Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Tan, Shaun. Tales from Outer Suburbia. 2008, 94 pg, New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 9780545055871.

Annotation

A collection of short stories, poetry, and accompanied by Shaun Tan’s stunning, pleasantly strange thought provoking artwork.

My thoughts

These modern stories completely captivated me with their stunning illustrations, strangely quirky characters and mysticism that left my imagination wanting more. Suburban life is typical portrayed as a white picket fenced middle class lifestyle of normalcy. These stories, however, are ideal for anyone wanting to escape the normalcy of daily life in or out of the suburbs. Strange situations like the enigmatic nut-sized foreign exchange student, a sea creature on someone’s front lawn, a new room discovered in a family home, a sinister machine installed in a park, a wise buffalo that lives in a vacant lot, and 10 other extraordinary stories.

Artwork

The art is rich and surreal. In his website, Shaun Tan discusses his art for this book. Tan states that to “treat each story individually, as a separate little universe (which is how they were more or less conceived)” he used different media to suit the “atmosphere of each tale.” The range of media is impressive as is the skill evidenced in the illustrations. This is a collection for artists and dreamers, and for anyone in need of a jolt of inspiration.

Literary devices

Use of Sophisticated Language: incomprehensible, frayed, perilous, melancholy, etc.

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grades 7-12

Reviews and Awards

Awards: CBCA Book of the Year, 2009, Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2009, New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books, 2009, BCCB Blue Ribbon Book 2009, Washington Post Best Kids' Books of the Year, Booklist Editors’ Choices for 2009, A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults-2010, An ALA Notable Book for Children-2010, USBBY Outstanding International Book-2010, LA Times Book Prize-Finalist

Author website: http://www.shauntan.net/

Media: Pencil/ oil on canvas/ acrylic and oils on paper/graphite and coloured pencil on paper/ gesso, acrylic and oils on paper/ paper collage and other people’s handwriting/ oil on wood/ ink watercolor and ball-point pen/ digital/ scraperboard/ gouache/ photocopied text/ pastel crayon

Genre: Graphic novel

Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection by Matt Dembicki

Matt Dembicki - author. Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Pub., 2010. ISBN: 978-1-55591-7241

Author website: http://matt-dembicki.blogspot.tw/

Ilustrator website: There are 21 different illustrators.

Media: Various medias mainly pen and ink, watercolor, pencil.

Genre: Graphic Novel, Anthology

Annotation
 Twenty-one folktales based on various ‘trickster’ characters from a span of Native American tribes.

My thoughts

I’m constantly revising my opinion about this book. Right now, it is neutral and even though it is not a personal favorite, it is a book worth knowing about to recommend to younger readers because it might appeal to them and teach them some valuable lessons.

Originally, I checked out the 2010 edition, Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Perhaps, part of the problem is that I was excited about this book and had high expectations. I think that there is a very rich tradition of Native American tales and art to be preserved and that the majority of stories in this book failed in representing both. There were some very good successes, some that were acceptable, and some that failed. This pattern of successful and those that aren’t as good seem to be typical of anthologies.  

Instead, a few stories represented good concepts and stories with cartoonish and commercialized illustrations that were not so good and added text that seemed too silly (like in the "Rabbit's Choctaw Tail Tale"). I understand that it not meant for adult connoisseurs and see that this humor might potentially be amusing for children learning about Native American folklore and are interested in the Trickster character. I did like "The Coyote and the Pebbles", "Raven the Trickster", "Azban and the Crayfish", "Rabbit and the Tug of War", and a couple of others.

My personal opinion is that the folklore would have been better served with art other than American styled cartoon art. But, in hindsight, I guess if that is what it takes to bring these stories to younger reader then so be it. It would probably be better to recommend this book and encourage an interest and supplement it with other Native American books than to dismiss it entirely.  

Overall, maybe I’m being too harsh and judging it more for myself than for its intended audience. I think that it is great that there was an attempt to make this anthology. In addition, I am aware that there aren’t too many folklore books being published for this demographic and there are even less on Native American folklore. That does add a few good points to this book. In addition, the range is impressive. There are over twenty stories and over twenty artists to illustrate those stories. And of course, it is interesting to compare the idea and representation of the trickster from the differing folklores. Short folklore stories provide a quick window into the tribes that might otherwise be lost.

Curricular connections
This book can act as a supplement to the academic studies of Native Americans or suggested to children interested in folklore, tricksters, Native Americans, cartoons, history, etc. Native American Studies grade 5-8.

Literary Devices
Use of Metaphors: (an example: the Raven kicking the sea anemones because he can and because he delights in disorder can serve as a deeper metaphor for the need of a good leader.)

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 3/ Age 9 and up

Rewards

2010 Cybil’s nominee