Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Young brains fried by spring's standardized tests can find relief in this quirky collection from Shaun Tan, creator of the acclaimed graphic novel 'The Arrival.' These 15 illustrated stories and vignettes resist easy understanding but invite reflection. An alien exchange student finds wonder not in the typical 'best places' but in bottle caps, candy wrappers and other "small things he discovered on the ground"; two bickering brothers journey to the edge of a map; and a girl carefully follows instructions to create her own pet from broken toys and appliances. Tan's mixed-media art, with its surreal landscapes, rescued turtles and decorated missiles, both illuminates the text and highlights the strange beauty of the ordinary.
You can even usher in National Poetry Month today with one of the pieces called "Distant Rain." In this found-and-lost poem, fragments of words and pictures accrue into a gigantic 'poetry ball' that 'floats gently / above suburban rooftops' until a sudden shower breaks it again into bits of 'accidental verse' that 'whisper something different' to each reader. Tan's words continue to 'whisper' long after the book is finished. Like the mysterious creatures in 'Stick Figures,' his stories seem to 'take all our questions and offer them straight back: Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?' Questions not readily answered but important to ponder."
Reviewed by Mary Quattlebaum, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)