Analysis Of The Arrival By Shaun Tan

The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is a book that I found to be very interesting. I have never read a book without words before, so this was a new experience for me. During the times I read it, evaluated it, took notes on it, and read it again, I questioned how something so complex could be a part of children’s literature. I began to ask myself what age group would be able to look at this book and understand the story within. Children’s literature is usually seen as simple, straight forward, and easy to many people. This book, I would say, is none of those things. The pictures of trees throughout the seasons tells us quite simply what is happening (Tan Chapter Five). That is easy to understand, but there are images of certain scenes, like being afraid of the dragon building, working in the factory, and the men
Taking a second, and even third, look at the book is important in understanding what is happening throughout the story. Although though it only contains pictures inside, there is a story written well beyond in each of the illustrations that make it to be complex and intriguing. As I thought about it, I concluded that this would be a good book for older elementary students who have learned to analysis and evaluate images. This book is a good way to help students strength the skill of looking at something in front of them and being able to make sense of it. While they may need some help or guidance to understand the content fully, they will be able to understand, and maybe even find different ways of interpreting the story that we do as adult readers.

Being the first time that I have read Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, I noticed the language of the story more than the pictures. The