'Akim runs' is another sensitive picturebook about war. This book tells the story of Akim, who is surprised by a bombing and has to flee. He can't find his mother, he's lonely and frightend, but soon he meets other refugees and joins them on their way to a safe camp. The delicate sketches convey the horrors children are confronted with in a war zone. This book is deeply moving and worth a read.

Picturebooks in general and wordless picturebooks in particular aren't considered as literature and therefore mostly ignored by literary studies. But as I took a closer look at 'The Arrival' I recognized many textlinguistic elements: By combining different sized pictures Tan creates a narrative rythm, he uses flashbacks and he even narrates the passing time. I'm so looking forward to analyse this book in my master's thesis

Last year, I participated in a seminar about "Picturebooks and language aquisition". We discussed Shaun Tan's Masterpiece "The Arrival", a wordless Graphic Novel for kids & adults. It treats topics like war, fear and immigration with such delicacy that it is a must-read for everyone. The complex pencil drawings are as satisfying to read as a text, you'll find something new to decipher and think about every time you look at it
I higly recommend it!