Age Appropriateness: Secondary and Middle School
Genre: Historical Fiction, Graphic Novel
Media: Sketches
Review: This is a wordless book that tells the tale of a man who emigrated to a new country, leaving his wife and child behind. Due to this, it is a unique example of representing historical fiction. He goes through the struggles of adapting to this new environment, making acquaintances with language barriers, and finding ways to survive. He also meets many other emigrants that share with him their personal story of how they came to the country. After the man has become settled in his environment, he sends a letter to his wife and child encouraging them to come live with him, and they do. The reader can come to know all of this without any words on the pages.
Style Analysis:
The author's choice to delete the use of words in the book emphasizes the focus on facial features. Throughout the story, the reader can see that the man is unable to speak the language of many of those whom he meets, but they communicate with each other using body language and facial features. As readers, we have to do the same, and that is what makes this book superb stylistically. Allusions develop in pictures, imagery is abundant, and each page is pouring with visual metaphors.

This is the story of an immigrant leaving his family behind, and coming to America hoping for a better life. The city is so foreign to him, as are the illustrations to the reader. The landscapes of the new country are daunting and sometimes downright scary. The hustle and bustle of the city is confusing. The language is gibberish, the animals could be monsters, the buildings are strange. The reader feels the father's sense of isolation and confusion. After getting checked in at (what is similar to) Ellis Island, the father stumbles around this new place until he finds a place to stay. He has a pet living there too! He has only a few coins and a strange map that makes no sense. He meets other immigrants too, some of whom have much sadder pasts than his own. He manages to meet a friend and feasts with them. Revitalized, he soon sets out to look for work. After a few short gigs putting up flyers and delivering strange boxes into strange box holes, he lands a job at an assembly line in a factory, where he befriends an old man with a story of his own - in fact - a devastating story of returning to his hometown after war, and there is nothing left there. Awful! The father sends away money to his family and eventually tells them to come to America. The seasons go by and he misses them dearly. We see pages of exotic leaves and trees change through the seasons, and after the long winter, his wife and daughter arrive! It is such a wonderful ending. On the very last page, his young daughter is helping a new young immigrant find her way around. Very touching.

Karp, J. (2007). The Arrival. Booklist, 104(1), 115. Retrieved October 3, 2009, from Article Citation database.

Sutton, R. (2007). The Arrival. The Horn Book, 83(6), 669, 671. Retrieved October 3, 2009, from Article Citation database.

I had never read a book like this before. The story was powerful and the images striking! It is a story of a man who leaves his family to start a new life in a new place as something ominous is creeping into their current homeland. He has to learn the language and figure out how things work in this new place where everything is different. He largely learns from other people and gathers their stories of coming to the new land from hardships in their homes as well (a girl being forced to work in terrible conditions, a place where war has come, a soldier who finds nothing left of his family...) Finally, he is able to afford his family to join him.
The art work is expressive and clearly tells the story.
Loved the comparison of the items in the family's home at the beginning of the story and the end. Also, the notion that the cycle continues as the daughter girls a new immigrant directions in the closing pages of the book. ( )

This is a gorgeous, wordless graphic novel that uses a combination of familiarity and surreality to tell what is at its heart simply the story of an immigrant in a new land.

Not only would I happily have almost any page from this book framed on my wall, but Tan manages to tell a complete story with absolutely no words, no small feat. The individual stories and the emotions of the characters come through loud and clear, and the end result is a book that had me finishing it and flipping back to the front to read it all over again. ( )

This book is timeless and universal and told only in sepia toned illustrations. It shows the story that millions of immigrants throughout the world have experienced. It shows a man leaving his oppressive homeland to find a better life for himself and his family. It starts out with him setting off himself first, settling somewhat and then his wife and daughter follow later. Tan found exquisite ways to uniquely symbolize the mixtures of awe, fear, confusion, temporary despair and elation that are part of the immigrant experience. I am astounded with his imagination and the amount of work put into this book. It is a book that can be “read” over and over again and one can find something new each time both visually and metaphorically. It is a truly an amazing feat of pictorial metaphor. I recommend it for all ages.

This is a wordless book about one man's journey to a new country. The main character shows us through facial expressions his sadness, isolation, confusion, adjustment to a new culture, and finally, happiness. ( )

The Arrival is a story told all in pictures. Tan tells an immigrant's story of landing in a new land, a land full of strange symbols (written words), food, animals, and customs. Since the new land is also a made up world, the reader experiences the confusion and wonder depicted by the main character. And, oh my, the art is wonderful! The animal characters are particularly charming. ( )

I really enjoyed this booki, it expressed the truth behind ther immigration process. It expressed all of the new things immigrants experience in a new place. This book really showed the reality of what an immigrant goes through once arriving to a new place. Whether it be the process of getting papers, medical examinations, or finding your way around in a new country. Also the family issues that occur during immigration. It is a really good book to read even though it has no words the pictures tell a story of a million words. ( )

This was a good book. It would have been a great book if there were words in it. I mean, I understood what was happening, but it took a while to comprehend and put it all together. ( )

I like the style of the book is "written" without any words. It gives people a little room to imagine. ( )

I give "The Arrival" 3 1/2 stars. This book is different than any of other book I choose to read, in that, it doesn't have any words. It made me use my imagination by creating conflicts and a plot that the character was going through. Some of the reader's strengths were the graphic pictures. Shaun Tan did an excellent job of making the pictures seem live and read. The pictures were able to make words fit in your mind. Some of the weaknesses would be that the reader may not got the exact meaning the author was trying to get across because there are not any words. Another would be that a reader may miss an important detail because they missed the picture. There were a few pictures that I was confused about. ( )

This story which tells the tale of a man leaving his family to immigrate to the new world is told through a sequence of excellently drawn black and white cartoons. The illustrations depict the feelings anyone who is entering an unknown land may feel, from excitement, to confusion, to amazed, to lost and scared. ( )

a wordless graphic novel, very cool, great story ( )

This is a test.

Wordless graphic novel that illustrates the topic of immigration. A father immigrates and has to leave his wife and daughter. He comes to the new world to find work and makes few friends. He however meets an alien of sorts. Which it could be part of his lonely imagination. The aliens could be the evils in the world. The book gives lots of room for intrepretion since their are no words. ( )

I have never "read" a book and cry from beggining to end, this is a Must for anybody that have his or her roots transplanted, or who is close to somebody who did. The art is incredible, and you really need take pauses, not to rest, but to digest, assimilate, and understand the story. ( )

The bar was already high for this book when I ordered it, and even then it far exceeded my expectations. Not only is it a collection of some of the most intricate and beautiful art in this style I’ve ever seen, but the story itself comes to life phenomenally through this medium. Initially I was surprised that there were no words and was slightly skeptical about how in depth the story could go, however, the project communicates an amazing story through each drawing that perhaps words would not have communicated as well.To my knowledge, this book is one of the first of its kinds, and there’s a great chance it could have been done poorly. Often when a writer or artist experiments with pushing the boundaries of form, the first few iterations aren’t as good as the ones to follow once it’s been perfected. Tan, though, is nothing short of brilliant with this story, and even thought it’s just over 100 pages long, one could spend several hours searching through each intricate detail of every illustration. Plus, despite this taking place in a fantasy world, it’s almost 100% clear that this new city is supposed to represent New York/America and that these are the droves of immigrants who trekked to her teeming shores at the turn of the 20th century. I recommend this to everyone, even if you’re illiterate.-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com ( )

One of the few books that I can go back and pour myself into time after time. One of the things that I don't understand in this world is what it is to be an outsider. I don't understand what it is to be so intrinsically linked to a heritage that isn't that of the populous. With that said, this book helps to shed a little light into, perhaps, some of the thoughts and reflections of my friends that aren't so removed from their cultural heritage. From my friends who live a lifestyle that I'd study in an academic setting. ( )

This wordless picture book tells the story of an immigrant's arrival in A Very Strange Land. Strange technology and even stranger creatures become a part of his daily life as he awaits the day when his wife and daughter will finally join him. The stories of other immigrants are laced through the book as well - poignant stories of loss and hope. ( )

I was introduced to this jewel of a graphic novel in a graduate school class about identity and agency. It was introduced and used as a window into the immigrant experience. It is heartfelt and will move you. For anyone who has tried to make one's way in a different country, this book will strum a cord. For those trying to understand that experience, this book will open your eyes. Beyond the obvious immigrant experience themes, Tan's book bursts with history, imaginative worlds and INCREDIBLE artwork. Tan has won his share of accolades for this effort for good reason. Children and adults who take a chance with this book will, without any doubt, win much more. ( )

Absolutely Amazing. The illustrations in this text convey an excellent sense of "otherness". The images seem mostly familiar but clearly foreign. This helps to explore the idea of what it is like to be a stranger in a strange land. The story is one of hope and understanding told in a unique and creative way that is simultaneously strange and universal. ( )

amazing drawings ( )

This book is a vision of urban fantasy powerfully and wordlessly expressing the traumas, trials, and tears of joy and sorrow that mark the immigrant experience.

One-of-a-kind. ( )

Paul bought this a few weeks ago, on a weekend when I was feeling particularly moody and emotional, so I didn't read it at the time. I knew it was going to make me cry regardless, and I thought I had better wait until I could actually cope with it.

And make me cry it did. I've been there. Those stories are my story. From the faceless immigration procedures ('I'm sorry, but your visa is not valid until midnight. You cannot enter the country for another three hours.'), to watching my father leave to start a new job somewhere far away from home, in the hope that we would be able to join him soon (twice, no, three times), to going around the supermarket, marvelling at everything and wondering which bits were edible and which weren't (fruit yoghurt!?), to the first dinner my Dad cooked for us once we had joined him (I will always remember it), to not speaking a word of the local language (but blagging it nonetheless), to the kindness - and sometimes otherwise - of strangers. I've been there.

This book is amazing. Without a single word, only with pictures - beautifully drawn, wonderfully expressive - it captures the story of migration. Everyone who has ever upped sticks in search of a better life in a foreign place will find themselves reflected in these pages, and it is done beautifully, compassionately, with great skill and understanding. It is clearly a labour of love. ( )