Tan’s work overflows with human warmth and childlike wonder. But it also makes a perfect adult bedtime story, a little something to shake loose your imagination from the moors of reality right before your own dreams kick in.
If you have a look through my Skeptical Books for Children series, you may notice that I’ve referred to teaching the works of Shaun Tan before. I’ve forgotten how long I’ve collected his work, but I first remember meeting him around the time that ‘The Rabbits’ was released. I now have several of his prints hanging in my house and a few originals that I’ve sent to friends.
He was born the same year as me, lived in suburbs nearby and his high school was in a suburb near mine too. His lectures are fantastic, his books unite quirkiness, sensitivity and surrealism – his artistry is sublime. His more recent book, ‘Tales from Suburbia’ was reviewed earlier on my site (’Stop What You’re Doing! New Shaun Tan Book!‘). I was particularly struck by ‘Eric‘, the tiny tale of a “foreign exchange student” (it is so like ‘The Arrival’ in many ways) and ‘Grandpa’s Story‘, an interpretation of the journey of a relationship, primarily told in awe-inspiring visuals of immense challenges meeting the mundane.
When Shaun Tan visits Fremantle, he does lectures and seminars for teachers, children and artists at one of my favourite venues, the Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre. Here’s a short film I made about one of the sessions on ‘The Arrival’ that I attended. Most of what you can see are original sketches, drafts and plans for the book.
The Sydney Festival for 2010 features a stage-play of The Arrival and I hope that it tours!
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