The Arrival

Bibliography

Tan, Shaun. (2006). The Arrival. US: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN: 0-439-89529-4.

Summary

This book shares the story of one man's journey of leaving his wife and daughter behind to create a better life. He boards a ship to start in a new land with strange writings and concepts. The story is all in the pictures which Tan beautifully portrays the life of an immigrant starting in a new world and the determination it takes to succeed.

Critical Analysis

The main character is a man who has a wife and daughter. At the beginning of the book, readers will feel the hurt the family is faced with when the man is packing to leave. The storyboard-type pictures takes the story frame-by-frame to connect readers with the emotions of the story. From the goodbye hug to the wife wiping her tears to the letting go of hands, Tan does a wonderful job with drawing the readers into the story and leaves the readers wanting to know what happens to the man.

Many readers these days, young and older, can connect with the man throughout the story as he is an immigrant, trying to make it in a foreign land. All things seem strange yet exciting at the same time: the language (written and verbal), the scenery, customs and traditions, and the people itself. Tan uses great detail in telling this story without using any words. Each picture perfectly complements the previous.

The journey the man takes has its disappointments but also progresses through the book. He makes friends, finds jobs, and starts to assimilate into the new culture while trying not to compromise himself and forget his family. The reader is left wanting the man to succeed in what he needs to do to return to his family.

The pictures are of vivid detail about seeing the new world through the eyes of an immigrant. Things seem strange and just so foreign in the beginning. Nothing seems to make sense and just makes life more confusing. But as the man learns about his new world, things begin to seem "normal". The man, as well as the reader, begins to have hope that he will succeed.

Review Excerpts

Australian Children's Book of the Year Awards Winner 2007
West Australian Premier's Australia Asia Literary Award Winner 2006
American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award Winner 2008
Book Sense Book of the Year Award Nominee 2008
Hugo Awards Nominee 2008
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books Award Winner 2007
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year Winner 2007
Virginia Reader's Choice Awards Nominee 2008
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Winner 2008
Locus Awards Winner 2008
Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee 2010

School Library Journal- Young readers will be fascinated by the strange new world the artist creates, complete with floating elevators and unusual creatures, but may not realize the depth of meaning or understand what the man's journey symbolizes. More sophisticated readers, however, will grasp the sense of strangeness and find themselves participating in the man's experiences.

Booklist- Filled with subtlety and grandeur, the book is a unique work that not only fulfills but also expands the potential of its form.

Voice of Youth Advocates- The crafting is perfect, as panel sequences communicate action wordlessly, using, for example, a long series of cloudscapes to explain the tedious passage of time. But this cunning, careful artwork does not preclude the persistent throb of human warmth.

Publisher's Weekly- With this haunting, wordless sequence about a lonely emigrant in a bewildering city, Tan (The Lost Thing) finds in the graphic novel format an ideal outlet for his sublime imagination.

Connections

• Hold discussions about any connections made to this book such as personal experiences or family members who have experienced moving to foreign places.
• Have students conduct interviews of immigrants to learn about their feelings of the transition into a new culture.