The Island

In the morning the people of the island found a man sitting on the shore, there where fate and the ocean currents had set him and his frail raft in the night. When he saw them coming towards him, he rose to his feet.

He was not like them.

This internationally acclaimed, award-winning picture book is astonishing, powerful and timely.

Winner of Die Besten Sieben 2002 (Germany)
Short-listed for Focus 2008 (Australia)

“This is a bleak, dark, sad book and a useful prompt for discussion.”

Books for Keeps

Armin Greder was born in Switzerland. In 1971 he migrated to Australia where he worked as a graphic designer and later taught design and illustration at a tertiary art institution. Picture books illustrated by him include The Great Bear, An Ordinary Day and I Am Thomas as well as The Island and The City, of which he is also the author. His work, in which charcoal is prominent, reflects his European background. He is the recipient of a number of international recognitions such as the Bologna Ragazzi Award and he has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Prize.

Poignant and chilling, this allegory is an astonishing, powerful, and timely story about refugees, xenophobia, racism, multiculturalism, social politics, and human rights. When the people of an island find a man sitting on their shore, they immediately reject him because he is different. Fearful to the point of delusional paranoia, the islanders lock him in a goat pen, refuse him work, and feed him scraps they would normally feed a pig. As their fears progress into hatred, they force him into the sea. The charcoal illustrations complement the sparse and beautifully understated narrative.

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