- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Simply Read Books; illustrated edition edition (1 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0968876889
- ISBN-13: 978-0968876886
- Product Dimensions: 31.5 x 18.8 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 717,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Illustrated by Shaun Tan. Bestselling author, Marsden, has created a dramatically moving allegory of colonisation told from the perspective of native animals, in this stunningly illustrated volume. Examining the consequences of the arrival of a group of rabbits with unfamiliar ways, the story shows how colonisation can result in the domination of the environment and its other inhabitants. A thought-provoking book, it earned its author and illustrator the CBCA Picture Book of the Year.
About the Author
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.
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First Sentence
The rabbits came many grandparents ago. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The rabbits came many grandparents ago. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
(see my review for the hardback version) So many friends I have shown this to have gone out and bought several copies.
The illustrations are beautiful, entrancing with always some new detail revealed on every examination. They are beautifully sensitive to the culture of the creatuers that narrate teh book. Some are very funny, others make you want to learn to paint again. Ranging from rich oil to pen-and-ink diagramatic style with (yet keeping its consistency) it is a great stimulus for drawing with children (I start by finding the thumb-prints in the landscapes). Just buy it for the pics.
The story is a deep metaphor for the colonialisation of Australia (at least that is this adult's interpretation - I know children as young as 5 who have found their own meanings). The consistent and beautiful world of the narrators gives way to the mad (and bitter-sweet comical) technology of the incoming rabbits.
As an arts-in-education professional I find this book works as a peice of art more than any other I know - you can interrogate it, build meaning, and combine it with your own experience of the world. It does not preach and has an open ending that begs "what if?" questions . . . It is both very simple and very rich at the same time.
I've finally succeeded in giving my first copies away (took 12 months to part with them) - so I'm buying some more at the ridiculously cheap paperback rate!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've had this book for 9 months and can't bring myself to give it to the child I bought it for.
First the illustrations are stunning, with hidden qualities and detail that still reveal more after 30 readings. They vary from heavy oil-paint style - to almost comic colourful diagrams. They are wonderful representations of natural landscapes, their significances to those living in it, and equally of the cities and technologies that are laid upon it. Buy it for these alone.
The format - a big children's hard-back, with two page spread and one or two lies of text. This has the feel of a book for young children (I know 4 year olds who adore it), which does not entirely do it justice.
The story: it is an account by an native animal of how the rabbits came to their land and changed it. The text has a simplicty and directness that charms. For an adult it is a potent account of the British destruction of the Australia that had existed for generations before they arrived - but it works at the level of the reader.
It does not horrify (because of the honesty and richness of the metaphor) - the rabbits' cities and schemes have a wry eye for humour and detail, but equally the outcome of battles between the two species is plain ("We lost the fights"). The last page brings tears everytime I read it - the simple question "What are we going to do about the rabbits?"
As a piece of art for young people it is rare in its richness, and its honesty about the real world without romanticising and, equally importantly, without preaching.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I stumbled upon this book whilst working one day in the children's dept of our store. It's like no picture book I've read before. The theme is ostensibly adult and the illustrations striking and sinister.
Like many other reviewers here, I find myself drawn back to it again and again - not only for the vivid images, but also for the breathlessness I feel at the rapid escallation of the horrors visited on the native creatures by the colonisers.
I'm not sure what age of child I would recommend this for, but it has the power to make one weep for the evil done in the name of progress.
Like many other reviewers here, I find myself drawn back to it again and again - not only for the vivid images, but also for the breathlessness I feel at the rapid escallation of the horrors visited on the native creatures by the colonisers.
I'm not sure what age of child I would recommend this for, but it has the power to make one weep for the evil done in the name of progress.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
All time favourite book ever
This is my all time favourite book ever! And I am 29. It is brilliant story told in few words and the most amazing art work. Read more
Published 12 months ago by betty
thought provoking ....
A fantastic read for a thought. It is a Shaun Tan book ...... what to say, it is for everyone.
Published 19 months ago by marie
The Rabbits
This book is quite dark on first reading but subsequent readings show it to be brim full of symbolism. My class of 7 - 9 year olds were entranced. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2009 by Mrs. Lynn M. Massey
Striking!
It's rare for a book to combine amazing illustration and a strong story with political content, and The Rabbits does it well. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2009 by Worm Book
Rabbits
Excellent, moving, thoughtful and thought provoking stuff. The simplest story belies the depth of the subject matter. The beautiful, detailed illustrations are perfection. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2006 by Mr. Dan Petic
Beautiful Illustrations, But Too Mature In Outlook
I ordered this book as a gift for a young relative, a four year old I wanted to give an intelligent picture book. Read more
Published on 22 July 2004
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