AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Adaptations
- The Red Tree 2004 single work drama children's The Red Tree explores the concept of hope and follows a child's incredible journey through a day of ups and downs.
- The Red Tree Michael Yezerski (composer), 2008 single work musical theatre 'Music and imagery tell the thought-provoking tale of The Red Tree, inspired by the popular book of award-winning Australian author and artist Shaun Tan. In an extraordinary collaboration, this new work will be created by rising star composer Michael Yezerski with Richard Tognetti and the remarkable young singers of Gondwana Voices. Two deeply moving works of art combine in one incredible experience when Shostakovich's final string quartet accompanies illustrations from Shaun Tan's The Arrival, the story of a displaced person's journey to a new life told entirely through illustration.' Source: www.aco.com.au (Sighted 28/07/2008).
- The Red Tree John Sheedy , 2012 single work drama children's
-
The Red Tree
Greta Gertler
(composer),
2017
single work
musical theatre
children's
'When the dice is always loaded against you how do you move forward?
'Join us for an extraordinary journey to a world of imagination where origami boats take you on an ocean voyage, giant fish host musical interludes, and parades pass you by. This is the story of a young girl living inside her bedroom and how she conquers her fears and anxieties, finally embracing hope and taking control of the world that has always been around her.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Reading Australia
This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.
Unit Suitable For
AC: Year 5 and Year 6 (NSW Stage 3)
Picture books have traditionally been seen as part of the early years of primary school. They are often used to engage and support young readers as they are learning to read. Many contemporary picture books are, however, multilayered and are often appropriate for different ages. This unit of work aims to stretch and develop the traditional concept so that, depending on the author, illustrator and complexity of themes, picture books can be for everyone.
A small child awakes to find blackened leaves falling from her bedroom ceiling, threatening to quietly overwhelm her. ‘Sometimes you wake up with nothing to look forward to …’ As she wanders around a world that is complex, puzzling and alienating, she is overtaken by a myriad of feelings. Just as it seems all hope is lost, the girl returns to her bedroom to find that a tiny red seedling has grown to fill the room with warm light. Shaun Tan’s latest creation, The Red Tree, is a book about feelings – feelings that can not always be simply expressed in words. It is a series of imaginary landscapes conjured up by the wizardry of Shaun Tan’s masterful and miraculous art. As a kind of fable, The Red Tree seeks to remind us that, though some bad feelings are inevitable, they are always tempered by hope.
Source: Publication Synopsis Reading Australia
Notes
-
For children 6 years and over.
-
Dedication: for Inari
-
Images from The Red Tree were used in 2008 by the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) in their performance 'The Red Tree'. The ACO's performance combined musical composition by Michael Yezerski with projected images from Shaun's Tan picture book.
-
Included in the 2003 White Ravens Catalogue compiled by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany. Special mention; easily inderstandable.
-
This is affiliated with Dr Laurel Cohn's Picture Book Diet because it contains representations of food and/or food practices.
Food depiction - Incidental
Food types - Everyday drinks
Food practices n/a Gender n/a Signage n/a Positive/negative value n/a Food as sense of place - Domestic
Setting - Domestic interior
Food as social cohesion n/a Food as cultural identity - White Australian characters
Food as character identity n/a Food as language n/a
Affiliation Notes
-
This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it has Chinese and Japanese translations.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
"There is No Sun Without the Shadow and it is Essential to Know the Night" : Albert Camus' Philosophy of The Absurd and Shaun Tan's The Red Tree
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , vol. 51 no. 1 2020; (p. 5-20)'Shaun Tan’s 2001 picture book The Red Tree features a nameless, redheaded protagonist wandering through a series of surreal, strange and overwhelmingly dark landscapes. Tan himself, together with his commentators, has characterised The Red Tree’s contents as “absurd,” yet this term has not been defined, nor have any connections been traced between the themes of the text and one of the most important thinkers of the absurd: the twentieth-century French philosopher Albert Camus, whose notion of the absurd is explicated in The Myth of Sisyphus. This article argues not only that Camus’ notion of the absurd provides insights into Tan’s The Red Tree, but also that Tan’s work can help readers develop an understanding of Camus’ philosophy. It focuses on three significant aspects of Camus’ work that serve to unite these two writers, namely the journey of self-explication one undergoes after sensing the absurd, strangeness, and hope.'
Source: Springer.
-
The Picture of Madness-Visual Narratives of Female Mental Illness in Contemporary Children's Literature
2018
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , June vol. 49 no. 2 2018;'This article analyses a selection of contemporary children’s visual texts (for economy and specificity ‘contemporary’ is taken to mean the current century), covering a cross-section of age demographics to better understand how the texts depict female characters suffering with mental illness. It examines these primary texts not only to see how such characters are represented but also to see whether they either bolster or challenge the idea of the female being viewed as the male's ‘Other’. A brief historical and cultural contextualisation of the relationship between mentally ill females and the male-centric profession of modern psychiatry is followed by a close analysis of four primary texts, analysing visual narratives of mentally ill female characters in two picture books, an illustrated book and a graphic novel, noting how contemporary visual depictions contrast with early ideas and images supporting the nineteenth-century feminisation of madness. The conclusion is that, from the limited selection of texts analysed, contemporary children’s visual texts represent a clear contrast to the historical image of the frail and winsome madwoman. The findings are that they do not uphold the image of the female madwoman as Other.' (Publication abstract)
-
'Darkness Overcomes You' : Shaun Tan and Søren Kierkegaard
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , March vol. 46 no. 1 2015; (p. 38-52) 'This article analyses Shaun Tan’s picturebook The Red Tree using some of the central concepts of existentialism developed by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard argued that being a person entails a coming-to-be [tilblivelse], and for the person this coming-to-be manifests itself as a task. The task is to become oneself, which involves working through despair and becoming concrete. It is argued that The Red Tree demonstrates this process, with both the verbal and visual text depicting how despair can manifest itself through a process of sundering [splittelse], in which the little girl protagonist experiences separation, splitting and a sense of doubleness. Ultimately, though, this girl achieves a growing-together; she experiences a sense of concretion as she becomes the one she is, as symbolised by the magnificently sprouting red tree.' (Publication abstract) -
Negotiating Miranda's Vision in the Classroom : Critical Encounters with Literature, from Archetypal Symbolism to Dystopian Fantasy
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Thinking Through Children’s Literature in the Classroom 2014; (p. 129-147) -
What I’m Reading
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2014;
-
[Review] The Red Tree
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 46 no. 1 2002; (p. 14)
— Review of The Red Tree 2001 single work picture book -
Spinach for Small Minds
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 December 2001; (p. 10-11)
— Review of Let's Get a Pup 2001 single work picture book ; The Red Tree 2001 single work picture book -
Nourishment for Dreams
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 April 2002; (p. 13)
— Review of Baby Bilby, Where Do You Sleep? 2001 single work picture book ; The Red Tree 2001 single work picture book ; The House of Narcissus 2001 single work picture book ; Where Does Thursday Go? 2001 single work picture book ; Olga the Brolga 2002 single work picture book -
[Review] The Red Tree
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 10 no. 1 2002; (p. 46)
— Review of The Red Tree 2001 single work picture book -
[Review] The Red Tree
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , March vol. 17 no. 1 2002; (p. 30)
— Review of The Red Tree 2001 single work picture book -
The Children's Book Council of Australia : Annual Awards 2002
2002
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 46 no. 3 2002; (p. 2-13) -
It'll End in Tears : Melancholy in Contemporary Australian Picture Books
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 4 no. 2005; (p. 77-88) -
Images of Refuge with Deep Imprint
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 28 - 29 October 2006; (p. 34) -
Child's Tale Taps Emotional Scales
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10 July 2008; (p. 14) Two composers explain how the images in Shaun Tan's picture book The Red Tree, have provided inspiration for a new composition. -
Not Just a Pretty Picture
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Australian , 10 November 2008; (p. 30) Book illustrators say their work deserves to be seen as art.
Awards
- 2011 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — International Success Award
- 2002 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books
- 2002 honour book CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Picture Book of the Year
- 2002 finalist Locus Awards — Art Book
- 2001 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Premier's Prize for Writing for Children