From: Jen McVeity <jmcveity>
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 15:47:46 +1000

I was absolutely blown away by The Rabbits. The combination of John Marsden who constantly challenges kids (and adults) in his writing and the totally original, right out-in-left-field interpretation by Shaun Tan has created a book which I suspect will live on forever. It is an exceptional piece of work.

The Red Tree is far more simplistic. Shaun wrote this as well as illustrated it. The character was a kind of 'everychild' and that made it hard to identify with them - no real personality. For me the ending was a bit too pat - although the symbol of the Red Tree is meant to represent hope, the book doesn't make it clear that this hope has come from within the child. Or even that resilience is an important part of the human spirit.
(Does this mean I am actually agreeing with a critic for once????)

I loved The Passing which was another shortlisted book in the CBC awards. Terry Denton's illustrations are vibrant, effervescent and a big leap into a new style which really works. And the story - of a child learning love and knowledge from a grandparent and then passing that on to a younger sibling, is terrific. It works on both levels, kids love it, and adults wipe away a tear or two at the end!

Has John Marsden's 'Tomorrow series come out in the USA yet? What do the covers look like? Vivienne Goodman (she did Mem Fox's 'Guess What?') was the cover illustrator and her work is wonderfully original and incredibly detailed. She was actually approached by the USA publishers to do the covers - it's a co-incidence she is also Australian. I'd love to see what she did with John's work. Any websites that show the books????

One mention of John's work and now I bet about 20 people will jump in!

Jen The website at last - two years in the making and procrastinating! www.jenmcveity.com
Received on Thu 11 Jul 2002 12:47:46 AM CDT