Armin Greder, The Inheritance, Allen & Unwin, August 2021, 36 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760526788
This haunting tale has been shortlisted on the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award for 2022. Pitched at older readers, it has a fable quality telling the story of a group of siblings who inherit vast wealth and use it to further ‘the corporation’. The sister of the three brothers tries to make a case for ‘thinking again’. But the brothers acknowledge she ‘had always been odd’ and forge ahead. ‘What will become of our children?’ the sister asks. ‘They will inherit the corporation. So, what is the problem?’ one of the brothers replies.
This sets up the first half of the book. The remainder is told through striking visual storytelling. Greder uses a limited colour palette; firstly, depicting a dark onslaught of cars. The next image is of a bald man, sitting on a chair, wearing an oxygen mask. The man sits in the middle of a stark white double-page spread and his skeletal features bring to mind ‘The Scream’. For modern audiences still accustomed to mask-wearing, the image is both familiar and disturbing.
The final image of a child wearing a full gas mask and playing with a remote-controlled car drives home the idea of a bleak, dystopian future. Greder has created a powerful metaphorical message which is likely to strike a chord with secondary school students. The book would make a great jumping off point for classroom discussion about ethics and the environment.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
