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). This book won many awards! He also made an animated short film called The Lost Thing (2010), based on his own picture book from 2000. For The Lost Thing film, he even won an Academy Award (an Oscar!).

Shaun Tan has written and illustrated many other popular books. These include The Lost Thing (2000) and The Red Tree (2001). Many of his works have won important awards. Some of his stories have also been turned into movies or stage plays.

Shaun Tan's Early Life and School Days

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

As a boy, Shaun loved to draw. He spent a lot of time illustrating poems and stories. He also drew dinosaurs, robots, and spaceships. At school, everyone knew he was a very talented artist. When he was eleven, he became a big fan of The Twilight Zone TV show. He also enjoyed books with similar mysterious themes. Tan says Ray Bradbury was one of his favorite authors back then. These stories inspired him to write his own short stories. He even got some rejection letters, which showed his ambition!

Shaun Tan's first illustration was published in an Australian magazine called Aurealis in 1990. He was only sixteen years old.

He thought about studying to become a geneticist. He enjoyed chemistry, physics, history, and English in high school, as well as art. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do for a career. During his university studies, Tan decided to focus on becoming an artist.

He continued his education at the University of Western Australia. There, he studied Fine Arts, English Literature, and History. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1995.

Shaun Tan's Creative Career

How Shaun Tan Creates His Art

When Shaun Tan first started, he worked in black and white. This was because his final drawings would be printed that way. He used many different tools for his black and white art. These included pens, inks, acrylics, charcoal, and scraperboard. He also used photocopies and linocuts.

Now, Tan's works often use many different colors. He starts by making sketches with a graphite pencil on regular paper. He then copies these sketches many times. He adds or removes parts in different versions. Sometimes, he even uses scissors to cut and paste parts. This idea of cutting and pasting often appears in his finished art. Many of his illustrations use materials like "glass, metal, cuttings from other books and dead insects."

Tan says he works slowly and changes his art many times. He is interested in feelings of loss and being alone. He believes that children understand ideas about fairness very well. He feels like a "translator" of ideas. He is happy when his work is used in films or music, like by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Tan gets ideas from many different places.

His art has been described as uniquely Australian. It is both ordinary and strange, familiar and new. It can be comforting and a little scary at the same time.

Awards and Special Recognition

Shaun Tan has received many awards and honors for his work.

In 2000, he was an illustrator/writer in residence for two weeks. This was through a special program at the Victorian Department of Language Literacy and Arts Education. During this time, Tan gave talks at the University of Melbourne. He also met with students and staff. He visited two schools and led a research seminar.

The Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists is an art competition. It is sponsored by the City of Subiaco. This award has been given out every year since 2003. It is open to all school children in Western Australia aged 5 to 18. There are five different award groups. Three are for primary school students and two for older students. Prizes are given to the top three artists in each group. A selection of the best artworks is shown for a month at the Subiaco Library. For example, the 2025 entries were on display from 7 July to 3 August.

In 2010, Tan received the Dromkeen Medal. This medal is given by the State Library Victoria. It honors people who have helped children's literature in Australia.

In 2011, Tan won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. This is given by the Swedish Arts Council. It is the biggest prize in children's literature worldwide. He won it for his amazing contributions to children's and young adult books.

Book Awards for Shaun Tan's Works

Shaun Tan's individual books have won many awards:

1992

L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest: First Australian to win

1995

Ditmar Award, Professional Artwork, Winner for Aurealis and Eidolon

1996

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for Eidolon Issue 19 (Cover)

1998

Crichton Award, Winner for The Viewer

Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book for The Viewer

1999

Aurealis Conveners' Award for Excellence for The Rabbits

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Winner for The Rabbits

Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration for The Rabbits

2000

APA Design Award for Memorial

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for Memorial

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for The Coode St Review of Science Fiction

Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration

2001

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for The Lost Thing

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Lost Thing

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

2002

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Red Tree

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature Winner for Red Tree

2006

Premier's Prize and Children's Books category winner in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for The Arrival

2007

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Lost Thing

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award and Book of the Year for The Arrival

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year for "The Arrival"

2008

Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book for Là où vont nos pères, the French edition of The Arrival

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Young Adult category winner for Tales from Outer Suburbia

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Special Citation for The Arrival

Winner Locus Award for Best Illustrated and Art Book for The Arrival

2009

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for Tales from Outer Suburbia

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Lost Thing

World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

2010

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, winner of the Children's Literature Award category and the South Australian Premier's Award for Tales from Outer Suburbia

Hugo Award, Best Professional Artist

2011

Academy Award, Won Best Short Film (Animated) for The Lost Thing

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for The Lost Thing

Hugo Award, Best Professional Artist

Peter Pan Prize for the Swedish translation of The Arrival

Winner Locus Award for Best Artist

2012

Locus Award for Best Artist

2014

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for Rules of Summer

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Picture Book Honor for Rules of Summer

2019

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Winner for Cicada

2020

Kate Greenaway Medal, Winner for Tales from the Inner City

Adaptations of Shaun Tan's Works

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

• The Red Tree was turned into a play. It was created for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
• The Red Tree also became a music performance. Composer Michael Yezerski and Richard Tognetti created 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 shown during a performance. The Australian Chamber Orchestra played Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15.
• The Lost Thing was made into an Oscar-winning animated short film.
• The Sydney band Lo-Tel released an album inspired by The Lost Thing. It 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 in 2006. It was also performed at the Chookahs! Kids Festival in Melbourne.
• The Lost Thing was the theme for the 2006 Chookahs! Kids Festival. This event took place at The Arts Centre in Melbourne. Many activities 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 music. The Orkestra of the Underground performed an 18-piece score. This was performed at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, and Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide.
• The Rabbits became an opera with the same title. Kate Miller-Heidke composed it. It premiered at the 2015 Perth International Arts Festival.
• A stage adaptation of Tales of the Inner City is planned for the 2026 Perth Festival. It will be a "site-responsive theatrical adventure." This project is being created by artists from across the Asia Pacific region.

Shaun Tan's Books

Books Illustrated by Shaun Tan

• 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 Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan

• 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)

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