The Arrival Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Jan. 2000

Portrayed in immediately accessible cartoon format, with no words, this wonderful book perfectly captures the experience of being forced to leave your family and home country and try to settle in an alien environment. Tremendously moving, quirky, imaginative and powerful, the sequence of pictures portrays the struggles with language, food, housing, transport and work faced by immigrants who may come here from radically different or undeveloped countries. Warmth, gritty humour and tenderness are all evoked without words, meaning this book is accessible to anyone of any language without needing a translator. This highlights our universal shared human experience. The book is quite large and thick, making it a pretty lengthy 'read', but I still return to it again and again for its thought provoking and timeless message.

This is a beautiful book with wonderful illustrations that tell the story of a migration from one part of the world to another by a desperate father who wants to make a life for his family. It could be anywhere in the world. It is a wordless book that tells an incredible tale with imaginative depictions. It is heartwarming and brilliant. It is classed as a children's book but I have bought it for a friend who is in her 80's and know she will love it.

This is a wonderful book that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike; there are no words, just pictures. And what pictures! They take you into a [literally] different world.The story is about the challenges and dangers [and rewards] of immigration - the story follows a man who has to leave his family in a dangerous home country to go ahead and start a new life in a new country - sending for his family later.The pictures show him trying to settle in to the new country, getting used to new cultures and customs, strange foods, strange technology. He meets a wide variety of other people who have also immigrated and have had terrible stories - and who welcome him into their lives. It's difficult to do justice to this book by writing about it; just read it and be enchanted and charmed - probably one of the best books I have ever come across!

The artwork in this book is truly stunning. Shaun Tan is really skilled at creating emotive artwork that invites the reader to immerse themselves into the experience of the characters. He brilliantly conveys the strangeness of moving to a new country without any words. A good book for building empathy- particularly helping in understanding the experience of immigrants and refugees. A brilliant book for adults as well as children. The book is in hardback which enhances the 'specialness' of this book.Some very young or sensitive children may find some of the images upsetting.

Lovely storytelling and illustrations

So far I've bought four, and given three away as presents. It's an astoundingly good graphic novel, and giving it to people as a present will make you look sensitive and kind, especially if you tell them it made you cry. They will also love it, and namecheck you when they buy it as a present for others, so lots of people will know how sensitive and kind you are.

The Arrival – adult or teen picture book, sepia, surreal & in places unsettling, metal scary dystopia about a man who has to leave his family to work away. Very thoughtful. Puzzling in parts. Pictures of contact with friendly strangers heartening. I was motivated to buy it after being shown early picture from it (man & wife at table just before parting) by a teacher, who’d used to get non or reluctant readers to describe details they saw in the picture.

This is strange and beautifully illustrated book that tells a universal tale of being a stranger in a strange place.Using pictures alone, absolutely amazing pictures at that, it give you a real feel for the alienation of the main character.A book that you can revisit again and again and find something new. Pure class.A perfect book for these imperfect strange times.