The Island

Product Information

On the other hand, it is very difficult to visually represent otherness without recurring to recognizable tropes or methods of exclusion already in place, and that is why I still give this book 4 stars.

Ask students to spend a few minutes working independently to draw what comes into their head when they think of an island. The story focuses on a unnamed man who suddenly appears on an island where the inhabitants grudgingly take him in.

When the people of the Island discover a man and a tattered raft on their beach, they are reluctant to take him in. Tackling big themes in subtle way - like text and stunning artwork that will provoke discussion for upper KS2 about issues that remain so much a part of our national discourse. Gradually the islanders realise that the man needs food and help, but the very thought of it brings out their most established prejudices. The boys on the island experience terrifying occurrences not only in their surroundings, but also in themselves.

Armin has worked as a graphic designer and currently lectures tertiary art students, illustrating picture books in between teaching and other interests.Children will infer different character’s feelings, exploring the character of the fisherman in particular through the technique of teacher in role, before receiving a letter asking for advice and writing a reply that uses the subjunctive mood. The Islanders are shown to be quite derranged, with bulging eyes and contorted facial expressions, whereas the drawings of the man show him to be quite harmless. This story of the death and reincarnation of a Tibetan woodcutter is a beautifully gentle look at one human being dealing with life's choices and possibilities.

As a child Armin spent a lot of time drawing in the back of his exercise books when he should have been paying attention in class. It is these attitudes that make the book so vital to be used within schools, so that children analyse the behaviour and the ultimate impact on the man. The deterioration of morality among the boys caused them to act in ways they wouldn’t have if they hadn’t crashed on the island. Armin Greders book, The Island is about accepting others no matter what they look like or there culture, its about the personality and humor.Greder is asking us to come together, to treat each other as one and I for one do not think this is too much to ask, in fact, I can’t think of anything more natural, anything more perfect, more beautiful than this. This mystified poem depicts feelings of ignorance as well as disinterest as “they” are treated with a lack of concern.

The choices which follow take him through all the galaxies, stars, planets, creatures, peoples, countries, and parents before arriving at the final twist in this journey back to where he had been almost. Students go outside and sketch tall structures from different perspectives, or use a device to take photos.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. This can be seen as drawing a striking parallel with some attitudes shown towards refugees and migrants within the UK. When they realise that they need to provide food for him they are outraged and decide to remove him from the island and punish the fisherman who convinced everyone else to help the man. Although the tone of the text is ultimately pessimistic, there are suggestions of Christian ideals such as sharing, caring for the less fortunate and having a clear conscious. In 1971 he migrated to Australia where he worked as a graphic designer and later taught design and illustration at a tertiary art institution.