My Strange Shrinking Parents

Zeno Sworder

My Strange Shrinking Parents
Format
Hardback
Publisher
Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd
Country
Australia
Published
30 August 2022
Pages
40
ISBN
9781760761233

My Strange Shrinking Parents

Zeno Sworder

It goes without saying that all children believe their parents to be strange. Mine were unusual for a different reason… 

One boy’s parents travel from far-off lands to improve their son’s life. But what happens next is unexpected. What does it mean when your parents are different? What shape does love take? And what happens when your parents sacrifice a part of themselves for you?   

In this heartbreaking and heart-warming story, CBCA award-winner Zeno Sworder reflects on his own migrant parents’ sacrifices to create a universal story about what it means to give to those you love. Drawing from the sacrifices his Chinese mother made to raise her young family in a small country town, Sworder’s drawings are full of beautiful detail and fairytale settings that explore his own journey from child to parent.   

With humour and pathos, Sworder reflects on the strange nature of giving and receiving love and celebrates those parents who embrace a hard life for themselves in the hope of a better life from their children. Full of depth and generosity as well as insight and candour, Sworder brings this gorgeous fable to life.

Review

When my daughter was young, I told her that while she was small it was my job to look after her, but that one day I would be small and she would need to take care of me. In this extraordinary picture book by rising star Zeno Sworder, the parents are shrinking exponentially, as they trade their own height as payment for their child’s needs over the years.

This is a picture book as much for adults as it is for children. Children will find it magical the way the parents get smaller as the boy grows up. It’s like watching Alice in Wonderland or The Borrowers; tiny beings in a supersized world. Adults will recognise the sacrifices made for a beloved child, particularly immigrants who come to a new country with nothing and must build their lives anew. The illustrative style gives a nod to Japanese woodblock prints, and there is incredible attention to detail throughout, from the endpapers featuring teapots through to the stunning tonal prints on each page.

Lovingly produced, designed and illustrated, My Strange Shrinking Parents is an enchanting story of parental sacrifice. Not only will it win many awards, it will undoubtedly enthral and captivate readers for a long time to come. A must-read for ages 4 to adult.


Angela Crocombe is a senior buyer and children’s and YA specialist at readings.

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