When I was completing my SPP I asked my mentor TL which picture books were popular with students – a large pile of these books were compiled and given to me. When I had some time I read the books she suggested and Dust by Colin Thompson was my favourite. I thoroughly enjoyed it for its rawness and emotional power. This post is a review of that popular text and includes reasons for why it should form part of a school library collection.
Image courtesy of Harper Collins Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/6/9780733320736.jpg
Dust is a powerfully confronting and emotional picture book that was a recipient of the 2008 Honour Book in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Category. Thompson’s work is a narrative of an African child who recounts the final few hours of his and his Mother’s lives before their preventable death from starvation. The inspiration for this story lies in the situation that occurred in Niger, Africa, in 2005, where a drought resulted in the death of thousands of people. Dust was created ‘to raise money to help those who cannot help themselves’ (Thompson, 2007). Dust is a collaboration with thirteen renowned international and Australian illustrators.
Dust is a matter-of-fact, simple, unsentimentally brutal, and powerfully tragic text. The text reads like a report, recounting what happened (or crucially didn’t happen) leading up the the fictional characters’ deaths. The text is simple yet the subtle complexities are extremely powerful. As when the narrator states that ‘tomorrow we will be back in the dust, gathered by the wind and spread across the world’ (Thompson, 2007). It is this matter-of-fact tone, not remarking on the particularly troublesome circumstances associated with his and his Mother’s deaths, that allows the reader to be particularly conscious of the response the narrative demands and the narrator’s portrayal of the events.
The illustrations and the words supplement each other in this story in quite a powerful way and it is the connections the reader makes between the two that allow for the entire meaning to be derived. So when the child declares, ‘I had no years to fall in love, no weeks to laugh, no days to learn that two and three make five’ (Thompson, 2007) the reader knows that this child’s life was taken far too early and that he did not have the opportunity to enjoy those things that are basic human rights and that we take for granted. Kim Gamble’s accompanying illustration here depicts the child-like drawing of two African children as part of a rich tapestry of images including a war-torn African village with house and cars on fire, fruit, bread, books, a tap with running water, a light globe, pencils, and an idyllic coastal front town. Ultimately, it is the connection between both the illustration and the narrative that results in a stark reminder that there are people who, because of factors outside their control, are dying too young and are not fortunate enough to have those necessary items such as food, power, running water and an education.
Image courtesy of Dee Texidor Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://dee.texidor.com/blog/51-dust-shortlisted-for-best-picture-book
The illustrations are hauntingly powerful and beautifully constructed. The collaboration of fourteen different illustrators, including Colin Thompson himself, allows the story to hold my attention in ways that are not otherwise possible with a picture that has only the one illustrator. The illustrators are vastly different and each has contributed a unique interpretation of the words from which their illustration was to be accompanied. The illustrations vary widely in form and medium and range from Emma Quay’s stunning white chalk on black depiction of the spirit-like transparency of the nameless child and his Mother’s death, to the realism of David Legge’s ironic evocation of a man pushing his food scraps into the garbage bin on top of a newspaper’s world news section photograph of a starving child with his mouth open holding out an empty plate.
Image Courtesy of The Overall Picture Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.overallpicture.com/artist_portfolio/20-David-LEGGE
Thompson (2007), on the back cover, states: ‘in a perfect world this book would not exist. But we do not live in a perfect world. Even if we all learn to live in peace, there will still be millions of people who need our hel’. It is this this concern with compassion, social justice and inequality that is the text’s most alluring thematic concern. This popular text urges the reader to sympathise with the young child and his Mother and this in turn acts as a kind of ‘call to action’ to raise awareness of and provide help to those in third-world countries. It is for these reasons that I think this is a good example of a popular text that should form part of a school’s collection.
This is a brutal and unsentimental book and one which is particularly memorable, moving and powerfully emotive. However, it is for these same reasons that the book is also particularly confrontational, upsetting and at times even a little scary. It is true that the book’s ‘darkness may disturb some readers’ (Library Services’ Resource Evaluation, 2008). Chris Mould’s illustration of the Grim Reaper leading small African children into a bone-yard is likely to disturb some nascent readers and probably won’t be forgotten for some time. Similarly, as one of the illustrators, Dee Texidor, notes ‘I understand that for some this is a very sad book, however, it touches on a reality of life, and I felt it was rather gentle in introducing this stark subject to children’ (Dee Texidor, 2008, para. 2) Consequently, Dust is a book that is perhaps not suitable for the really young children. However, this popular text is suitable for anyone (and everyone) from around ten yours upwards, particularly individuals that may need a friendly and subtle reminder that there are others who are far less fortunate. As Thompson (2007) notes in the preface, Dust ‘is not just for the children. I hope to see a copy on every coffee table everywhere. If you don’t drink coffee, buy a copy and put it on your bedside table or kitchen bench or dashboard or surfboard’.
References
Dee Texidor. (2008). ‘Dust’ Shortlisted for Best Picture Book! [Image] Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://dee.texidor.com/blog/51-dust-shortlisted-for-best-picture-book
Harper Collins. (n.d.) Dust. [Image]. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/Dust-Colin-Thompson/?isbn=9780733320736
Library Services’ Resources Evaluation. (2008). Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Titles. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://education.qld.gov.au/library/resource/currtopics/cbca-2008.html
The Overall Picture. (n.d.). David Legge’s Portfolio. [Image]. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.overallpicture.com/artist_portfolio/20-David-LEGGE
Thomson, C. (2007). Dust. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books.
