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Lost & Found
A girl finds a bright spot in a dark world.
A boy leads a strange, lost creature home.
And a group of peaceful creatures cedes their home to hostile invaders.
Shaun Tan, with his understates voice and brilliant draftsmanship, has proved that he has a unique imaginative window to our souls, and an unparalleled ability to share that opening with pictures and narratives that are as unexpected as they are deeply true.
Originally published in Australia, these three beloved and acclaimed tales were never widely available in the U.S. Now for the first time, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and the John Marsden classic The Rabbits are presented in their entirety with additional new artwork and authors' notes. Together they tell a tale that will leave no reader unmoved, about how we love and find what matters most to us.
A boy leads a strange, lost creature home.
And a group of peaceful creatures cedes their home to hostile invaders.
Shaun Tan, with his understates voice and brilliant draftsmanship, has proved that he has a unique imaginative window to our souls, and an unparalleled ability to share that opening with pictures and narratives that are as unexpected as they are deeply true.
Originally published in Australia, these three beloved and acclaimed tales were never widely available in the U.S. Now for the first time, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and the John Marsden classic The Rabbits are presented in their entirety with additional new artwork and authors' notes. Together they tell a tale that will leave no reader unmoved, about how we love and find what matters most to us.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2011
35 people are currently reading
7209 people want to read
About the author
Shaun Tan
72 books2,577 followersShaun Tan (born 1974) is the illustrator and author of award-winning children's books. After freelancing for some years from a studio at Mt. Lawley, Tan relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, in 2007. Tan was the Illustrator in Residence at the University of Melbourne's Department of Language Literacy and Arts Education for two weeks through an annual Fellowship offered by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Artist. In 2011, he won his first Oscar in the category Best Short Animated Film for his work The Lost Thing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 727 reviews
September 17, 2018
Shaun Tan is very likely one of the most original artists today. His artwork is stunning and like nothing else out there I know of. His stories are emotions on display. He evokes primal feelings in me as reader. He blows my mind every time so far.
In this are 3 short stories told:
The Red tree
the Lost Thing
the Rabbits
The Red tree touched me deeply. It's melancholia personified. I identified. The leaves in the room and the red tree in the room, both those images rang true for me. How often do I feel that very thing he was able to define in pictures.
The lost thing was touching. How often are things in life ignored? When I go to a big city, I always look up at the buildings. They are amazing. I hear people say, never look up or you look like a tourist. You are missing the amazing all around us. It's an interesting story.
The Rabbits is about colonization. About living out of balance with the world and ravaging all that's good until nothing is left. It is a mirror to look at in some ways. Interesting.
Shaun also writes 2 pages at the end about his work that is very interesting. I love his art and I will be checking out more of his stuff.
In this are 3 short stories told:
The Red tree
the Lost Thing
the Rabbits
The Red tree touched me deeply. It's melancholia personified. I identified. The leaves in the room and the red tree in the room, both those images rang true for me. How often do I feel that very thing he was able to define in pictures.
The lost thing was touching. How often are things in life ignored? When I go to a big city, I always look up at the buildings. They are amazing. I hear people say, never look up or you look like a tourist. You are missing the amazing all around us. It's an interesting story.
The Rabbits is about colonization. About living out of balance with the world and ravaging all that's good until nothing is left. It is a mirror to look at in some ways. Interesting.
Shaun also writes 2 pages at the end about his work that is very interesting. I love his art and I will be checking out more of his stuff.
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December 4, 2013Dear Shaun Tan, I would please like to come and live inside your head. Failing that, can you build an amusement park outside my house? Hearts and flowers, Gina.
April 14, 2017
To see this and other wordless picture book reviews, please visit www.readrantrockandroll.com
I was thoroughly engaged with the three stories in this book. Out of The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits which we'd already read separately, our favorite was The Red Tree.
Shaun Tan is an amazing illustrator and his artwork is so unique. Children love the illustrations and the stories require them to brainstorm. What are the stories about exactly? Readers can take on different views and conclusions.
I especially enjoyed the author's notes in the back which helped to understand the original meanings of the stories. It's surely helpful to have an adult, parent or teacher available to assist young readers. I highly recommend this book for schools and home libraries.
We're definitely adding this to our library. Looking forward to more by this author and illustrator.
5*****
I was thoroughly engaged with the three stories in this book. Out of The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits which we'd already read separately, our favorite was The Red Tree.
Shaun Tan is an amazing illustrator and his artwork is so unique. Children love the illustrations and the stories require them to brainstorm. What are the stories about exactly? Readers can take on different views and conclusions.
I especially enjoyed the author's notes in the back which helped to understand the original meanings of the stories. It's surely helpful to have an adult, parent or teacher available to assist young readers. I highly recommend this book for schools and home libraries.
We're definitely adding this to our library. Looking forward to more by this author and illustrator.
5*****
March 5, 2017
I have wanted to get my hands on a book by Shaun Tan for some time now and finally I got my opportunity. What is more is that I discovered that 3 of his more famous works were available in a combined book with additional notes.
This book consists of The Red Tree, The lost thing and The Rabbits. The version I have was an ex-library book so I had to dissect the protective covers but other wise it is was in perfect condition. The reason I mention is that they had it listed as under children and comics. Now yes I agree you could classify it as that but there is actually a whole lot more.
The story of The Rabbits for example is the less than happy tale of how a peaceful land was "invaded" subjugated and in the end forever changed by the arrival of the Rabbits. Now for all its stylised imagery you can easily see the tale it wants to tell.
And this them is repeated not only through the other stories but is also mentioned in the Authors notes (yes I am back in those pages again) in that all these stories are about people and relationships either with themselves, with others or with the world around them (or a combination of them all).
Shaun Tan himself explains that these were stories from his early career where he was still finding himself and as such his style and focus too. Now considering how few words are present in these stories they have some very powerful images and I for one am now keen read his later works.
This book consists of The Red Tree, The lost thing and The Rabbits. The version I have was an ex-library book so I had to dissect the protective covers but other wise it is was in perfect condition. The reason I mention is that they had it listed as under children and comics. Now yes I agree you could classify it as that but there is actually a whole lot more.
The story of The Rabbits for example is the less than happy tale of how a peaceful land was "invaded" subjugated and in the end forever changed by the arrival of the Rabbits. Now for all its stylised imagery you can easily see the tale it wants to tell.
And this them is repeated not only through the other stories but is also mentioned in the Authors notes (yes I am back in those pages again) in that all these stories are about people and relationships either with themselves, with others or with the world around them (or a combination of them all).
Shaun Tan himself explains that these were stories from his early career where he was still finding himself and as such his style and focus too. Now considering how few words are present in these stories they have some very powerful images and I for one am now keen read his later works.
September 17, 2016
Amazing art. Intriguing, provocative stories. Not easy to categorize. Children's lit? Maybe the best of art is hard to categorize, in that it sets out in new directions and doesn't easily fit into anything we have seen before. These are early, pre-Arrival Tan, influenced by university post-modern and post-colonial theory, but in spite of this, like some other children's lit, can be understood (maybe) better by kids than some adults. I have in mind here the work of former postmodern lit theory graduate student Jon Scieszka, in books such as The True Story of The Three Little Pigs.
The first story, "The Rabbits," was written by John Marsden and is a kind of parable of colonialism, where white people brought disease and death to the Aboriginal people in Australia just as white people did to Native Americans in this country. But told in a way that all ages can understand, I think. Explosive imagination, Tan has, visually. Powerful. Completely original.
The first story, "The Rabbits," was written by John Marsden and is a kind of parable of colonialism, where white people brought disease and death to the Aboriginal people in Australia just as white people did to Native Americans in this country. But told in a way that all ages can understand, I think. Explosive imagination, Tan has, visually. Powerful. Completely original.
April 17, 2016
Originally published in Australia between 1998 and 2001, the three stories collected in this book all share the themes of alienation and identity confusion. My favorite is The Lost Thing, which was adapted into an Oscar-winning animated short film in 2010. While these three early efforts by Shaun Tan are already visually stunning, they still lack the complexity and scope of his later masterpiece The Arrival.
September 8, 2012
This is a beautiful book, full of wonder, but not completely wonderful. The artwork is spectacular and the stories are better-than-adequate. But I see this as a bittersweet collection. The stories end on a hopeful note, but if you're on meds, you may want to dose up before diving in. Not that the stories are depressing, just a bit gray, ironically. The vibrant artwork contrasts pretty sharply with the subdued voice of the stories, making the read a bit of a push-pull. Try this: have someone read the words aloud to you, but don't look at the pictures while they are reading. Then let yourself soak in the pictures, really dig in and try to read the texts used in the collages, look for fine details, find the red leaf on every page of "The Red Tree". It's easy to get lost in the magic of the visuals, which make all the difference in the world. A clear case of a book-as-artifact being stronger than the stories therein. I give the art a five, the stories a four. I have to wonder what it might have been like had Tan decided to go wordless with this one. It might have pushed this from full of wonder to completely wonderful. Still, this is one that any discerning reader of graphic novels or comics should have on their shelves.
June 30, 2017
Lovely artwork ,sweet story ^^
May 16, 2018
I had read The Red Tree and The Lost Thing before, but The Rabbits (which has text by John Marsden) was new to me. I thought the art was great, but the story was a little more one-note than those by Tan, which tend to have some hope or some ambivalence even when they are sad or depressing.
February 9, 2024
Great art with lots of subtle detail. These have a philosophical side that is a bit beyond the children's section of the library in which there books get filed. There are actually three short books inside:
1) The Red Tree - a rather dark theme that is depressing but with a burst of bright happiness at the very end. "Things go from bad to worse." ouch. 3*
2) The Lost Thing - this large read 'thing' only receives help from one person that took the time to ask some questions and found a place where this thing could be happy. We all walk past many things that could use our help each day. Why don't we stop and just help one of them? 4.5*
3) The Rabbits - dark drawings where rabbits are taking over.
They ate our grass. They chopped down our trees and scared away our friends...and stole our children. Who will save us from the rabbits?"
In the appendix, there are short author's notes on each. The Rabbits is a story of powerful technology colliding with ancient ecology. What will happen to the Australian landscape of deserts and billabongs? 5*
Again, these are filed under 'childrens' or 'junior' in the library, but the messages are fully adult in nature.
1) The Red Tree - a rather dark theme that is depressing but with a burst of bright happiness at the very end. "Things go from bad to worse." ouch. 3*
2) The Lost Thing - this large read 'thing' only receives help from one person that took the time to ask some questions and found a place where this thing could be happy. We all walk past many things that could use our help each day. Why don't we stop and just help one of them? 4.5*
3) The Rabbits - dark drawings where rabbits are taking over.
They ate our grass. They chopped down our trees and scared away our friends...and stole our children. Who will save us from the rabbits?"
In the appendix, there are short author's notes on each. The Rabbits is a story of powerful technology colliding with ancient ecology. What will happen to the Australian landscape of deserts and billabongs? 5*
Again, these are filed under 'childrens' or 'junior' in the library, but the messages are fully adult in nature.
June 11, 2011
Within these pages you will find three stories. Some might make you sad, some might make you feel great. All are beautifully illustrated with sparse words that capture intense emotions. Allow yourself to be swept into very different worlds for a few moments. The front flap tells, in brief what each story is about.
"A girl finds a bright spot
in a dark world.
A boy leads a strange,
lost creature home.
And a group of peaceful
creatures cedes their home to hostile invaders."
I really love Shaun Tan's art. It is weird and wonderful. His images convey such emotion, that you hardly even need a narration to go along with the story the pictures tell. The first story started off super depressing, but there is always a bright spot in the darkness. I love how he kept taking the story deeper down into dark depths and then lit a beacon of light that cuts through. In the second tale a boy finds an odd creature that is simply lost. No one lost it, it simply has always been lost. I loved seeing the interactions between the boy and the Lost Thing. The last story made me think of all the detestation the United States has created time and again. Much like the rabbits we came to this country and destroyed everything that the Natives held deal. We ate up land and spit out filth. This still happens again and again throughout the world, and it is a sad sight. This is a book you should buy, to always have around your house. To lend to friends and keep on your coffee table. It is a book filled to the brim with inspiration.
First Line:
"sometimes the day begins
with nothing to look forward to"
Favorite Line:
"terrible fates are inevitable"
Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz1P0h...
"A girl finds a bright spot
in a dark world.
A boy leads a strange,
lost creature home.
And a group of peaceful
creatures cedes their home to hostile invaders."
I really love Shaun Tan's art. It is weird and wonderful. His images convey such emotion, that you hardly even need a narration to go along with the story the pictures tell. The first story started off super depressing, but there is always a bright spot in the darkness. I love how he kept taking the story deeper down into dark depths and then lit a beacon of light that cuts through. In the second tale a boy finds an odd creature that is simply lost. No one lost it, it simply has always been lost. I loved seeing the interactions between the boy and the Lost Thing. The last story made me think of all the detestation the United States has created time and again. Much like the rabbits we came to this country and destroyed everything that the Natives held deal. We ate up land and spit out filth. This still happens again and again throughout the world, and it is a sad sight. This is a book you should buy, to always have around your house. To lend to friends and keep on your coffee table. It is a book filled to the brim with inspiration.
First Line:
"sometimes the day begins
with nothing to look forward to"
Favorite Line:
"terrible fates are inevitable"
Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz1P0h...
November 25, 2023
In the few hundred comic books i've read, Shaun Tan's visuals are easily the best (aka, my favorite). They're good enough to make me want to read/see all of his work. So ... i guess i'm going to abebooks.com very soon to find what i'm still missing.
This book includes three early stories by Tan that clearly display his genius. Therefore, you must check out The Arrival, which deserves every bit of praise it has received.
Tan's visual representation of depression in "The Red Tree" hits home, painfully.
I kept waiting for the word "but" to appear. I yearned for it. So his text worked nicely. But when, finally, he provided that linguistic relief button, the visual but's impact far surpassed the word's. Perhaps as some critics claim, the ending is too simple. I don't think that Tan's story claims something different than the critics would have him claim, though. I think he feels depression and dark thoughts or feelings don't just magically resolve. I think he's saying that they are dark thoughts and feelings and bright thoughts and feelings also exist and there is hope that one day you might open a door and experience such a thing. He's not trying to map out the cure for depression, in other words.
"The Lost Thing" aptly portrays the playfulness between 2 young seekers. Tan implies as much in the afterword. Youth, hope, belief, caring, optimism. Yet, the "solution," once again, is as tangled as the story's resolution (as implied in the afterword).
"The Rabbits" punches humans right in the puss, most(ly) rightfully. Marsden writes a story as impossibly compact as a singularity and Tan's visuals create its particular Big Bang.
Incidentally: i noticed a visual similarity between "The Rabbits" and Nil, which was published a few years after Tan's book, so i wonder if that artist was inspired by Tan.
This book includes three early stories by Tan that clearly display his genius. Therefore, you must check out The Arrival, which deserves every bit of praise it has received.
Tan's visual representation of depression in "The Red Tree" hits home, painfully.
I kept waiting for the word "but" to appear. I yearned for it. So his text worked nicely. But when, finally, he provided that linguistic relief button, the visual but's impact far surpassed the word's. Perhaps as some critics claim, the ending is too simple. I don't think that Tan's story claims something different than the critics would have him claim, though. I think he feels depression and dark thoughts or feelings don't just magically resolve. I think he's saying that they are dark thoughts and feelings and bright thoughts and feelings also exist and there is hope that one day you might open a door and experience such a thing. He's not trying to map out the cure for depression, in other words.
"The Lost Thing" aptly portrays the playfulness between 2 young seekers. Tan implies as much in the afterword. Youth, hope, belief, caring, optimism. Yet, the "solution," once again, is as tangled as the story's resolution (as implied in the afterword).
"The Rabbits" punches humans right in the puss, most(ly) rightfully. Marsden writes a story as impossibly compact as a singularity and Tan's visuals create its particular Big Bang.
Incidentally: i noticed a visual similarity between "The Rabbits" and Nil, which was published a few years after Tan's book, so i wonder if that artist was inspired by Tan.
February 28, 2011
Since The Arrival was still very fresh and vibrant in my mind, this suffered a little in comparison to me. Lovely, all of them. The first two were sweet, with a red leaf to find on every page of the first and the second conveying simplicity even with complex drawings. The last, "The Rabbits," was amaaaaaaaazing!, grim, sad, and unfortunately easily understood to represent historical events - the page that opens to children carried by kites...wow. The book ends with a short essay by Tan explaining what he was trying to say with each story.
October 16, 2020
This is my second Shaun Tan book, the first being Tales from the Inner City, and I just love his illustration and stories. I have went ahead and added the rest of his books to my TBR. Between the two, I did enjoy Tales from the Inner City better, but I still loved Lost & Found. There are 3 stories and author’s notes included.
I particularly loved the first story called “The Red Tree”. One of my favorite things about Shaun Tan’s illustration is that it tends to evoke so much emotion. I feel like I can see most of the stories in the details of the art and they become so much more than just the written story. To me, “The Red Tree” just had so much detail and conveyed so much more than the other two stories. Though again, I still enjoyed the other two as well. I really liked the connecting theme between each of these stories of the feeling of being lost or disconnected from the character’s surroundings.
I can just spend the longest time looking at one page of this author’s books because I want to soak in as many of the details possible, and there’s just so much there. Then I got to the end, read the author’s notes and realized there were still things I missed and went back to look at them all over again.
I particularly loved the first story called “The Red Tree”. One of my favorite things about Shaun Tan’s illustration is that it tends to evoke so much emotion. I feel like I can see most of the stories in the details of the art and they become so much more than just the written story. To me, “The Red Tree” just had so much detail and conveyed so much more than the other two stories. Though again, I still enjoyed the other two as well. I really liked the connecting theme between each of these stories of the feeling of being lost or disconnected from the character’s surroundings.
I can just spend the longest time looking at one page of this author’s books because I want to soak in as many of the details possible, and there’s just so much there. Then I got to the end, read the author’s notes and realized there were still things I missed and went back to look at them all over again.
February 27, 2015
Artwork: 5 stars.
Stories:
The Red Tree, 2.5 stars
The Lost Thing, 2 stars
The Rabbits, 3 stars
Some parts of the stories I could get into, other parts were too surreal for me. Out of the three stories, The Rabbits was a Little more straightforward.
Stories:
The Red Tree, 2.5 stars
The Lost Thing, 2 stars
The Rabbits, 3 stars
Some parts of the stories I could get into, other parts were too surreal for me. Out of the three stories, The Rabbits was a Little more straightforward.
March 22, 2016
Three books in one. All quite different. I thought the illustration styles really matched the different stories. The Rabbits was really sad. The Red Tree ended too soon. The Lost Thing was quite interesting.
June 17, 2018
Labiausiai patiko trecioji istorija "The Rabbits". Labai faini piesiniai...Rekomenduoju seimyniniam skaitymui ir ziurejimui/matymui...
March 31, 2024
Shaun Tan is undeniably one of the most unique artists around today. His work defies comparison—it's truly one of a kind. His art isn't just visually stunning; it resonates on a deep level, drawing you in with its intricate detail and otherworldly quality. And his stories? They'll leave you pondering long after you've put the book down. Tan's imagination knows no bounds, sparking wonder and fascination in all who encounter his creations. In short, experiencing Tan's art is like embarking on a journey into the unknown—it's captivating, thought-provoking, and utterly unforgettable.
September 12, 2018
Semakin yakin Shaun Tan msuk daftar pengarang favorit. Omnibus ini berisi tiga cerita berbeda yang dikerjakan Shaun Tan sekitar 10 tahunan sebelum diterbitkan lagi pada 2011.
April 5, 2011
First of all, I'm not exactly sure how to go about classifying this book. It isn't a graphic novel as it contains three short illustrated stories/fables. It isn't a picture book (in the traditional sense) for young children. I suppose that it is a graphic picture book meant for older children and adults. It is one of those books that you need to see to fully understand, which is why you should look through the book to get a feel for its art and tone.
Perhaps the best way to review the book is to talk about the three different stories.
THE RED TREE is the first story in the book and was probably my favorite. I'd describe it as "a depressed person's version of Dr. Suess's Oh The Places You'll Go." The story starts with a little red-haired girl who wakes up to these lines: "sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to." Like the more upbeat Dr. Suess book, the girl ventures forth into the world, which is populated by fantastical and oftentimes dark images and words that do little to lift your spirits ("the world is a deaf machine/without sense or reason"). Like the Dr. Suess book, she even comes to a waiting place. I was glad that the story ends with a sense of hope, as I was quite worried about where Tan was going to take this things. Still, some of the images lingered with me afterward, and I found myself returning to it for another look.
THE LOST THING is a bit more fanciful. A young boy (who reminded me of a Gary Larson cartoon) finds a lost thing that defies classification--it kind of looks like a big red teapot with legs. The boy decides to help the lost thing find its place in the world after realizing he cannot keep it at home. After traveling around the city, the boy and the lost thing eventually find what they are looking for and part ways--with the boy ending up losing quite a bit more than he anticipated in the process. The end of the story reminded me somewhat of The Little Prince (when you become a grown-up and stop seeing a boa constrictor inside of an elephant and instead start seeing a hat). The illustrations were more complex in this story--with the drawings placed on top of text and engineering diagrams. I kept looking for hidden meanings and "clues" in the backgrounds of the picture--as well as in the repeated images of smoke clouds that I were sure meant something if I could only figure it out.
THE RABBITS is a story written by John Marsden. Departing a bit in tone (due to the story being written by another writer) and look (I thought Tan's art was strikingly different in this story with the use of brighter colors), The Rabbits tells the oft-told story of white people invading a land and displacing the native people, except Marsden and Tan substitute rabbits for humans (although Tan's illustrations of the rabbits make it clear what they represent). As you might expect, the rabbits destroy the land, the native animals and pollute everything in sight. The story isn't subtle and even younger children will probably be able to make the leap that the "rabbits" represent "humans."
In the end, I'm not quite sure what to make of this book or who would be the target audience. I suppose that the book might appeal to older children who have an artistic streak and a conscience. In addition, the book might appeal to adults who are interested in Shaun Tan's art or who want to impart some deeper messages to their children. In the end, I didn't fall in love with this book, but I do see its merits. However, I confess to feeling like I was missing something (nuances? deeper meanings?) in the illustrations. Like all complicated picture books, this one probably deserves a slow, lingering read and several revisits. For me personally, I just didn't gravitate to Tan's style, which was more muted and depressive than I prefer. However, I'm sure this book has an appeal to fans of Tan's work and readers who like their "picture" books with more gravitas to them.
Perhaps the best way to review the book is to talk about the three different stories.
THE RED TREE is the first story in the book and was probably my favorite. I'd describe it as "a depressed person's version of Dr. Suess's Oh The Places You'll Go." The story starts with a little red-haired girl who wakes up to these lines: "sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to." Like the more upbeat Dr. Suess book, the girl ventures forth into the world, which is populated by fantastical and oftentimes dark images and words that do little to lift your spirits ("the world is a deaf machine/without sense or reason"). Like the Dr. Suess book, she even comes to a waiting place. I was glad that the story ends with a sense of hope, as I was quite worried about where Tan was going to take this things. Still, some of the images lingered with me afterward, and I found myself returning to it for another look.
THE LOST THING is a bit more fanciful. A young boy (who reminded me of a Gary Larson cartoon) finds a lost thing that defies classification--it kind of looks like a big red teapot with legs. The boy decides to help the lost thing find its place in the world after realizing he cannot keep it at home. After traveling around the city, the boy and the lost thing eventually find what they are looking for and part ways--with the boy ending up losing quite a bit more than he anticipated in the process. The end of the story reminded me somewhat of The Little Prince (when you become a grown-up and stop seeing a boa constrictor inside of an elephant and instead start seeing a hat). The illustrations were more complex in this story--with the drawings placed on top of text and engineering diagrams. I kept looking for hidden meanings and "clues" in the backgrounds of the picture--as well as in the repeated images of smoke clouds that I were sure meant something if I could only figure it out.
THE RABBITS is a story written by John Marsden. Departing a bit in tone (due to the story being written by another writer) and look (I thought Tan's art was strikingly different in this story with the use of brighter colors), The Rabbits tells the oft-told story of white people invading a land and displacing the native people, except Marsden and Tan substitute rabbits for humans (although Tan's illustrations of the rabbits make it clear what they represent). As you might expect, the rabbits destroy the land, the native animals and pollute everything in sight. The story isn't subtle and even younger children will probably be able to make the leap that the "rabbits" represent "humans."
In the end, I'm not quite sure what to make of this book or who would be the target audience. I suppose that the book might appeal to older children who have an artistic streak and a conscience. In addition, the book might appeal to adults who are interested in Shaun Tan's art or who want to impart some deeper messages to their children. In the end, I didn't fall in love with this book, but I do see its merits. However, I confess to feeling like I was missing something (nuances? deeper meanings?) in the illustrations. Like all complicated picture books, this one probably deserves a slow, lingering read and several revisits. For me personally, I just didn't gravitate to Tan's style, which was more muted and depressive than I prefer. However, I'm sure this book has an appeal to fans of Tan's work and readers who like their "picture" books with more gravitas to them.
May 8, 2012
Three picture books are included in this volume so I will review them separately but overall the book is breathtaking. Although all three books are illustrated with wondrous, inventive, and unrecognizable things like The Arrival, they are the perfect illustrations for the metaphorical tales they are illustrating. Tan’s artwork is astonishing. His text is less so but that’s okay, it’s still fairly good and that’s not what this is about anyway. Also like The Arrival, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.
The Red Tree 4 stars because it’s marketed as a children’s book
This story is controversial because it’s about sadness. The art is very beautiful like all of Tan’s work, but the text goes beyond what would be considered an ordinary child’s unhappiness and straight on to depression, something the author suffers from. Yet the summation is too simple for a child suffering from a major depressive episode. I think it is more a beautiful book for adults whether they’ve experienced the ravages of mental illness or not.
The Lost Thing
Odd but clever, this story made me feel a lot of things as I read it: sadness, innocence, happiness, and a lot in between. The illustrations are, if possible, even better than The Red Tree. I love how Tan puts images on top of images, creating a scrap-book feel. There is a lot going on and yet it is never overwhelming.
The Rabbits
Tan only illustrates this heart-wrenching story of a world overcome by things that don’t belong. Having just read Billy Bryson’s book about Australia, I knew immediately that the story was both about white people coming to Australia as well as the rabbits they brought with them that have destroyed so much of Australia’s wild beauty. The artwork is stunning as usual and, combined with the text, almost brought tears to my eyes.
The Red Tree 4 stars because it’s marketed as a children’s book
This story is controversial because it’s about sadness. The art is very beautiful like all of Tan’s work, but the text goes beyond what would be considered an ordinary child’s unhappiness and straight on to depression, something the author suffers from. Yet the summation is too simple for a child suffering from a major depressive episode. I think it is more a beautiful book for adults whether they’ve experienced the ravages of mental illness or not.
The Lost Thing
Odd but clever, this story made me feel a lot of things as I read it: sadness, innocence, happiness, and a lot in between. The illustrations are, if possible, even better than The Red Tree. I love how Tan puts images on top of images, creating a scrap-book feel. There is a lot going on and yet it is never overwhelming.
The Rabbits
Tan only illustrates this heart-wrenching story of a world overcome by things that don’t belong. Having just read Billy Bryson’s book about Australia, I knew immediately that the story was both about white people coming to Australia as well as the rabbits they brought with them that have destroyed so much of Australia’s wild beauty. The artwork is stunning as usual and, combined with the text, almost brought tears to my eyes.
December 3, 2013
Typical Tan! Impossible to classify or adequately describe. Can I just say brilliant, weird, and unforgettable?
June 20, 2016
3.5 stars
This includes three short stories: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits, the first one being my favorite. I would recommend this for fans of Shaun Tan.
This includes three short stories: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits, the first one being my favorite. I would recommend this for fans of Shaun Tan.
June 12, 2020
This guy is insane!
June 27, 2011
I loved this rerelease of 3 stories by Shaun Tan. As usual the artwork is amazing and in some cases very haunting. All three stories deal with the place of people in a society.
The first story the Red Tree is a beautiful and somewhat disturbing tale of a girl who doesn't seem to fit in, but when she stops waiting for something perfect to happen she discovers good right in front of her eyes. There is a stunning 2 page spread of little illustrations that I studied for many minutes before turning the page.
The Lost Thing is a touching story about how our society tends to marginalize unusual personalities or habits. Again the illustrations caused me to linger for quite some time, especially the ones that included little bits of text within them.
The last story called The Rabbits is a thoughtful allegory of what happens to a society that is overrun by another (eg colonialism) but told from the perspective that rabbits or taking over. The story was written by a different author, but illustrated by Tan.
I will most likely purchase this book for my classroom. It is one of those short reads that can linger with you for quite some time.
The first story the Red Tree is a beautiful and somewhat disturbing tale of a girl who doesn't seem to fit in, but when she stops waiting for something perfect to happen she discovers good right in front of her eyes. There is a stunning 2 page spread of little illustrations that I studied for many minutes before turning the page.
The Lost Thing is a touching story about how our society tends to marginalize unusual personalities or habits. Again the illustrations caused me to linger for quite some time, especially the ones that included little bits of text within them.
The last story called The Rabbits is a thoughtful allegory of what happens to a society that is overrun by another (eg colonialism) but told from the perspective that rabbits or taking over. The story was written by a different author, but illustrated by Tan.
I will most likely purchase this book for my classroom. It is one of those short reads that can linger with you for quite some time.
December 30, 2015
I bought this book several years ago because YES, I judge a book by its cover (hangs head in shame). I just got around to reading it.
The book is a compilation of picture books (?) but they're unlike any kids' picture books I've ever seen. In fact, a lot of kids might be confused by the message or scared off by the darkness. Others will be intrigued.
I was entranced, and I'd recommend this book to any artist, particularly mixed media artists....Tan is amazing. I completely followed the stories, and while the author's explanations of what he was going for may be deeper than you thought (the story "Rabbits" in particular), it doesn't matter...art is what you make of it.
Beautiful and unique. A great gift for an artistic friend.
The book is a compilation of picture books (?) but they're unlike any kids' picture books I've ever seen. In fact, a lot of kids might be confused by the message or scared off by the darkness. Others will be intrigued.
I was entranced, and I'd recommend this book to any artist, particularly mixed media artists....Tan is amazing. I completely followed the stories, and while the author's explanations of what he was going for may be deeper than you thought (the story "Rabbits" in particular), it doesn't matter...art is what you make of it.
Beautiful and unique. A great gift for an artistic friend.
August 3, 2015
Both artwork and stories are great. I specially loved the rabbits story.
February 15, 2017
The first story would've earned 5 stars from me and the other two 3-4 ish each.
December 18, 2020
I checked this out from the library right after reading The Arrival, which I really enjoyed. This one is a collection of three short stories, each in a slightly different visual style, and each with a slightly different flow of text to accompany the images.
"The Red Tree": I love how Tan depicts feelings of isolation and depression as the landscape all around the protagonist. I would have been happy with just the melancholy, without the happy ending. I'm glad Tan pointed out in the afterword that the red leaf appears in every picture; I hadn't noticed it, but then looked through the whole story again to find it.
"The Lost Thing": The art in this story is a really amazing collage style, which kept me gazing at the small details of every page, seeing what I could read in the backgrounds and borders. It's also a story of melancholy, where people grow up to a world of numbers and statistics but lose their ability to see unusual things all around them. Bittersweet, and beautiful, and strange.
"The Rabbits": The words of this story were written by John Marsden, not Shaun Tan. This was my least favorite of the collection, mostly because the story is so much more obvious and unambiguous. It's about the colonization of Australia (or of any place, more generally), but it didn't add anything new to my understanding in the way that The Arrival made me think differently about how people see the world in a new place.
"The Red Tree": I love how Tan depicts feelings of isolation and depression as the landscape all around the protagonist. I would have been happy with just the melancholy, without the happy ending. I'm glad Tan pointed out in the afterword that the red leaf appears in every picture; I hadn't noticed it, but then looked through the whole story again to find it.
"The Lost Thing": The art in this story is a really amazing collage style, which kept me gazing at the small details of every page, seeing what I could read in the backgrounds and borders. It's also a story of melancholy, where people grow up to a world of numbers and statistics but lose their ability to see unusual things all around them. Bittersweet, and beautiful, and strange.
"The Rabbits": The words of this story were written by John Marsden, not Shaun Tan. This was my least favorite of the collection, mostly because the story is so much more obvious and unambiguous. It's about the colonization of Australia (or of any place, more generally), but it didn't add anything new to my understanding in the way that The Arrival made me think differently about how people see the world in a new place.
September 9, 2019
Loved it! Shaun Tan has a drawing style I absolutely adore, his drawings are full of little details so the text that accompanies is just as important as looking at all the picture. And the stories he tells, with his partners for each one, are always so deep and profound. I could relate with 'The Red Tree', as I think we've all felt displaced at some point in life. It's a feeling common to us all, but you also know that things eventually get better, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. 'The Lost Thing' was impressive, sad, and with hints of hope. 'The Rabbits' was probably the most stressful and sad of them three. The allegory it represents hurts, because we've seen it happen many times, and we know how it ends.
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