Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan
4.0
Moving and beautiful set of city-set animal/ecology sketches.
4.5 stars.
Shaun Tan's picture books are exquisite, often profound. This is for older readers, and has serious points to make in its series of vignettes that take place in an anonymous city.
Some worked wonderfully well, poignant stories of human interactions with animals, of greed, thoughtlessness, sadness, love. A few went over my head and I didn't enjoy, but the vast majority were poetic and some even heart-breaking.
My favourites were the short but perfect 'Rhino' and the 'Cat'. The book is over 200 pages but around half of that is illustration, full page, colour, just spectacular.
There is so much here for children, teens and adults to discuss and digest. Issues of human materialism, ecological ruin, animal welfare and preservation... But it won't be easy to access for any reader. The imagery is quite mature, the language rich.
I would suggest ages 10 and over, but selected students ideally. A treasure trove of a book for the right readers.
With thanks to Walker Books for the sample reading copy.
4.5 stars.
Shaun Tan's picture books are exquisite, often profound. This is for older readers, and has serious points to make in its series of vignettes that take place in an anonymous city.
Some worked wonderfully well, poignant stories of human interactions with animals, of greed, thoughtlessness, sadness, love. A few went over my head and I didn't enjoy, but the vast majority were poetic and some even heart-breaking.
My favourites were the short but perfect 'Rhino' and the 'Cat'. The book is over 200 pages but around half of that is illustration, full page, colour, just spectacular.
There is so much here for children, teens and adults to discuss and digest. Issues of human materialism, ecological ruin, animal welfare and preservation... But it won't be easy to access for any reader. The imagery is quite mature, the language rich.
I would suggest ages 10 and over, but selected students ideally. A treasure trove of a book for the right readers.
With thanks to Walker Books for the sample reading copy.