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ctorms's review against another edition
5.0
Swooned every time I turned the page. Shaun Tan's illustrations are mesmerizing.
zoes_human's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful art. Stunning and imaginative, bound to stimulate little minds. The story though? I'm not sure what the story even is. It's more vignettes of a child's summer than it is a story. It is beautiful though.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Cool but weird art. Kind of not particularly obvious text. This may not work as a read aloud but it should work as a think about. And it definitely is kind of crazy imaginative. I like my books just a tiny bit more obvious then this. But awesome-ish.
noshyira's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
missprint_'s review against another edition
5.0
A little terrifying and a little dark but also whimsical and charming. It reminds me of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and I like how a lot of it is open ended in the same way. Possibly a great choice for older kids in a story time.
Also oddly reminded me of the game Monument Valley.
Also oddly reminded me of the game Monument Valley.
chmccann's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what this book is for, but I enjoyed looking at it. It's definitely more about the art than the text, and that art is very rich and evocative. I rarely just sit down and look at drawings, so this was a nice example of the PopSugar reading challenge leading me to books I normally wouldn't pick up!
So, why am I unsure about this? It's structured like a kids' picture book, but the drawings can be pretty disturbing. For the right kid, it might be perfect, and it seems like it's meant as an impressionable little brother parsing his sibling's admonishments through his own surreal fantasy world. So ultimately not too terrifying.
And yet. The eldritch flora (and fauna?) that spill in through the negligently unlatched door overnight - shiver! And the series of pages showing the little brother locked in a gray cell (or furnace?!) as the surrounding city crumbles to dust and black birds form a growing flock - the images give enough information to set you on a path, but leave enough ambiguity to get under your skin for a while.
Check this out if you want to spend 15 minutes restocking your nightmare fuel, or you have a particularly morbid child to read it to!
So, why am I unsure about this? It's structured like a kids' picture book, but the drawings can be pretty disturbing. For the right kid, it might be perfect, and it seems like it's meant as an impressionable little brother parsing his sibling's admonishments through his own surreal fantasy world. So ultimately not too terrifying.
And yet. The eldritch flora (and fauna?) that spill in through the negligently unlatched door overnight - shiver! And the series of pages showing the little brother locked in a gray cell (or furnace?!) as the surrounding city crumbles to dust and black birds form a growing flock - the images give enough information to set you on a path, but leave enough ambiguity to get under your skin for a while.
Check this out if you want to spend 15 minutes restocking your nightmare fuel, or you have a particularly morbid child to read it to!
snazel's review against another edition
4.0
Unsettling and imaginative and beautiful.
I feel about Shaun Tan the way people talk about Neil Gaiman.
I feel about Shaun Tan the way people talk about Neil Gaiman.