The Arrival

This is a beautiful book with wonderful illustrations that tell the story of a migration from one part of the world to another by a desperate father who wants to make a life for his family. It could be anywhere in the world. It is a wordless book that tells an incredible tale with imaginative depictions. It is heartwarming and brilliant. It is classed as a children's book but I have bought it for a friend who is in her 80's and know she will love it.

Beautifully told, without words or dialogue, this story of escape, immigration, integration and acceptance is both timely and wise. The artwork is simply sublime. It's an absolute treat for the eyes, and worth every penny. I can't see any age group that this wouldn't appeal too. It's a truly magical telling of an unfortunately commonplace tale.

So far I've bought four, and given three away as presents. It's an astoundingly good graphic novel, and giving it to people as a present will make you look sensitive and kind, especially if you tell them it made you cry. They will also love it, and namecheck you when they buy it as a present for others, so lots of people will know how sensitive and kind you are.

Lovely storytelling and illustrations

This is a wonderful book that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike; there are no words, just pictures. And what pictures! They take you into a [literally] different world.The story is about the challenges and dangers [and rewards] of immigration - the story follows a man who has to leave his family in a dangerous home country to go ahead and start a new life in a new country - sending for his family later.The pictures show him trying to settle in to the new country, getting used to new cultures and customs, strange foods, strange technology. He meets a wide variety of other people who have also immigrated and have had terrible stories - and who welcome him into their lives. It's difficult to do justice to this book by writing about it; just read it and be enchanted and charmed - probably one of the best books I have ever come across!

Portrayed in immediately accessible cartoon format, with no words, this wonderful book perfectly captures the experience of being forced to leave your family and home country and try to settle in an alien environment. Tremendously moving, quirky, imaginative and powerful, the sequence of pictures portrays the struggles with language, food, housing, transport and work faced by immigrants who may come here from radically different or undeveloped countries. Warmth, gritty humour and tenderness are all evoked without words, meaning this book is accessible to anyone of any language without needing a translator. This highlights our universal shared human experience. The book is quite large and thick, making it a pretty lengthy 'read', but I still return to it again and again for its thought provoking and timeless message.

The artwork in this book is truly stunning. Shaun Tan is really skilled at creating emotive artwork that invites the reader to immerse themselves into the experience of the characters. He brilliantly conveys the strangeness of moving to a new country without any words. A good book for building empathy- particularly helping in understanding the experience of immigrants and refugees. A brilliant book for adults as well as children. The book is in hardback which enhances the 'specialness' of this book. Some very young or sensitive children may find some of the images upsetting.

This is strange and beautifully illustrated book that tells a universal tale of being a stranger in a strange place. Using pictures alone, absolutely amazing pictures at that, it give you a real feel for the alienation of the main character. A book that you can revisit again and again and find something new. Pure class. A perfect book for these imperfect strange times.