Books for all Reasons

It appears that there's a renewed interest in the picture book genre. I find that more and more teachers and educators are requesting picture books that deal with specific themes and issues. This is the kind of challenge that I most enjoy. Not only are primary teachers using this resource to read stories to their classes but junior, intermediate and even senior teachers are using picture books to deal with difficult ideas such as: depression, loss, equity, gender, racism, tolerance and even helping children understand the concept of fair trade.

When I display books at a conference I find that people are drawn to our booth for aesthetic reasons. They may initially be drawn closer by the look of the booth but they are usually lured into the booth by the beauty of the books displayed. When approached, most teachers just enjoy being left alone to immerse themselves in the books but on occasion I'll get a customer who, upon noticing only picture books, says "Oh, I teach high school". Nothing is more satisfying than when a customer is pleasantly surprised by the depth of some picture books.

Shaun Tan comes to mind when searching for picture books for older students. A new collection of two of his favourites - The Lost Thing and The Red Tree, and a John Marsden favourite - The Rabbits has just been rereleased in a stunning hard cover version called Lost and Found.

Synopsis:

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 cruel invaders. Shaun Tan, with his understated 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.