The Red Tree (Shaun Tan)
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''The Red Tree'' (2001), written and illustrated by Australian writer and illustrator
Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 15 January 1974) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated short film adaptation of the 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. He also wrote and illustrat ...
, is a
picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...
that presents a fragmented journey through a dark world. The text is sparse and the illustrations are dark and surreal.


Synopsis

The story is based on images inspired by the experience of depression. The main character is a lonely
red-headed Red hair, also known as ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of northern Europe, Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals Zygosity#Homozy ...
girl who goes about her day feeling alienated, despondent, and lonely. The illustrations depict her in various abstract situations that metaphorically depict her feelings. Almost unnoticed in each picture is a small red leaf (symbolising
hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...
). At the end, the little girl stands smiling at a beautiful red-leafed
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
growing in her bedroom. This little tree that has now beautifully blossomed in the center of her room is symbolized as her reward for the hardships she has been through in her life. This book is one of many picture books by Tan, who also addresses issues such as immigration and cultural differences.


Critical reception

A reviewer in ''Publishers Weekly'' was taken with the look and feel and the book: "Strange, melancholy imagery and pessimistic forecasts ('sometimes the day begins/ with nothing to look forward to') weigh like millstones on this slender book, but the appearance of a stunning 'red tree' lifts the burden in the end...Tan's (''The Lost Thing'') intricate paintings marvelously evoke emotional states, and the red leaf serves as a reminder that creativity can emerge despite abject conditions." In ''Kirkus Reviews'' the writer noted that Tan "creates an unusual work for the very young that illuminates a dark side too often ignored or unacknowledged in children...The images are obsessively detailed and full of surreal juxtapositions, and the child, who appears in a tiny boat, trapped in a bottle, and in various Bosch-inspired landscapes, lifts her head and smiles only on the last page, when she sees that flame-colored tree. An imaginative, sad, and ultimately uplifting tale of very few words and extraordinary images."


Awards

* Winner of NSW Premier's Literary Award
Patricia Wrightson Prize The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
2002 * Shortlisted for
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the Government of Western Australia, and managed by the State Library of Western Australia. History and format Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the Wes ...
: Children's Books 2001 * Shortlisted for APA Design Awards: Scholastic Best Designed Children's Book 2002 * Finalist for Locus Award for Best Art Book 2002


References


See also

*
2001 in Australian literature This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2001. Major publications Literary fiction * Geraldine Brooks – ''Year of Wonders'' * Marshall Browne – ''The Trumpeting Angel'' * Ste ...

''The Red Tree''
at
WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
2001 children's books Australian picture books Australian children's books Lothian Books books {{child-picture-book-stub