Martine Murray (text) and Anna Read (illustrator), World, Parachute Press, October 2023, 42 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780645039528
World is a picture book with intention. From the very start it is clear that the creators have a cause they are championing. One of the first images is certainly ominous: a bald man, driving towards a lonely tree with an axe. Once at the tree he announces that he needs a house, implying that the cut down tree will satisfy this need.
The tree’s only counter argument is I house the whole world, which sets the man off on an explanation about the ‘real’ world, what it is made up of, the best and most important parts of the world, the achievements and comforts that are abundantly available. The man considers development, construction, and technology to be the most impressive parts of the world, while the tree, not needing to argue, allows the man to experience the natural world and arrive at his own conclusions. To recognise the loneliness, the barriers, and the lack of man’s world, compared to the boundless beauty of nature.
I enjoyed the many of the illustrations, particularly the images of the Australian wildlife and landscape and the highways scene. The depiction of the man was slightly unpleasant, but I suppose that for most of the book the reader is meant to disassociate from him.
The key connection I made to this text, and that I think many people will make, is its comparison to The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, a book that is polarising. The way the man talks to the tree as he tries to justify his life feels similar to the way the boy in The Giving Tree speaks to his tree. Certainly both books might steer readers towards themes such as selfishness and gratitude. The main difference is that World focuses on the wider environment and connection with nature.
Overall, this self-published picture book lacks the refinement a book receives at a large publishing house. It probably won’t appeal to the masses; it looks too unique for that, and people gravitate towards what is familiar. But it is a book with authenticity and honesty.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
