One of the things that worked for me in this picture book is how the harrowing portraits complement the range of emotions experienced (or imagined) by the characters in the story. As a psychologist, I am reminded of social psychology principles such as deindividuation and groupthink. The former shows a mob mentality as groups of people lose their individual sense of self-awareness and personal inhibitions as they tend to do things they would normally have not done on their own. Groupthink is quite similar in the sense that there is a tendency to minimize conflict in the group and an overemphasis on harmony (albeit unfounded) and a delusion that everyone feels the same way, thus, alternative courses of action are silenced. All the usual concerns about immigration are lightly understated in the text and fleshed out with a cruel humour in the illustrations. He will eat all our food, cry the villagers. Then give him a job, suggests the good fisherman. "'If he was in my kitchen, nobody would want to eat at my inn,' muttered the inkeeper." This exchange takes place beneath a picture of the interloper paddling his grubby hands in the food while all around him is squalor. The text and pictures work against each other to both illustrate the villagers' fears and illuminate the viciousness of their prejudices.

The Island by Armin Greder: Originally published in 2002 in German, and winner of multiple German and French book awards, Armin Greder's The Island is now available in English. While this picture book might be disturbing for the very young, it is an allegory that can be appreciated by all ages (the publisher indicates 8-18). It only takes a few minutes to read, but leaves you contemplating its implications and greater meanings.This is not to say that I feel The Island does not belong in a primary classroom. This, and other books that reflect the bleak reality of our imperfect world, need to be there. But they should be guided by a confident, informed and empathic teacher, who can ensure the exploration is one that provokes thought rather than fear or despair. This may not be a good text to share in a class with children who have recently arrived – the reality is too real, and as teachers, unlike Greder, we should hold onto and talk about the world as it should be. Voice of Reason and Compassion. Thankfully, in this book, there is a voice of compassion in the presence of the fisherman: The Island is a picture book definitely for older KS2. The themes within the book cover identity, inclusion and acceptance all within some harrowing illustrations. The pictures throughout the book could definitely provoke some deep class discussion as they aren't all nice, but rather creepy. The plot to the text surrounds an 'foreigner' who isn't accepted into society anyway whatsoever. All of the villagers have their reservations on accepting the individual who is different, they are also very prejudice about accepting the differences regarding the stranger. I honestly thought the story would end on a lighter note, however it followed a negative theme throughout the story. There were a few moments when they villagers seemed slightly accepting of the individual and his differences by providing him with opportunities and treating him like a human, but that didn't last long. While most of the stories we have featured for our immigrant theme share narratives of assimilation and a renegotiation of one’s identity, this ‘foreigner’ was never given that opportunity to even feel remotely a sense of belonging. The ending was painful and tragic and leaves one with a sense of bated breath and a query in one’s head, “oh dear, that’s it?” Yet, in most cases, the truth is that, oftentimes it is all there is – thus the hate crimes, genocide, senseless murders – the darker shades of humanity as hauntingly portrayed in the illustrations of this powerful book. What happens to the fisherman I leave for you to discover. This illustration portrays the disturbing manner through which the children adopt the adults’ ways of being – searingly painful.

One morning, the people of the island found a man on the beach, where fate and ocean currents had washed his raft ashore. When he saw them coming, he stood up. There is so much depth to this picture book! From the hauntingly memorable charcoal illustrations Greder is able to speak a thousand words. His depiction of the washed up man as naked, slender and hairless contrasts dramatically to the full-bodied, clothed people of the island. I think it’s clear what Greder was trying to convey through his choices to illustrate his characters as such, wealth, culture and history all playing their part in the construction of attitudes towards difference. I keep asking myself if there was a reason for why the washed up man is depicted as fair-skinned. I haven’t come up with an answer to this which I’m completely happy with yet, but I suppose this choice proposes the idea that hatred is evolving. Read into that what you will. My friend Alex passed me this book today and told me to read it, she also told me to emotionally prepare myself. I took the book over to my desk, sat down and did as she instructed. This was about twelve hours ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this story since. The picture story book, The Island, by Armin Greder, shows the importance of accepting people for who they are. This can be seen when they gave no proper shelter and They didn’t give him any food or water. This is also shown when he didn’t look the same and They didn’t get to know him before they judged him.Similar to the book I reviewed yesterday for our Festival of Asian Literature and the Immigrant Experience theme, The Rabbits, this book by Armin Greder is also recommended to me by Librarian Extraordinaire Benjamin Farr from Tanglin Trust School. And what an awesome recommendation it turned out to be. Like The Rabbits, this picture book is a powerful masterpiece all its own.