There are a few dark images in the book, so it's definitely for children old enough to have a conversation with an adult about why those images might be there.

Beautifully illustrated with black and white photo realist illustrations, and infused with surreal elements, it has a dreamlike atmosphere in which nothing is what it seems, and domestic appliances and landscapes transform themselves into strange beasts.Ĭhildren and adults of all ages will be enchanted by this moving story, which is also a wonderful starting point for exploring themes of immigration, alienation and language in the classroom.įor younger readers, this is a book that will benefit from being read together with an adult who can explain what a refugee is or what it might feel like to find oneself in an alien country without knowing the language. This classic, wordless graphic novel perfectly expresses what it means to leave your country and your family and start a new life in a new country.

The story ends with his family joining him and a hopeful future ahead. The Arrival is an immigrant story, but in a more universal sense it conveys the feeling that weve all had at some point of being lost, frightened or confused in an unfamiliar environment. We experience his journey, his struggles to communicate, find accommodation, a job and food, as well as following the stories of other immigrants. I don't expect the book to change anybody's opinion about things, but if it at least makes them pause to think, I'll feel as if I've succeeded in something.In this unusual book, we follow a young man as he packs his bags and leaves his family to go and start a new life in another country. About the author (2014) Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since become best known for illustrated books. They just see them as a problem once they're here, without thinking about the bigger picture. Shaun Tan has said he wanted his book to build a kind of empathy in readers: 'In Australia, people don't stop to imagine what it's like for some of these refugees. Every resident of the new world has their own tale to tell and reasons to give up a life they know for one they don’t. Tan differentiates The Arrival from children's picture books, explaining that there's more emphasis on continuity in texts with multiple frames and panels, and that a graphic novel text like his more closely resembles a film making process. Without the use of dialogue or text, Shaun Tan portrays the experience of a father emigrating to a new land. It features an immigrant's life in an imaginary world that sometimes vaguely resembles our own.

The book is 128 pages long and divided into six chapters it is composed of small, medium, and large panels, and often features pages of full artwork. The Arrival is a wordless graphic novel written by Shaun Tan and published by Hodder Children's Books in 2006.

The arrival graphic novel