Read the whole text using a text visualiser to amplify the images on your IWB.Ask the children to think about, and bring in if they wish, objects or images that make them feel better when days are difficult and share their responses if they want to. Helping the children to understand that we all have difficult days is a valuable part of learning. It doesn’t have to be a red leaf – especially if it’s not Autumn and you are not the flower-pressing type – but it does have to be something which will inspire you to ‘weave’ a story around it. A simple but very effective way to start is to bring in an object which symbolises hope to you and recount orally a story of a journey from lack of hope to renewed faith in the world. As this is a text that may evoke personal responses, it’s a good idea to establish some ground rules before you begin and it’s not a book to use until you know your class. There is a reminder of this in the red leaf found on every page, hidden away from the character’s sight but seen by the reader if you look carefully. One of the key messages of this book is that there is always hope of happiness, although we may not always be able to see it. Personal responses, extraction of main ideas and development of imagery, symbolism and vocabulary are key reading skills to focus on with this text, but it is also ideal for a thematic project linking PSHCE, art, music and ICT and offers up endless opportunities for talking and writing. Mostly told through the beautiful and strange illustrations and one long poetic sentence that continues through the text, it conveys the complexity of emotions and thoughts one can experience on a day that feels hopeless, but which ends with a message of hope in the red tree of the title. The Red Tree by Shaun Tan is an absolutely stunning and powerful book for upper KS2. The Red Tree is a touching book with a message of hope that can provide almost endless opportunities for talking and writing
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