My short review just barely scratches the depth of the book. In the last panel, the girl is pointing directions for a newcomer who's lost. Seeing the joy on their faces as they reunite is so touching. The last act ends happily with the man inviting his wife and daughter over. He finds his job, made new friends and we learn their stories and more of this strange world. When the man is in the arrival hall of the immigration building, he undergoes the health checkups, questioning by officers on the purpose of his visit before he's approved entry. Shaun Tan has put little nuances and details everywhere, enabling readers to fully immerse themselves in the new world feeling the sense of wonder and foreignness as a new immigrant might. You can tell the tremendous amount of research and thought put in the panels. The mother and girl then walk back home under the shadows of the tentacles. At the train station, you can see the sadness in the eyes of her daughter, who only manages to break into a sad smile when her dad pulls a paper crane from under his hat to cheer her up. The scene cuts to show the town he's leaving from, one that's inhabited by gigantic black tentacles. His wife and daughter are walking him to the train station. The story starts with a man putting a photo of his family carefully into his luggage. Several drawings of immigrant processing, passport pictures, and the 'arrival hall' are based on photographs taken at Ellis Island. The book opens to a wall of immigrant photos, just like those you'll see in Ellis Island Museum. This beautiful book is designed like a worn out photo album from the past, not sure which past if the photo on the cover is anything of a hint. Ever wonder what it's like to be an immigrant moving to a new place to look for work, to see and experience a whole new world? The Arrival will tell you the story of someone who made this journey.

The arrival picture book