as being an exploration of the mind, not the outside world. Perhaps indicative of his growing stature in the world of children's literature, the editors seemed to have retained the integrity of Shaun's vision.

This 'aloneness' put me in mind of similar concerns about Margaret Wild and Ron Brook's Old Pig, which you may know. Here a young girl pig is trying to cope with her beloved grandmother's preparation for her death. Although they have one final wonderfully mellow walk in the late autumn sun, when gran eventually dies peacefully and the little girl is left all alone, it's hard to share any sense of joy and peace on her behalf. Interestingly, this book turned up in the 'home help/death and dying' section of our big chain bookstore when I lived in Florida, not the children's section.

Back to Shaun Tan's interview-- I was disappointed to see the inevitable
'expert' naysayer who followed those glorious shots of Shaun painting and kids discussing his book. 'Critic' Stephen Murray came on to point out the bleak side of children's literature, and the down side of giving kids books that acknowledge their darker feelings. Shaun layers in complex symbolism and meanings into his intricate paintings, and kids who are taught visual literacy skills have fun teasing out some of these layers, mainly through their social collaboration.

Shaun's first picture book was the award winning The Rabbits, which was authored in very spare text by the venerable John Marsden. Shaun provides a myriad of detail that can be studied over and over to understand their interpretation of Australian history, and the origins of our less than glorious race relations. This was one book that at least one critic said Americans wouldn't understand (Karen Jameison in Horn Book's News from Down Under column a few year's ago). Marsden and Tan used the metaphor of the rabbit invasion of Australia (as a destructive introduced species) to interpret the European invasion and destruction of the Aboriginal population that began back in 1788. Once you understand the rabbit metaphor, you have a pretty parallel situation to 'white invasions' in other 'empty' lands. Still, no American publisher was interested in this one.

Well, once again, I have got carried away--but that television show got me fired up.

Forgive any errors in detail in the above; as I said, all my resources are thousands of miles away.

Barbara Tobin (barbarat at gse.upenn)
Received on Wed 10 Jul 2002 09:46:18 AM CDT