Book Review: Creature by Shaun Tan

Creature: Paintings, Drawings and Reflections
by Shaun Tan (YA 741.64 Tan)

I have been a fan of the artistic work of Shaun Tan since stumbling across his phenomenal wordless graphic novel The Arrival many years ago, and always enjoy seeing a new book from this Australian artist.

 

Creature is not a typical book — it is more of an artistic retrospective of his career from the mid-1990s through 2020, viewed through the lens of some over-arching themes in his work. Tan offers up some explanatory essays on the themes “Lost Things”, “Companions”, “Myth & Metaphor” and “Birds”, followed by dozens of examples of his own work that embody those themes. His fantastical fantasy illustrations embody both whimsy and alien-ness. His drawings and paintings are as likely to included a misfit robot, made of household objects merged with otherworldliness, as they are a jovial yet monstrous alien critter the size of a house. And next to these will be tiny birds, playing with tentacled and feathered pocket-sized figments of the imagination.

 

Tan explains his passion for shining the light on “lost” objects, and on normalizing the abnormal — the beautiful illustration on the book’s cover is a perfect amalgamation of Tan’s career — showing the ease with with a giant, one-eyed, feathered “creature” can befriend a young girl, who things nothing of the oddity of their friendship but simply revels in it.

 

The last fifth of the book is an appendix in which Tan offers background information on most of the pieces of artwork found in the book, explaining what inspired each piece or what his intentions were in creating them.

 

Tan is a true contemporary genius in the field of fantasy art. Creature would be a great introduction to his work for anyone who hasn’t seen it before. However, I would even more highly recommend his books that actually tell a story within a narrative structure, such as The Lost Thing, The Arrival, Cicada or Tales From the Inner City.

[NOTE: Although this has been cataloged as a Young Adult item, it didn’t feel like it — I’m reviewing it here as a recommend for adult readers.]

 

( official Creature page on the official Shaun Tan web site )

 

See Scott C.’s review of Shaun Tan’s graphic novel Cicada, in the June 2019 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña

Milo Imagines the World

by Matt de la Peña (jP de la Peña)

 

The story begins with Milo and his older sister entering the subway. During his ride, Milo observes other passengers on the subway to pass the time and imagines what their lives might be like. He draws pictures of the perfect or not-so-perfect lives that he envisions that they live when they get off the subway. He imagines a whiskered man trudging home to a house filled with cats, eating soup alone over a game of solitaire. He sees a boy in a suit and imagines him taking a carriage to his castle and butler and maids. He envisions a woman on the train in a bridal gown going to a grand cathedral wedding and then riding away in a hot air balloon. He even imagines what the other riders think about what his life is like and wonders if they can see him reciting a volcano poem in class or the chile Colorado bubbling in the pot on the stove.

 

But as Milo departs the subway to visit his mother in prison, he discovers that things may not be as they seem. And Milo takes a minute to re-imagine the pictures he made on the train to have very different stories.

 

Milo Imagines the World is a beautiful story that encourages that all of us keep an open mind beyond the first impression. It is a must read!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try I Promise by LeBron James, I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes.]

[ official Mila Imagines the World page on the official Matt de la Peña web site ]

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!