New Releases by Shaun Tan

From the creator of THE ARRIVAL, a collection of essays illuminating his thoughts and advice for writers and artists, young and old. Shaun Tan is one of the world''s most highly acclaimed narrative artists—his stories and images are loved by countless young and not-so-young readers around the world. Drawing upon 25 years as a picture book and comics creator, painter, and filmmaker, CREATURE explores the central obsession of this visionary artist, from casual doodles to studied oil-paintings. Beyond sketches for acclaimed works such as THE ARRIVAL, THE LOST THING, and TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA, this volume collects together for the first time unseen and stand-alone illustrations, each resonant with unwritten tales of their own. Detailed commentary by the artist offers an entertaining insight into the endless allure of imaginary, non-human beings and what they might tell us about our so-called "normal" human selves. Artists, writers, students, dreamers, and anyone interested in the deeper undercurrents of creativity, myth, and visual metaphor will find inspiration in these pages.

Once we were strangers, legs bent the wrong way, rough voices falling to the wind ... But in our hearts we wanted more than this. In our hearts, we knew there was more. ''A tour de force.'' - The New York Times

A beautifully surreal and gently humorous picture book about cultural differences, empathy and the power of perspective, from internationally acclaimed author-illustrator Shaun Tan. Eric is a foreign exchange student who comes to live with a typical suburban family. Although everyone is delighted with the arrangement, cultural misunderstandings ensue, beginning with Eric''s insistence on sleeping in a pantry cupboard rather than a specially prepared guest room. The family takes Eric on a number of excursions, but they''re never sure if he''s having a good time, as he just doesn''t say very much. He''s mostly interested in small things he discovers on the ground. When Eric leaves the family suddenly, they''re unsure if they''ve done something wrong. But Eric leaves them a surprise gift that they''ll never forget.

Breathtakingly illustrated and hauntingly written, Tales from Outer Suburbia is by turns hilarious and poignant, perceptive and goofy. Through a series of captivating and sophisticated illustrated stories, Tan explores the precious strangeness of our existence. He gives us a portrait of modern suburban existence filtered through a wickedly Monty Pythonesque lens. Whether it’s discovering that the world really does stop at the end of the city’s map book, or a family’s lesson in tolerance through an alien cultural exchange student, Tan’s deft, sweet social satire brings us face-to-face with the humor and absurdity of modern life.

A unique and beautiful book for kids and adults that combines short stories and poetry with surrealist art -- a return to the form that made Shaun Tan a visionary in the world of graphic novels. A young girl''s cat brightens the lives of everyone in the neighborhood. A woman and her dog are separated by time and space, awaiting the day they will be reunited. A race of fish build a society parallel to our own. And a bunch of office managers suddenly turn into frogs, but find that their new lives aren''t so bad. The ambitious, unique and provocative Tales From the Inner City draws on the success of Shaun Tan''s The Arrival and Tales From Outer Suburbia and updates its sensibilities for a new generation. Combining his poignant and sensitive short stories with surreal, luminous paintings, Tan turns his astute lens on the environment, cities, family and the relationships between human and animals. This work opens a portal to the imagination and captures the beauty, joy and tragedy in the everyday lives of kids, teens and adults.

Cicada works in an office, dutifully working day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his co-workers. But one day, cicada goes to the roof of the building, and something truly extraordinary happens...A story for anyone who has ever felt unappreciated, overlooked or overworked, from Australia''s most acclaimed picture book creator.

Describes the relationship between two young boys, whose friendship is tested by difficult stituations. Rules are broken, with surprising consequences, but eventually friendship is restored. A sophisticated picture book.

Shaun Tan fans get to see his extraordinary talent applied to sculpture in this award-winning, lavishly presented collection of art based on fairy tales told by the Brothers Grimm.

This is a companion volume to The Arrival, comprising 50 pages of preliminary sketches, research materials and commentary by the author on the evolution of this project.

Selections from the sketchbooks of Shaun Tan, acclaimed creator of The Lost Thing, The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia. Included are preliminary drawings for book, film and theatre projects, portrait and landscape studies, along with pages from travelling notebooks. All offer a special insight into the daydreams of a celebrated author and illustrator.

Three short stories that focus on loss and despair ; the final story, The rabbits, was written by John Marsden.

"In this wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself and his family."--

Shaun graduated from the University of WA in 1995 with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature, and currently works full time as a freelance artist and author, concentrating mostly on writing and illustrating picture books. Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since then he has received numerous awards for his picture books, including the CBCA (Children''s Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year Award for The Rabbits with John Marsden. In 2001 Shaun was named Best Artist at the World Fantasy Awards in Montreal. He has recently worked for Blue Sky Studios and Pixar, providing concept artwork for forthcoming films.

Illustrated by Shaun Tan. Bestselling author, Marsden, has created a dramatically moving allegory of colonisation told from the perspective of native animals, in this stunningly illustrated volume. Examining the consequences of the arrival of a group of rabbits with unfamiliar ways, the story shows how colonisation can result in the domination of the environment and its other inhabitants. A thought-provoking book, it earned its author and illustrator the CBCA Picture Book of the Year.

Illustrated by Shaun Tan. For Tristan, the city dump was a treasure trove full of mystery, but the greatest treasure of all was a box he found one day. Filled with optical devices of all shapes and sizes, what Tristan saw through the dark orbs as he clicked the viewer was like nothing he had ever seen before. Afraid, Tristan tried to pull the viewer from his eyes, but found that he was transfixed - some mysterious force seemed to be pulling him in against his will...

A small child awakes to find blackened leaves falling from her bedroom ceiling, threatening to quietly overwhelm her. ''Sometimes you wake up with nothing to look forward to...'' As she wanders around a world that is complex, puzzling and alienating, she is overtaken by a myriad of feelings. Just as it seems all hope is lost, the girl returns to her bedroom to find that a tiny red seedling has grown to fill the room with warm light. Astonishing Perth artist, Shaun Tan''s latest creation, The Red Tree, is a book about feelings - feelings that can not always be simply expressed in words. It is a series of imaginary landscapes conjured up by the wizardry of Shaun Tan''s masterful and miraculous art. As a kind of fable, The Red Tree seeks to remind us that, though some bad feelings are inevitable, they are always tempered by hope.

A boy uses keen powers of observation and imagination to return an object that looks out of place in its urban setting.