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. Astonishing Perth artist, 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.

This is Shaun Tan's fifth picture book. He has received awards for all five. 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...The Red Tree is about feelings that cannot always be simply expressed in words. 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.

Shaun Tan is the author and illustrator of The Lost Thing and The Red Tree, both of which have won international awards such as the Honourable Mention in the BolognaRagazzi Prices, were CBCA Honour Books and have been widely translated. Previous books Shaun has illustrated include The Rabbits by John Marsden (CBCA Picture Book of the Year) and with Gary Crew, Memorial (A CBCA Honour Book) and The Viewer (winner of the Crichton Award for illustration). In 2001 Shaun received the 'World Fantasy Best Artist Award' for his body of work.

2008-06-16 wonderful picture book

This is a brilliant book.

Not an expected subject to tackle in a children's book, but the bad feelings of depression, anxiety and confusion that we all encounter in life to some degree are beautifully depicted, and just when you think the sadness will overwhelm you, the red tree that grows is sweetly uplifting and I defy you not to shed a tear.

The most original, deep and beautifully executed picture book I've seen.