Shaun Tan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shaun Tan
Tan in 2011
Born	(1974-01-15) January 15, 1974 (age 51) Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
Notable work	The Red Tree The Lost Thing The Arrival Cicada

Shaun Tan (born 15 January 1974) is a famous Australian artist, writer, and filmmaker. He is well-known for his amazing graphic novel The Arrival (2006), which won many awards. He also created the animated short film based on his picture book The Lost Thing (2000). This film won an Academy Award, which is a very big honor! Shaun Tan has written and illustrated many other popular books, like The Red Tree (2001). Many of his works have received special recognition and have been turned into films and stage shows.

About Shaun Tan

His Early Life and Artistic Journey

Shaun Tan was born on 15 January 1974 in Fremantle, Western Australia. His father was from Malaysia, and his mother was Australian. He grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth.

As a boy, Shaun loved to draw. He spent time illustrating poems and stories. He also enjoyed drawing dinosaurs, robots, and spaceships. At school, everyone knew him as a very talented artist. When he was eleven, he became a big fan of The Twilight Zone TV show. He also liked books with similar themes. These stories inspired Shaun to write his own short stories.

Shaun's first illustration was published in an Australian magazine called Aurealis in 1990. He was only sixteen years old then! Even though he enjoyed subjects like chemistry and physics, Shaun decided to follow his passion for art. He studied Fine Arts, English Literature, and History at the University of Western Australia. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995.

How Shaun Tan Creates His Art

Shaun Tan is known for his unique way of creating art. When he first started, he worked mostly in black and white. He used different tools like pens, inks, acrylics, charcoal, and scraperboard. He also used photocopies and linocuts.

Today, Shaun's artworks are full of many different colors. He often starts by making sketches with a graphite pencil on regular paper. He then makes many copies of these sketches. He changes them by adding or removing parts. Sometimes he even uses scissors to cut and paste pieces. This idea of cutting and pasting often appears in his finished artworks. He uses interesting materials like glass, metal, and cuttings from other books.

Shaun says he is a slow worker. He revises his work many times to make it just right. He likes to explore feelings of being different or finding your place in his stories. He believes that children especially understand ideas about fairness and what is right. Shaun feels like he is a "translator" of ideas. He is happy when his work is adapted into films or music. His art has a special "Australian style." It feels both ordinary and magical, familiar yet surprising.

Awards and Recognition

Awards for Young Artists

The City of Subiaco sponsors an art award called the Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists. This award has been given out every year since 2003. It is open to all school children in Western Australia between 5 and 18 years old. There are different categories for primary and senior school students. Prizes are given to the top entries in each group. A selection of the best artworks is shown in the Subiaco Library. For example, the 2025 entries were on display from 7 July to 3 August.

Major Awards for His Work

In 2010, Shaun Tan received the Dromkeen Medal. This award is given to people who have helped children's literature in Australia grow.

In 2011, he won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council. This is the biggest prize in children's literature worldwide! He won it for his amazing contributions to children's and young adult books throughout his career.

Book Awards Highlights

Shaun Tan's books have won many individual awards. Here are some of the highlights:

• L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest: He was the first Australian to win this award in 1992.
• Ditmar Award (Artwork): He has won this award multiple times for his artwork, including for Aurealis and Eidolon (1995), The Coode St Review of Science Fiction (2000), The Lost Thing (2001, 2011), Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009), and Rules of Summer (2014).
• Crichton Award: Winner for The Viewer (1998).
• Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year: Winner for The Rabbits (1999) and The Arrival (2007). He also received Honour Book recognition for Memorial (2000), The Lost Thing (2001, 2009), and The Red Tree (2002). In 2019, Cicada won this award.
• New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards: Winner of the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature for Red Tree (2002). He also won the Community Relations Commission Award and Book of the Year for The Arrival (2007).
• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards: Winner of the Premier's Prize and Children's Books category for The Arrival (2006). He also won the Young Adult category for Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).
• World Fantasy Award for Best Artist: He won this award in 2001, 2007, and 2009, and was a finalist in 2019.
• Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book: For Là où vont nos pères (the French edition of The Arrival) in 2008.
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award: Special Citation for The Arrival (2008) and Picture Book Honor for Rules of Summer (2014).
• Locus Award for Best Illustrated and Art Book: Winner for The Arrival (2008). He also won the Locus Award for Best Artist in 2011 and 2012.
• Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature: Winner of the Children's Literature Award and the South Australian Premier's Award for Tales from Outer Suburbia (2010).
• Academy Award: Won Best Short Film (Animated) for The Lost Thing in 2011.
• Peter Pan Prize: For the Swedish translation of The Arrival in 2011.
• Kate Greenaway Medal: Winner for Tales from the Inner City in 2020.

Books Brought to Life: Adaptations

Many of Shaun Tan's wonderful books have been adapted into different forms of art.

• The Red Tree was turned into a play by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
• The Red Tree also inspired a music performance. Composer Michael Yezerski and Richard Tognetti created music for it. The Australian Chamber Orchestra and the youth choir Gondwana Voices performed it. Images from the book were shown during the performance.
• Images from The Arrival were projected during a performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. They played conductor Richard Tognetti's music.
• The Lost Thing was made into an Oscar-winning animated short film.
• The Sydney band Lo-Tel created an album inspired by The Lost Thing. The album even featured artwork from the book.
• The Lost Thing was also adapted into a play. The Jigsaw Theatre Company, a youth theatre group, performed it. This play was a main event at the National Gallery of Australia's Children Festival in Canberra. It was also featured at the Chookahs! Kids Festival in Melbourne in 2006.
• The Lost Thing was the theme for the 2006 Chookahs! Kids Festival at The Arts Centre in Melbourne. Many activities at the festival were based on ideas from the book.
• The Arrival was adapted for the stage by Red Leap Theatre.
• The Arrival was again shown on a screen with live orchestral music. The Orkestra of the Underground performed 18 pieces created by musician Ben Walsh. This was performed in famous venues like the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, and Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide.
• The Rabbits became an opera of the same title. Kate Miller-Heidke composed the opera. It premiered at the 2015 Perth International Arts Festival.

Shaun Tan's Published Works

Books He Illustrated for Others

• The Pipe, by James Moloney (1996)
• The Stray Cat, by Steven Paulsen (1996)
• The Doll, by Janine Burke (1997)
• The Half Dead, by Garry Disher (1997)
• The Viewer, written by Gary Crew (1997)
• The Rabbits, written by John Marsden (1998)
• The Hicksville Horror, by Nette Hilton (1999)
• The Puppet, by Ian Bone (1999)
• Memorial, written by Gary Crew (1999)
• Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link (2008)

Books He Wrote and Illustrated Himself

• The Playground (1997)
• The Lost Thing (2000)
• The Red Tree (2001)
• The Arrival (2006)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008)
• The Bird King and other sketches (2011)
• The Oopsatoreum: inventions of Henry A. Mintox, with the Powerhouse Museum (2012)
• Rules of Summer (2013)
• The Singing Bones (2016)
• Cicada (2018)
• Tales from the Inner City (2018)
• Dog (2020)
• Eric (2020)
• Creature (2022)

Art Installations

• The Tea Party (2002) is a large mural. It covers 24 square meters above bookshelves. You can find it in the Children's Section of the Subiaco Public Library in Perth.

See also

In Spanish: Shaun Tan para niños