Lost Thing

Product Information

Whatever the intended audience of The Lost Thing, and whatever its moral or meaning, there can be little doubt that the book will provoke the conscience of its reader to be more aware of the human sympathies aroused for those among us who simply ‘don’t belong’. Maurice Sendak, internationally acclaimed creator of the illustrated book Where the Wild Things Are (1963), claims that ‘the invention of the picture book’ began in the art of Randolph Caldecott (1836–86) when he developed a ‘juxtaposition of word and picture, a counterpoint … Words are left out and the picture says it. Pictures are left out and a word says it.’ Sendak states adamantly: While walking on the beach collecting bottle tops, a boy finds a strange, sad-looking, but friendly, 'thing'. The lost thing (a huge abstract and red object with six legs and many windows and doors) and the boy spend a pleasant time together. Since no one seems to claim ownership of the thing, the boy decides to take it home, but eventually hands it over to a special place where many unclaimed items are left. The agencies which are purportedly there to offer help (such as the cynically named ‘Department of Odds and Ends’) evidently achieve the reverse. The building itself dwarfs any prospective person (or thing?) seeking solace, reducing them to little more than spittle on the sidewalk. Indeed, even the disembodied voice advising the narrator suggests, ‘If you really care about that thing, you shouldn’t leave it here …’

film and theatre — shaun tan film and theatre — shaun tan

Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the 'good drawer' which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since become best known for illustrated books that deal with social, political and historical subjects through surreal, dream-like imagery. Organise the children in small groups (4 usually works well). Share notes. Encourage attentive listening while everyone has their turn. Krauth, N. Creative Writing and the Radical. Teaching and Learning the Fiction of the Future. Multilingual Matters. Bristol. 2016The Lost Thing received an Honourable Mention at the Bologna International Book Fair, Italy and an honourable mention at the CBCA Awards. In 2020, The Lost Thing won the Phoenix Award in the US, given twenty years later to a book that did not win a major award at the time of publication. Original illustrations from the book have been exhibited at the Itabashi Art Museum in Tokyo and eslewhere in Japan, Germany, Sweden and the UK. Select two or three images for close looking (e.g. the beach, the image with Shaun and Pete sitting on top of the house, Shaun’s parents, the inner city high-level view looking down on Shaun and the lost thing, the place of lost things). This incredible book was made into an academy award winning short film. The Australian artist and illustrator, Shaun Tan, is the Midas of the visual world. His innovative illustrations speak volumes. The Lost Thing itself I always knew would be red and big, so very noticeable, which makes us wonder why nobody really notices it (this is the key question of the story, for which there is no single answer). Its design was based on a pebble crab, a small round crustacean with claws that hinge vertically, and I combined this with the look of an old-fashioned pot-bellied stove, with a big lid on top instead of a mouth. I did not want the creature to have any anthropomorphic features, especially no face, so it’s eyes are reduced to small dots which emerge from a hole. The main thing was that it looked strange and unrecognisable - which is not always easy. The truth of the matter is that the real significance of the story lies in the space that the individual reader creates between the interrelation of the visual (illustrations) and verbal (printed words), which together form the ‘holistic text’ of the book. As Nigel Krauth says in Creative Writing and the Radical: Teaching and learning the fiction of the future (2016):

The Lost Thing - Reading Australia The Lost Thing - Reading Australia

Read the text to students and have discussions throughout on possible words the students may misunderstand. E’ curioso che ho letto il libro in modo abbastanza rapido, curandomi soprattutto della storia senza dare troppa importanza ai dettagli. E alla fine sono sbottato in un: “ e allora?” Is belonging to some home a good thing? Is being lost about being without a place to return to at the end of the day? How many people of us are being lost? Living in a place they do not really belong to! In 2012, an exhibition produced by ACMI, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing: from Book to Film, showcased illustrations, drawings, interviews and props created for the film and toured throughout Australia over following years. After reading the text have a class discussion about the impressions they had / messages the illustrations convey / students feelings and record on whiteboard or paper.The supplementary prompts below can be used for deeper analysis once the children have had time to formulate their own ideas. The cover The anagnorisis is symbolised with a literal door open, and a big red button. The boy learns that there is a whole other world full of non-conforming things right behind the boring veneer of society. NEW SITUATION Shaun realizes the creature is lost and out of place in Jupiter. He attempts to find its owner or otherwise its source but is not able to, due to the indifference of everyone else. Pete, an opinionated friend of Shaun's, explains that it may not actually belong anywhere. When he seeks help from a government agency, he is met by a creature who warns that the department exists only to hide and forget about uncategorizable things, and gives him a business card with an arrowhead sign on it. After searching much of the city for the sign, which they find and follow numerous times, Shaun discovers a utopian land for lost things, where he parts ways with the creature, and continues on with his life - although he was unable to say whether the creature, or any of the others, really belonged there. [2] [3] 2010 film [ edit ]

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan: Creative ideas for - Tes The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan: Creative ideas for - Tes

Shaun Tan (born 1974) is the illustrator and author of award-winning children's books. After freelancing for some years from a studio at Mt. Lawley, Tan relocated to Melbourne, Victoria in 2007. Tan was the Illustrator in Residence at the University of Melbourne's Department of Language Literacy and Arts Education for two weeks through an annual Fellowship offered by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Artist. I wrote the story over a couple of weeks on my kitchen table - the original draft was much longer and more detailed, and was set in an ordinary suburb much like the one I grew up in. Later that changed as I developed the idea that the it was a kind of ‘retro-future’ suburb where there were almost no living things left, aside from people, and that everything was very dull and suffocating, but nobody cared very much about this. And what an environment to be lost in. I have read this book thousands of times and I cannot find a tree, leaf, flower, or garden. Yes, there is a beach, but its waters are acidic blue, overshadowed by monumental concrete walls seeping toxins. If the reader really looks, she will spot the word ‘MORE’ engraved in the concrete, meaning ‘MORE WHAT?’ The options are terrifying. Read the text to students – just READ! Let them know that there will be no discussion until the end of the text to ensure there are no interruptions for others.Choose three words to describe the narrator and share them with your group. As a group decide on the three best words – you need to be able to explain why you have chosen them.