Belonging by Jeannie Baker
Belonging – Jeannie Baker
Belonging is a collage picture book, written by Jeannie Baker in 2004. The audience’s perspective is viewed through a window showing the gradual change and growth of a community, as years pass and the main character, Tracey, grows older. Jeannie Baker wanted to put into perspective the idea that the individual belongs to the land, rather than the land belonging to the individual.
In the first page, the audience is introduced to the protagonist, Tracy, as a tiny baby being held in her parent’s arms. Through each new page, Tracey is at a new stage in her life, growing older and settling into her community. Tracey is an only child, like Peter Skrzynecki. Within each new stanza of Feliks Skrzynecki, Peter Skrzynecki’s perspective has aged, “Growing older, I
Remember words he taught me,” much alike the aging of Tracey that the audience views as she grows up. It is realized that belonging is something that is able to evolve over time, with the growth of Tracey as she settles into the community and the contrast shown through the simile in Feliks Skrzynecki, “Loved his garden like an only child,” to the change seen in 10 Mary Street as the garden is referred to as being “Like adopted children.”
The planting of seeds within Belonging is a visual metaphor representing the devolpment and growth within the community and the growth of Tracey. The industrialized suburban street, depicted within the first page, undergoes a positive change as the community bands together to impose a change of respect and care towards the land. By doing so, the land responds by giving back beauty and nature, creating a serene environment, which is welcoming to those who come in contact with it. The comfort of a homely garden is a recurring theme within both ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ and ‘Belonging,’
“Home from school earlier
I’d ravage the backyard garden
Like a hungry bird –“ this was Peter Skrzynecki’s after-school routine, used as a to portray a sense of
Belonging is a collage picture book, written by Jeannie Baker in 2004. The audience’s perspective is viewed through a window showing the gradual change and growth of a community, as years pass and the main character, Tracey, grows older. Jeannie Baker wanted to put into perspective the idea that the individual belongs to the land, rather than the land belonging to the individual.
In the first page, the audience is introduced to the protagonist, Tracy, as a tiny baby being held in her parent’s arms. Through each new page, Tracey is at a new stage in her life, growing older and settling into her community. Tracey is an only child, like Peter Skrzynecki. Within each new stanza of Feliks Skrzynecki, Peter Skrzynecki’s perspective has aged, “Growing older, I
Remember words he taught me,” much alike the aging of Tracey that the audience views as she grows up. It is realized that belonging is something that is able to evolve over time, with the growth of Tracey as she settles into the community and the contrast shown through the simile in Feliks Skrzynecki, “Loved his garden like an only child,” to the change seen in 10 Mary Street as the garden is referred to as being “Like adopted children.”
The planting of seeds within Belonging is a visual metaphor representing the devolpment and growth within the community and the growth of Tracey. The industrialized suburban street, depicted within the first page, undergoes a positive change as the community bands together to impose a change of respect and care towards the land. By doing so, the land responds by giving back beauty and nature, creating a serene environment, which is welcoming to those who come in contact with it. The comfort of a homely garden is a recurring theme within both ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ and ‘Belonging,’
“Home from school earlier
I’d ravage the backyard garden
Like a hungry bird –“ this was Peter Skrzynecki’s after-school routine, used as a to portray a sense of