![]() The end pages include 60 hand drawn images of immigrants. We must interpret the images and the strange symbols Tan uses just as an immigrant in a new land, without the acquisition of its language, must find a way to understand and communicate with his new neighbours. There are no words to understand and nothing seems straightforward. As a reader of The Arrival, we walk in the shoes of an immigrant. ![]() Wordless picture books give power and creativity to the reader, but there is another purpose to absence of words in The Arrival. ![]() Each time I open a page I find something new in the illustrations: a new object, a new message, a new interpretation. With each of his books, including The Arrival, I find myself returning to them time and time again to revisit the illustrations. Tan’s artistic style is unique, busy and incredibly detailed. His experience is overwhelming as he adjusts to a new language, new living conditions, new customs, new food, new creatures and new friends. ![]() ![]() The Arrival tells the story of an immigrant leaving his homeland and embarking on a future in a new land. The Arrival is a wordless book some class it as a graphic novel. I first came across the work of Shaun Tan upon reading The Rabbits, and I was instantly a fan of his illustrations. ![]()
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