Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Tan, Shaun. Tales From Outer Suburbia.
Arthur A. Levine Books. 2008.
ISBN 9780545055871
$19.99. Hardcover. 98 pages.

Readers Annotation
15 short illustrated tales make up this book. Each story is a small vignette of fantasy supported by Tan’s extraordinary artwork.

Plot Summary
This book includes 15 short stories based on Tan’s artwork. All of the stories are fantasy. Differing styles of artwork set each tale apart. One of the most interesting stories in the collection is titled “Eric.” In this tale, a small shadowy leaf-like creature comes to stay with a family. The family mistakes the creature for a foreign exchange student. Although they have prepared a guest room for Eric, he prefers to sleep in the cupboard. After taking the creature on excursions through the city to show it the sights, Eric brings home all the little items he has collected from the ground. When Eric departs on the back of a leaf the family, at first, does not know if he is returning. Upon opening the cupboard where Eric has been staying they discover a note from Eric and a lovely glow-in-the-dark garden. “It must be a cultural thing,” Mum says. The art for “Eric” is done with pencil. The illustrations are black and white, with the exception of the final image showing the garden, which has little dashes of color for the plants. All of the stories in this volume have a magical or mythical quality to them. For example, the first story in the collection called “The Water Buffalo,” is about a large water buffalo that lives in a vacant lot at the end of the street. The water buffalo, a near mythical creature, answers questions from the neighborhood by pointing in a direction. When the neighbors stop asking questions the water buffalo leaves the neighborhood. In the story “Make Your Own Pet,” Tan uses collage and painted images to create directions for how to make a pet cat. Printed over a spread this is the closest this work comes to looking (and reading) like a child’s picture book.

Critical Evaluation
Everything about this book is magical. A non-reader could spend hours looking at the illustrations and creating their own stories from them; while readers will want to return to this slim volume for rereading favorite tales. The strength of this book is not in the writing. It is in the combination of words and pictures. Tan’s earlier work, The Arrival, is similar in its ability to tell a complete story through images alone. The wide variety of Tan’s art techniques also makes this book interesting.  While his signature pencil illustrations are included, it is the combination of media that make this work exciting.  For example, in the story Distant Rain, Tan uses watercolor, pencil illustrations, and collage to create a scrapbook like effect that is both visually exciting and challenging to read.  The first spread of the story is light, with a blue background evoking light and rain.  The second spread of the story is dark, like the night, with little shadows behind the collaged images.  This is a style he uses often in this book. In some ways, it is like getting 15 individual books in one small volume. His work can be compared to that of David Weisner, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Selznick, all Caldecott winners.

Information about the author
Shaun Tan was born in 1974, and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. You can find out more about him on his website at http://www.shauntan.net/.  He has won numerous awards for his work including:

• 2008 ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults for The Arrival
• 2009 Children’s Book Council of Australia (Older Readers) for Tales from Outer Suburbia.
  

Genre
Fantasy

Curriculum ties
None

Challenge Issues
None

Challenge defense ideas
There are no apparent challenge issues associated with this book. In the case that a challenge comes up, there are some things that you can do to start. You could read the book and become familiar with the content. Refer to the library collection development policy, and get reviews from reputable sources and teens that have read the book. You can find out more about this book on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Outer-Suburbia-Shaun Tan/dp/1840113138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258335089&sr=1-1

Booktalking Ideas
1. Discuss several favorite stories from the collection.
2. Read-aloud some of the stories.

Reading Level/Age
Young Adult. Ages 13 and up.

Why I included this title
Shaun Tan’s work is similar to Chris Van Allsburg. This would be a good title to recommend for YA’s looking for similar books, or enjoyed The Arrival.