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Summary
Summary
From the visionary Shaun Tan, an inspirational story for older picture book readers and beyond Cicada tells the story of a hardworking little cicada who is completely unappreciated for what he does. But in the end, just when you think he's given up, he makes a transformation into something ineffably beautiful. A metaphor for growing up? A bit of inspiration for the unappreciated striver in all of us? Yes, yes, and more.
Author Notes
Shaun Tan was born in 1974 in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is an artist, writer, and film maker. In 2006, his wordless graphic novel The Arrival won the "Book of the Year" prize as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. The same book won the Children's Book Council of Australia "Picture Book of the Year" award in 2007 and the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Premier's Prize in 2006. For his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" Tan won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council, the biggest prize in children's literature. In 2015 his title, Rules of Summer, was one of four books selected for the United States Board of Books for Young People list of Outstanding International Books for children and young adults. His book, The Singing Bones, won the 2015 Aurealis Awards for Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated work. He had two books published in 2018, Cicada. and Tales From the Inner City
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Like the stories in Tan's Tales from the Inner City, this fable stars a creature who interacts with human society but stands apart from it-or, in Cicada's case, is excluded from it with stiff-necked contempt. Cicada is a loyal company employee, and Tan paints with deliberate strokes the rumpled folds of the insect's suit, his clip-on identification badge, and the back of his green head in a gray office cubicle. "Seventeen year. No promotion./ Human resources say cicada not human./ Need no resources./ Tok Tok Tok!" Viewers see only Cicada's human supervisor's back; he can't even be bothered to turn around to look at his employee. Bullied by his colleagues and not allowed to use the staff bathroom, Cicada suffers indignity after indignity: "Cicada no afford rent./ Live in office wall space./ Company pretend not know./ Tok Tok Tok!" But Cicada has a secret, and what looks like a terrifying end as he steps to the edge of the corporate building's roof becomes a different, lushly illustrated fate. Cicada's narration suggests, coincidentally or not, that of an Asian immigrant, and Tan's story could be regarded as one that holds out the hope of liberation for every mistreated foreign laborer. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
From award-winning Tan comes another nonpareil picture book. Tan's eponymous Cicada is a mistreated office worker in a grim office building, employed by a company truly Kafkaesque in its brutal devotion to minutiae. Seventeen year, says our protagonist. No promotion. Human Resources say Cicada not human. Need no resources. Tok Tok Tok! We see the Cicada retire quietly from its mundane, thankless job, homeless and impoverished a pathos evenly played in Tan's deft hand. Tan juxtaposes the heartrending despondency of the story with a new sense of wonder as we see the cicada begin anew outside of his dreary office, just as the muted tones of the man-made office building are ignited by the verdant, gleaming cicada itself. As Tan's books often do, this seems to defy categorization its themes, admittedly, are perhaps too mature for the standard picture-book crowd. But for older readers drawn to unusual narrative formats, this book could work wonders with its nuanced, hopeful depiction of individuality. Illustrated with graceful restraint, this book is a stirring vignette of a life lived against the grain.--Ada Wolin Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
A boy and his dog head to the moon, a crab bakes cakes, a cat foils a bakery break-in: These books send imaginations soaring. ONE IS A PIÑATA Written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong. Illustrated by John Parra. Thong and Parra have explored shapes ("Round Is a Tortilla") and colors ("Green Is a Chile Pepper") with adorable bilingual flair, and this take on the numbers one to 10 is just as appealing. Each object is named in Spanish, with surrounding text in English ("six flavored aguas to quench our thirst"), while Parra's folk-art illustrations give visual clues to scenes from Latino life. Each friendly page beckons - to find stuff to count, or just to imagine lying on the beach under one of the five palapas. 32 pp. Chronicle. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 5) THERE ARE NO BEARS IN THIS BAKERY Written and illustrated by Julia SarconeRoach. A protective tabby named Muffin, a shop called Little Bear Bakery, a nighttime intruder. Is it a giant mouse? Or... a baby bear, helping herself to the goodies? Muffin is on the case. Sarcone-Roach ("The Bear Ate Your Sandwich") draws her audience in with I'm-the-boss cat humor and expressive mixed-media art in shades of blue and orange, perfectly capturing moods ranging from a terrified kitty ("I was smooshed, like a muffin between the couch cushions") to a satisfying bear hug. This delightful caper calls out for multiple readings. 32 pp. Knopf. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) TEN RULES OF THE BIRTHDAY WISH Written by Beth Ferry. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Admit it, that annual wish you make before blowing out the candles is a huge deal. This antic step-by-step guide at first plays it for laughs, pulling in dinosaurs, rhinos, penguins and many more creatures to sow amusing chaos. Dogs howl the birthday song off-key, and puffer fish are warned not to take a big breath. But the always vibrant Lichtenheld and Ferry turn sweetly serious for the moment we've been waiting for, with a gentle reminder: "Don't forget that wish ends in 'shhhhhh.' " 40 pp. Putnam. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) GOOD BOY Written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. This latest from Ruzzier (the Fox & Chick books) has just one or two words per page. But with lovely art that turns effortlessly surreal, that's all it takes to tell a clever, comical story of a truly mutual relationship. A boy and his dog, whose coat is the same shade of yellow as the boy's hair, practice canine training commands like "Sit" and "Jump" that soon morph into wondrous feats like "Cook." Before you know it, the devoted pair are off on an outer-space adventure. 40 pp. Atheneum. $15.99. (Ages 4 to 8) WHAT IS GIVEN FROM THE HEART Written by Patricia C. McKissack. Illustrated by April Harrison. In this exquisite story of generosity from the beloved McKissack, who died in 2017, a little boy named James Otis and his mama have fallen on hard times after his father's death. But they keep their spirits up, focusing on a request by their minister to add to a "love box" for a family that lost everything in a fire. Harrison has created soft yet dazzling illustrations for this tribute to faith, hope and the African-American community 32 pp. Schwartz & Wade. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) THE NEIGHBORS Written and illustrated by Einat Tsarfati. Translated by Annette Appel. All apartment buildings contain tantalizing mysteries, and the red-haired girl who narrates this zany treat tells what's behind each door in hers: a tiger, a vampire, a family that "celebrates someone's birthday at least once a week." Tsarfati ("An After Bedtime Story") balances visual extravagance with sneaky insight into how kids think of home. 40 pp. Abrams. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) CRAB CAKE Written and illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. The sea creatures who populate Tsurumi's underwater idyll live harmoniously, yet each does its own thing, including Crab, who bakes cakes. But when someone dumps trash into their home, the psychedelic colors darken. What to do? The eco-friendly lesson goes down easy as "everybody comes together," pitching in to haul the trash away, with another cake from Crab waiting at the end. 40 pp. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) CICADA Written and illustrated by Shaun Tan. Like all Tan's genre-defying books, this one vibrates with profound questions about how we choose to live and how we treat one another. A gray-suited cicada is an office drone, insulted and underpaid by the humans; he lives in an office wall space. After 17 years, he's shown the door. Despondent, he seems about to jump from the roof, but instead sheds the suit and becomes dozens of bright red insects, flying away to freedom. 32 pp. Arthur A. Levine. $19.99. (Ages 12 and up) MARIA RUSSO is the children's books editor of the Book Review.
Bookseller Publisher Review
Shaun Tan has done it again. Cicada is excellent. Although more distinctly a narrative picture book than some of his others, Cicada's darkness breeds a rich subtext that will serve well in classrooms and resonate with older children and adults. The journey of the eponymous cicada-an unappreciated, abused office worker-reimagines the peculiar life cycle of these extraordinary creatures in a stark, bleak, near-monochromatic human office environment, where all but the besuited insect are faceless, and the maze of cubicles look like Escher's might have if he'd had the joy stamped out of him. The concrete, minimalist illustrations Tan uses here contrast with his earlier work, and the seemingly simple story is multilayered, lending itself to various readings. Told in Cicada's broken English, the short narrative also conjures metaphors with the refugee experience. The mood of the story shifts at the end though it retains some ambiguity (the cathartic change in colour palette recalls the uplifting end of The Red Tree). Cicada's strangely addictive little refrain of 'Tok Tok Tok!', which echoes the insect's call as well as a mindless, keyboard-tapping corporate world, will stay with you, as will this beautiful book. Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, an editor and writer, is a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Isolated and alone, Cicada is bullied, ignored, overworked, and underappreciated during their 17 years of work for a nameless corporation housed in a depressing gray skyscraper. Now that retirement has arrived, Cicada is at a loss, but hidden under Cicada's wrinkled gray suit lies unexpected strength. The spare text is made up of concise sentence fragments, mimicking the Basho haiku included on the closing folio page, and emphasizing Cicada's otherness. Each page features just three lines of text followed by Cicada's rhythmic "Tok Tok Tok!" printed in a simple font on light gray pages. The illustrations, created with oil paints on canvas and paper, are unflinchingly direct. Utilizing a palette of black, white, and gray with just a touch of the green from Cicada's head and handlike legs protruding from vast suit cuffs, light and shadow depict the static, sterile, impersonal corporate world. In some illustrations, repeated shapes seem to represent the incessant repetition of office work. The spreads each feature a vignette showing the humiliation and isolation Cicada has endured for so many years. The climax, starting with a series of wordless spreads and finishing with just four lines of text is heartbreaking and freeing, relentless and hopeful. There's much to explore, interpret, and examine in this unique and symbolic art book. How does our attitude and position affect our perspective on our situation in life? Is Cicada's "Tok Tok Tok!" a plaintive cry or a derisive laugh? Can it be both? VERDICT Tan fans and others willing to take a deep dive into the many layers of this fascinating book will find much to appreciate. Those who take a shallow dip may end up feeling unsettled and bewildered.-Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Tan's narratives often critique traditional office culture; this one features the inhumane treatment of the protagonist, a cicada dressed in a four-armed gray suit, complete with tie and pocket square.Oriented vertically, the insect does not reach the top of his human co-workers' desks, thus skewing the perspective so their heads are not visible. The green data entry clerk works in a gray maze of cubicles. Despite his exceptional performance and strong work ethic, he must walk blocks to a bathroom and is physically bullied. Readers will recognize forms of marginalization throughout, i.e., the elevator buttons are too high, poverty forces residency in the office wall. Cicada language is primitive and rhythmic: "Seventeen year. No promotion. / Human resources say cicada not human. / Need no resources. / Tok Tok Tok!" The last line is a refrain following each brief description, suggesting both the sound of a clock (time passing) and the notion of cicada "talk." Upon retiring, he ascends the long stairway to the skyscraper's ledge. The oil paintings of shadowy, cramped spaces transition to a brightened sky; a split in Cicada's body reveals a molten glow. An orange-red winged nymph emerges and joins a sky full of friends flying to the forest, where they have the last laugh. No Kafkaesque conclusion here; metamorphosis brings liberation and joy.Simultaneously sobering and uplifting, it will lead thoughtful readers to contemplate othering in their own lives. (Picture book. 12-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Cicada tells the story of a hardworking little cicada who is completely unappreciated for what he does. But in the end, just when you think he's given up, he makes a transformation into something ineffably beautiful. A metaphor for growing up? A bit of inspiration for the unappreciated striver in all of us? Yes, yes, and more. Excerpted from Cicada by Shaun Tan All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
