Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Shaun Tan's books are always out of the box, quirky but poignant. Cicada is no different, in fact, I think it's my favourite of his books to date.
Cicada is the story of a Cicada who works as a data entry clerk for humans. For seventeen years he has been treated horrendously by his bosses and human colleagues. But things are about to change, and Cicada is going to make sure he has the last laugh.
I had no idea where Tan was taking this book. It's a dark book - both in colour and themes - but it's wonderfully executed and simply inspiring. I can read a lot into the images and story, but I'm going to leave that up to you to check out because you NEED to read this one!
The formatting for this book is very clinical, much like the first half of Cicada's story. Cicada talks in four lines, with his last line, always being 'Tok Tok Tok!'. His voice is clipped and stunted, as you would expect from a non-English speaking native. Tan's text is printed on stark white pages, with the text on the left-hand page and the full page image on the right. His artwork is amazing, with so much detail packed on to every page, that your heart hurts for this poor little Cicada who has so much personality and emotion-packed into his big round eyes and short green suit-clad statue.
The ending ... is pure gold... and so Shaun Tan humour. I love his social commentary that is interwoven into all of his books.
Cicada by Shaun Tan won the CBCA Picture Book of The Year 2019.
This review was originally posted at The Never Ending Bookshelf and can be found here: https://wp.me/p3yY1u-1Ob
Cicada is the story of a Cicada who works as a data entry clerk for humans. For seventeen years he has been treated horrendously by his bosses and human colleagues. But things are about to change, and Cicada is going to make sure he has the last laugh.
I had no idea where Tan was taking this book. It's a dark book - both in colour and themes - but it's wonderfully executed and simply inspiring. I can read a lot into the images and story, but I'm going to leave that up to you to check out because you NEED to read this one!
The formatting for this book is very clinical, much like the first half of Cicada's story. Cicada talks in four lines, with his last line, always being 'Tok Tok Tok!'. His voice is clipped and stunted, as you would expect from a non-English speaking native. Tan's text is printed on stark white pages, with the text on the left-hand page and the full page image on the right. His artwork is amazing, with so much detail packed on to every page, that your heart hurts for this poor little Cicada who has so much personality and emotion-packed into his big round eyes and short green suit-clad statue.
The ending ... is pure gold... and so Shaun Tan humour. I love his social commentary that is interwoven into all of his books.
Cicada by Shaun Tan won the CBCA Picture Book of The Year 2019.
This review was originally posted at The Never Ending Bookshelf and can be found here: https://wp.me/p3yY1u-1Ob
emotional
sad
fast-paced
What a wonderfully odd book. Loved the artwork! Dreary but with a fantastic ending.
Cicada tell story.
Good. Simple.
Even human can understand.
Cicada fly back to forest.
Think about human.
Laughing.
Tok Tok Tok
Calm and serene
The sound of a Cicada
Penetrates the rock
Good. Simple.
Even human can understand.
Cicada fly back to forest.
Think about human.
Laughing.
Tok Tok Tok
Calm and serene
The sound of a Cicada
Penetrates the rock
As always Tan's illustrations are stunning, has more of an adult-focused theme, but the message is powerful.
Stunning art, but this was lacking the depth of Shaun Tan's other work. There was obviously some social commentary going on, but when the book is this short it's all very superficial. This takes all of 30 seconds to read so I wouldn't say don't read it, but maybe just get it from the library.
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Even though this is a children's book, adults are the true audience that will appreciate the message. We are cicadas, looking to break out of our shells and escape.
Shaun Tan could illustrate a companion to the phone book and I would still read it and think it was the most beautiful artwork I had ever seen. Cicada was a delight to read and Shaun's art again was stunningly beautiful.
cw for hinting at suicide
LOVED this book. Wouldn't recommend to children, since it hints at suicide for a sec & is pretty dark, but I think it's great for teens & adults. GORGEOUS illustrations.
LOVED this book. Wouldn't recommend to children, since it hints at suicide for a sec & is pretty dark, but I think it's great for teens & adults. GORGEOUS illustrations.
Like a children's book but not for kids. Tok Tok Tok.