The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Tan, Shaun. The Arrival.
Arthur A. Levine Books. 2006.
ISBN 9780439895293
$19.99. Hardcover. 128 pages.

Readers Annotation
This wordless, graphic novel tells the immigration story of one man, and his strange and beautiful journey in a new and exciting world.

Plot Summary
In this immigration story told entirely through softly toned images,  the protagonist (a man) decides to immigrate to a new country. Leaving his wife and child behind he makes a long journey by boat.  He measures the days by the clouds, whose shapes seem to evoke symbols and shapes of faces, and even a fetus.  When he arrives he is processed and given his papers.  He can't read the papers he is given, the symbols are not in his language.  Bravely he forges onward to find a place to stay.  He has to draw pictures in a small tablet to be understood.  The city is large and filled with people of all cultures. Everything is strange. His new home is a small apartment in a large building.  His apartment even comes with its own pet.  The little creature helps the man locate the things he needs, even new friends.  Each new friend he meets tells him the story of his or her own immigration to the new land.  Most of his new friends stories are of oppressive governments, or wars from which they escaped to their new homes.  The man looks for work to save to bring his family to the new country. The man writes to his family, when he receives a letter telling him they are arriving he rushes to meet them. Reunited the family settles into their new life together. The final images show the man’s young daughter helping another immigrant.

Critical Evaluation
Under the cloud of tentacles a family decides to take refuge in a far country. The country is almost magical in its grandeur. Tan creates a vast world that appeals to the eyes like a feast. Each image is carefully constructed to unite with the whole. The most enjoyable pages are those where newfound friends explain the inner-workings of this country. I especially enjoyed the illustrations of the man learning which foods to eat. This part of the story is balanced against the memory sequences of his friends and their personal journeys. There are some disturbing images of war and tyranny, but these add to the overall effect, demonstrating the reason behind immigration. This work is multicultural and inclusive of all ages, races and genders. The book is both beautiful and compelling. It merits rereading often. This books is also good for the young adult reluctant reader, who may find a depth of understanding not experienced with the written word alone.  The book I have read that is closest in style is The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.  Selznick's book won the Caldecott Award in 2007.  In Hugo Cabret much of the story is told in black and white drawings.  For a visual learner like myself the stories told by Tan and Selznick evoke emotions that words alone do not convey.  

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 a 2008 ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.

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/Arrival-Shaun-Tan/dp/0439895294/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Booktalking Ideas
1. Discuss how the author is able to tell the story without words.
2. Choose some passages to “read-aloud.”

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

Why I included this title
This book was chosen as a 2008 ALA 2008 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.

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.

The Dreaming (Volume 1) by Queenie Chan

Chan, Queenie. The Dreaming (Volume 1).
TokyoPop. 2006.
ISBN 1427800057
$7.99. Paperback. 192 pages.

Readers Annotation
Twin sisters, Amber and Jeanie, have been accepted into an exclusive Australian boarding school, but it comes with a warning – don’t go into the bush!

Plot Summary
When twin sisters, Amber and Jeanie arrive at their exclusive Australian boarding school, their aunt (who is leaving as they arrive) tells them to hide the fact that they are actually twins from the vice-principal. There are rumors that the school is haunted, but their new friends, Schala and Millie, assure them that the rumors are silly girl stuff. As the girls investigate their new home, mean Mrs. Skeener, the vice-principal, discovers them. The pair is warned never to enter the bush at night because students have disappeared. Amber, the more sensitive sister begins to have unexplained horrifying dreams that she is being pulled into the bush. In her dreams she encounters women in long dresses standing under bleeding trees. The dream is frightening, but soon the twins discover that they are dreaming the same dream. After performing a séance, and another encounter with Mrs. Skeener, Amber is ready to leave the academy. When their friend Millie becomes ill, the girls are worried. When Millie disappears from her bed, they are frightened. Weeks later, as they search the grounds, Amber begins to recognize the forest from her dreams. Amber stumbles upon a water hole. As her shoe dislodges a stone into the water, the body of Millie rises from the depths.

Critical Evaluation
Author Queenie Chan provides a wonderfully creepy manga horror novel. This is the first book in a trilogy. The story is original and the artwork is typical manga style. Chan has created an interesting look for this book. The school hidden deep in the Australian bush, the truly creepy paintings on the walls, the hidden doors, the tight-lipped teachers all add to the imagery. Chan gives her characters interesting costumes to wear. The schoolgirls aren’t relegated to uniforms as in some other manga I’ve seen. Yet the costumes worn by the dream women are whimsical, and do not represent any specific time period, and they have a distinctly gothic feel. I enjoyed this book. It left me wanting to complete the trilogy. This is a good book for reluctant young adult readers.

Genre
Horror, manga format.

Information about the author
Queenie Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1980. She immigrated with her family to Australia when she was six-years-old. Chan creates her drawings by hand, and adds tone using a computer. You can find out more about Chan here http://www.queeniechan.com/, although it doesn’t appear that the website has been updated since 2007.

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 more information about this book on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Vol-1-Queenie-Chan/dp/1598163825/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258327844&sr=1-1

Booktalking Ideas
1. Discuss how the twins, Jeanie and Amber, come to be at the school.
2. Talk about the rumors of missing students.
3. Talk about the disturbing dreams the twins are having

Reading Level/Age
Young adult. Ages 14 and up.

Why I included this title
I wanted to add some manga titles to my list. I found this one at my local library.