Inside, the box was crammed with treasures, each more intriguing than the last his eyes glistened with delight at the promise these wonders held
Young Tristan, a curious boy who rescues all sorts of objects from the rubbish dump, finds an old Viewmaster in its elaborate box, complete with a set of disks. He finds that these represent the ages of humankind, seen as a cyclical structure in which patterns of growth and decay are repeated. Tristan becomes more and more drawn in to the world of the disks, and eventually disappears. The book is full of metaphors and symbols of seeing and watching, circularity and never-endingness, in a complex, fantastical tale, which was Shaun Tan s first picture book.
About The Authors
Gary Crew has an outstanding reputation as a writer of Young Adult fiction and innovative picture books. His numerous prizes and awards include CBC Book of the Year: Older Readers for Strange Objects and Angel s Gate (1991 and 1994) which also received widespread international recognition; CBC Honour Book for Memorial (2000), CBC Picture Book of the Year for First Light (1994); CBC Picture Book of the Year for The Watertower (1995); The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie was a notable book in 1996. He is also the author of The Viewer and Mama s Babies, which were CBC Notable Books for 1998 and 1999 respectively.Other picture books are Bright Star, Troy Thompson s Excellent Poetry Book, Troy Thompson s Radical Prose Folio, Leo The Lion Tamer, and The Rainbow. Other Lothian YA Fiction titles are Dear Venny, Dear Saffron with Libby Hathorn, Edward Britton with Philip Neilsen and Gothic Hospital. He has also written the historical picture books Quetta, illustrated by Bruce Whatley; and Valley of Bones and The Castaways of the Charles Eaton , both illustrated by Mark Wilson, and the Extinct series: I Saw Nothing, the Extinction of the Thylacine; I Said Nothing, the Extinction of the Paradise Parrot; and I Did Nothing, the Extinction of the Gastric-brooding Frog. Gary lives in Maleny, Queensland.
Shaun Tan has an outstanding reputation for his illustrative work. He won the Crichton Award for Book Illustration for his first book, The Viewer, in 1995. The Rabbits by John Marsden was named CBCA Picture Book of the Year in 1999. Memorial, also written by Gary Crew, was a CBCA Honour Book in 2000. The Lost Thing, written and illustrated by Shaun, was a CBCA Honour Book in 2001 and received an Honorable Mention in the 2002 Bologna Ragazzi Awards. The Red Tree was a CBCA Honour Book in 2002. He has been a leading science-fiction illustrator in Australia for several years; with recognition including the Illustrators of the Future Award (1991) and the Australian National Science Fiction Best Artist Award (1995, 1996). to Eidelon magazine. He has also received two silver and one gold award for science fiction illustration in the USA. Most recently, Shaun won the Dromkeen Medal 2010 (an award made annually to an Australian citizen for a significant contribution to the appreciation and development of children's literature in Australia), received the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2011 in recognition for his contribution to children's literature and won the 2011 Oscar for best Short Animated Film for his animation of The Lost Thing.
