The Arrival

The Arrival by Shaun Tan is published by Arthur A. Levine Books, 2006.

Plot:

The Arrival is the story of a man immigrating to a new country because of the conditions of his home. He leaves his family behind in order to establish a new livelihood for them in the new land. The narrative follows his path through Ellis Island-esque processing, his finding of a home and job, and finally the immigration of his wife and daughter to live with him in his newly established home.

Analysis:

What sets The Arrival apart from other immigration stories is that it has no text whatsoever. It is composed of series of drawings which depict the story, implicitly--immersing the reader in the world of the immigrant and what it feels like to understand nothing of the land into which he's been forced. Big themes include communication, family, war, and freedom.

Teachability:

Middle and high school students would not have too much difficulty with this fiction; the expertise of the artist allows the reader to extract meaning from the images alone. Teachers of this work will immediately grasp the advantages of using this story in a classroom with struggling readers.