Refuge for beauty

How to formidable is it to write/illustrate a beautiful picture book about a difficult or delicate subject - enter 'Teacup' written by Rebecca Young and painted by Matt Ottley.

Once there was a boy who had to leave home . . . and find another.
In his bag he carried a book, a bottle and a blanket. In his teacup he held some earth from where he used to play. 
This is one boy’s story of leaving his homeland, surviving a long journey by sea . . . and finding a safe, new place to call home.

'Teacup' is a gently crafted story about a young boy set adrift to find a new home. He leaves, alone in a small row boat with a book, a bottle, a blanket and a teacup full of dirt from where he used to live.
Some days the sea is calm, gently lapping against his hull. Other days the sea is rough and he is tossed about on the wild waves. All the while the small boy is on the look-out for safe land.
One day he finds a plant has sprouted in his tea cup. This plant grows into an apple tree providing shelter, shade and fruit. After his long journey he does find somewhere to start his new life… and he finds a friend.
This is a unique refugee story of a young boy. We are touched by his innocence, loss, courage, resilience and hope.

Matt Ottley is a highly talented picture book creator and musician. His tender oil painting illustrations provide a magical accompaniment to Rebecca Young’s gentle text. This book has the same style of whimsy as his 'Parachute'.

Rebecca’s aunty arrived here by boat, shortly before her dad was born. Throughout the highs and lows of her journey, and in her new home, she never let go of where she came from. Instead, she carried it, cared for it, shared it. When Rebecca and her brothers were young she gave them stories of her past, warm bowls of jook, and Cantonese swear words. She showed them that you can find old memories in new places, and old friends in new faces. 'Teacup' was a story that emerged from Rebecca's need to write for her.

What spoke to Matt most about the text for 'Teacup', when he first saw it, was quite simply that it was the most beautiful picture book story he'd ever read. It is such a huge story about the human spirit, about loss and grief, love and joy, about beauty and also high adventure. Yet it's told in such a spare, minimal way, like a piece of poetry, that there was room for him to interpret the words in so many ways, which is an artist's dream. He'd also wanted, for a long time, to do some paintings about the sea, about the drama of sea and sky, so 'Teacup' was a perfect project to do that with.

'Teacup' is one of two books that Matt has in the Notables list for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards for 2016. The other is 'Suri's wall'.