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y separately published work icon The Serpent's Tale single work   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... 2010 The Serpent's Tale
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This is a carefully designed, multi-layered picture book for older readers. At the most literal level of the story, a boy demands that his mother buy a bracelet or amulet at a fair in the town square. The artifact looks like a snake chasing or devouring its own tail in an endless cycle.

'Alone in his attic room, the boy puts the bracelet on and falls asleep. At this, the snake comes to life in the boy's dreaming, thus telling its story. Even as the boy sees visions in his dreaming, through his open attic window, we, the readers, look down on the town square and see high drama. Invaders attack the town and rob the boy s house as he sleeps, a girl is rescued from the attic window opposite, there are scenes of heroism and death.

'These events might be what leads the boy to dispose of the charm when he wakes, taking it for a bad omen But what is real and what is not? Are the boy's fantastic snake-induced dreams the real events, or the events that we see at the real-life story level, taking place in the town square?

'The snake serves as a metaphor for story and narrative itself. Story as world-creating, eternal, terrifying at times, but sublimely beautiful.' (From the publisher's website.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Lothian , 2010 .
      image of person or book cover 2226844282466662729.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 31p.
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 9780734410283 (hbk.)

Works about this Work

[Review] Me and My Dad [and] The Serpent's Tale Elizabeth Douglas , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 55 no. 1 2011; (p. 22)

— Review of Me and My Dad Sally Morgan , Ezekiel Kwaymullina , 2010 single work picture book ; The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
Untitled Peter Munster , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 24 no. 3 2010; (p. 18)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
[Review] The Serpent's Tale Moira Robinson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies :Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 25 no. 3 2010; (p. 32)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
Untitled Kate O'Donnell , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , May/June vol. 89 no. 8 2010; (p. 23)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
Untitled Kate O'Donnell , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , May/June vol. 89 no. 8 2010; (p. 23)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
[Review] The Serpent's Tale Moira Robinson , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies :Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 25 no. 3 2010; (p. 32)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
Untitled Peter Munster , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 24 no. 3 2010; (p. 18)

— Review of The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
[Review] Me and My Dad [and] The Serpent's Tale Elizabeth Douglas , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , February vol. 55 no. 1 2011; (p. 22)

— Review of Me and My Dad Sally Morgan , Ezekiel Kwaymullina , 2010 single work picture book ; The Serpent's Tale Gary Crew , 2010 single work picture book
Last amended 10 Jun 2021 16:30:46
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