false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173534360m/300946.jpg 300946 7 When a child awakens with dark leaves drifting into her bedroom, she feels that "sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to, and things go from bad to worse." Feelings too complex for words are rendered into an imaginary landscape where the child wanders, oblivious to the glimmer of promise in the shape of a tiny red leaf. Everything seems hopeless until the child returns to her room and sees the red tree. At that perfect moment of beauty and purity, the child smiles and her world stirs anew. <i>Shaun Tan's</i> illustrations are remarkable for the way they combine and react upon each other. He creates an otherworldly labyrinth of visual ideas joined with the familiar immediacy of the little child, and condenses them into scenes of extraordinary depth and insight. Every child will appreciate the book's life-affirming message but it will be equally successful with all readers. With sensitivity and wonder, the evocative images in <i>The Red Tree</i> open a window to our inexplicable emotions and tell a story about the power of hope, renewal and inspiration. 1043197 book 2000 The Red Tree total:331|5:247|4:67|3:14|2:2|1:1| 331 1550 462 70 5 6 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun Oct 07 20:12:27 -0700 2007 Sun May 17 08:13:13 -0700 2009 "sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to," begins this stunning picture book, which - with its flawless blend of text and picture - expresses the reality of depression better than any other book I have seen. Each page adds another simple sentence, and another complex layer...more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Jun 12 11:19:20 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 11:21:03 -0700 2007 5 3 false false Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 11:03:46 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 10:15:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 19:00:46 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 19:19:21 -0700 2009
I very rarely give books five stars - but I'd give this one six if it were possible, and it's not even a "book" in the traditional sense - it's technically a children's picture book - but that description hardly does it justice.

The artwork is the ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 10:29:12 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 11:08:01 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Mar 11 21:42:33 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 21:45:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 14 22:39:07 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 22:39:07 -0700 2009
The paintings ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 10:56:38 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 11:01:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Aug 06 07:49:16 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 07:50:21 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 23:19:03 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 20:45:16 -0800 2009
There's one spread that, if I ever found a print of it, I'd snap it up. It's the page where the girl is trying to draw a picture of herself on a wall.

I need to go back to this one again (and again and again - I may need to buy my own copy). I'm...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Mar 29 13:45:13 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 20 18:00:15 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 13:44:00 -0700 2008 Shaun Tan, a West Australian artist. I loved the whimsical illustrations the article featured, and decided to see if my library had any of his books - good news: they do. Shaun describes his books as follows:

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the thing is i was a little disappointed with the fact that the whole book was 30 pages only; it would be much better if it was a part of a book like "tales from outer suburbia" which has 15 different short st...more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 13:52:29 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 13:55:01 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 18 18:16:47 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 18:21:52 -0800 2009 You cannot pigeonhole (or bookshelf) his art. It works on so many levels, for such different age groups and reading levels. Picture Books with adult content. This one is about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel or the silver lining. ...more...]]> 5 5 false false Wed Jun 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 02 08:15:52 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 03 19:11:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 20:23:57 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 20:25:27 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 14:39:03 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 14:41:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Apr 11 12:22:25 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 12:25:27 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Sep 07 11:37:57 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 11:38:38 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 27 15:31:27 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 15:34:59 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=300946