The Red Tree

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan Is quite an artistic piece and can be read over and over due to its strong theme and the uplifting piece of hope it shows even throughout all darkness. Life can often be too much, and for this unnamed young girl, it certainly is. Her life, filled with darkness, loneliness and sadness can often seem unbearable and depressing. But even through this all there is a ‘red tree’ right where she imagined it would be.

This can be viewed as quite a heavy book, due to its obvious themes of darkness and depression. It would be aimed at children in upper primary, possibly older because of this. Symbolism within the book is exceptional; the illustrations are gripping and capture emotional very well. The simplistic text does just enough to assist in the portraying the emotion within the pictures. If I found it gripping I assume it could be used for students throughout high school also, it represents the hardships of life and how hard it can be. To get the ‘have hope’ idea in a student’s head I think this is quite a good introduction.

An image from The Red Tree