This beautifully illustrated children’s picture book, originally crafted as large oil paintings by Australian author/illustrator Shaun Tan, was awarded Best Picture Book of 2014 by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.
Containing very little text, “Tan loves to juxtapose the ‘ordinary and extraordinary’ to translate ordinary activities into fantastical scenes.” and Tan believes that less is more, allowing the illustrations to be interpreted by the viewer’s own perception and imagination to unravel the events.

Themes to explore from the book:
- rules
- friendship & companionship
- disagreements & rivalry
- outsiders, loneliness, isolation, alienation and belonging
- imagination
Curriculum Topics
Study of History, Society & Environment
- intolerance & cultural miscomunication
- suburbia & the urban environment
Teachers:
Click here to download a teacher’s guide for this book which you can use with your students.
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