Hometown by Shaun Tan

It is within this simple narrative shell that our recognition is played with and our comprehension challenged. ... What’s going on? A passage between familiarity and strangeness is opened, and the reader cannot help but ask questions in the absence of any explanation. ... Unlike a riddle, there is no clear answer to these questions, which remain open. ... For me, a successful picture book is one in which everything is presented to the reader as a speculative proposition, wrapped in invisible quotation marks, as if to say “what do you make of this?”  Shaun Tan talking about his book The Lost Thing

The opening endpapers of Hometown and the first page turn are very important - do not rush past these. Shaun Tan himself says of his work: What I like about this book in retrospect is that it is not necessarily sequential and exploits the fact that picture books ... have no specific duration - you can look at things for as long as you want, and at any point without the pressure of linear narrative. (Source)

"Here I am. Gravity keeps me here. Or love, which is kind of the same thing. I've never lived anywhere else, and even if I did, this would always be my hometown. The place where I grew up, the place where all my family are from."

These opening words of Hometown set the scene, introduce the main character and open the potential for an issue or change or a challenge. "I've never lived anywhere else" - is that about to change?

She goes on to say:

"I also love going to my secret place. Just being alone, thinking things over. Wondering if there's more to life than this. If there's more out there for someone like me."

So, what happens? Who arrives to challenge her sense of belonging? Did you see something on the first page? 

Shuan Tan is a master of the wordless book and the wordless page spread. In this book pages like this work so well to slow down your reading pace. I found myself taking a breath as I reached each of the wordless pages and one is even surprise fold out.

A spectacularly surreal coming-of-age story about choice, family, and the gravitational pull of belonging. Kirkus Star review

In addition to the wonderful story, the art is absolutely breathtaking. It’s a lovely mix of dreamy pastel colors, surreal landscapes and characters, and delicate details that warrant reading and re-reading just to enjoy it all again and pick out things you might have missed the first time through! History that Never was

Not quite a picture book, not quite a graphic novel and not quite a comic book, and, at 136 pages, significantly longer than most books of its type, Hometown pushes back against any label or box you might find for it. Older children, teens and adults will enjoy grappling with its allegorical meanings and existential questions. Book Page

For this blog post I attended two presentations by Shaun Tan - one in Melbourne with Michael Earp from The Little Bookroom and one in Sydney by Kinokuniya where he was interviewed by Phil Lesnie. I also listed to this fabulous podcast from The Children's Book Review with Bianca Schulze listen to this (or read the transcript if you are curious about the title - Hometown). AND Betsy Bird talked to Shaun too and declared The Arrival her favourite book!! (Do spend 30 minutes, this interview is so insightful). 

Some of Shaun Tan's ideas/inspirations I learnt from his presentations are explained in this blog post from the publisher Allen and Unwin. 

US Publisher blurb: If a stranger arrived and told you that the world you knew-your community, your family, and your hometown-wasn't really where you belonged, would you follow them and leave it all behind? Imagine living in a perfect world. You have a loving family, a beautiful home, awesome friends and about three hundred loyal pets. Everything is just as it should be. Until one day, when a stranger arrives. A stranger who looks just like you. A stranger with a very disturbing message . . . 

Further reading: 

Kirkus - Welcome to the Strange, Surreal World of Shaun Tan

Interview with Joy Lawn for Paperbark Words

You can see early sketches for this book on Shaun Tan's web page.

Here is a seven minute video with Shaun talking about the ideas that led to his book. 

I have a couple of favourite pages - the one where the girl and the stranger reach out to touch their hands and the pages where the girl is talking to her sister with the text "I didn't know if she would even care about my problems". 

I hope that Hometown is a book that might be read and re-read, revealing different impressions. It can be understood in a literal or metaphorical way: a story about a girl on an alien planet, or a deeper parable about individual identity, the need to ‘feel with your head and think with your heart’, as the narrator’s adoptive mother suggests, no matter what other people say you should think, feel and do. Regardless of family, friends, religion, politics and society, young people especially must always ask their own questions and make emotionally intelligent choices. That’s not always an easy thing to do, the world being a resistant place, full of contradictions, competing principles and powerful opposing forces. But art and literature remind us that there’s always a possible way through, a good and smart and fair way, if only you can imagine it. Shaun Tan Allen and Unwin blog post

In his various talks and interviews Shaun Tan mentioned so many things - here are a few from my notes:

• His early ideas for this story first appeared in a UK Comic anthology "I fell machine". His story was twenty pages with the title "Here I am" .
• In that story the lizard like creature had a name but in Hometown they are called things.
• Notice the way mum has eight arms - mum's are so good at multitasking.
• Is Hometown Science Fiction - Yes but he didn't want to include the usual Sci Fi Tropes. Shaun also mentioned a book by Ursula LeGuin "Always coming home".
• He deliberately did not include a conventional space ship.
• He had in mind a few paintings including one by Andrew Wyeth entitled Christina's World. And others by Arthur Streeton (Gorse in Bloom) and Monet.
• A favourite picture book is The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. (Take a look at my blog post where Shaun Tan contributed a similar idea in a book called Ten-Word Tiny Tales). 
• Illustrations by Arthur Rackham are also an influence. 
• What if someone says your view of reality is wrong - this is a core idea in Hometown. 

Every school and public library will add this book to their collection and for a family it could be an amazing Christmas gift to an older child or to an adult. I am enjoying imagining all the fabulous conversations you will have with your reading companions, family or class. 

IBBY Australia are enormously proud of Shaun Tan - winner of the ALMA (Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award) 2011; Hans Christian Andersen IBBY Australia Nominee; IBBY Honour book 2010 The Arrival; Dromkeen Medal 2010; and Kate Greenaway Medal Winner for Tales from the Inner City 2020. Many years ago Shaun Tan generously gifted a limited edition print to IBBY to use as a fund raiser. You can see the image here (sorry they are all sold) and you might like to compare this with one of the girl's friends in Hometown.

Check out his web page

Sketching the streets around his parents’ house, Tan realized, “Maybe art isn’t about exotic subjects, and real science fiction isn’t about exotic interplanetary worlds. It’s about what’s right in front of you.” Kirkus

As illustrator

The Pipe, by James Moloney (1996) After Dark series

The Stray Cat, by Steven Paulsen (1996) After Dark series

The Doll, by Janine Burke (1997) After Dark series

The Half Dead, by Garry Disher (1997) After Dark series

The Viewer, written by Gary Crew (1997)

The Rabbits, written by John Marsden (1998)

The Hicksville Horror, by Nette Hilton (1999) After Dark series

The Puppet, by Ian Bone (1999) After Dark series

Memorial, written by Gary Crew (1999)

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link (2008)

If you can find this or any of the other After Dark titles they are fabulous to read aloud to Grade 6.

As author and illustrator

The Playground (1997) After Dark series

The Lost Thing (2000)

The Red Tree (2001)

The Arrival (2006)

Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008)

The Bird King and other sketches (2011)

The Oopsatoreum: inventions of Henry A. Mintox, with the Powerhouse Museum (2012)

Rules of Summer (2013)

The Singing Bones (2016)

Cicada (2018)

Tales from the Inner City (2018)

Dog (2020)

Eric (2020)

Creature (2022)

Hometown (2026)

Do imaginary objects stand up as meaningful metaphors? Do they ‘make sense’ on their own, without being pushed. Being an artist is not about manipulating objects or an audience so much as constantly assessing a series of often accidental and mysterious ideas. Source

Publisher Profile: Post Wave

See inside this book here.

There is a fabulous public library in Melbourne (Narrm Ngarrgu Library) and each time I visit the city I try to set aside some time to explore their picture books in the children's section. Last month I spied this special book "A song of seasons" and then I noticed the publisher (not something I do often enough). I had not heard of Post Wave but now I have dug a little deeper and made some terrific book discoveries. I especially appreciate that on their web page you can click a cover and see inside the book. They also have additional resources for many of their titles.

Our mission is to make every child around the globe a reader.  We believe that being a reader brings opportunities and opens up the world. We acquire and translate original, beautiful, fun, clever books that visually delight, entertain, inspire and help children discover the world around them. ... We are committed to publishing beautiful, illustrated books showcasing diverse voices, excellent design and award-winning illustration all of which are produced to the highest of standards. ... Key to our success will be our highly valued authors and illustrators. The quality of writing, design and illustration will shine out in our books, helping us to achieve our mission to get children reading and encourage them to become lifelong readers. 

Here are a few of their books that caught my eye:

I talked about this book here - highly recommended

Take a look at the publisher resources for Call of the Birds

Stella and Marigold by Annie Burrows illustrated by Sophie Blackall

The warm, loving relationship between Stella and Marigold is at the heart of these books. 

Blurbs from Annie Burrows web page.

Book 1: Stella & Marigold 

Stella, who’s seven, likes cats and axolotls and second grade. But most of all, she likes Marigold. Marigold, who’s four, likes gibbons and red paint and the plumber. But most of all, she likes Stella. Stella and Marigold do all the regular things that kids do—like going to school and playing with their friends, like sometimes going to the zoo and sometimes getting sick—but even the most regular things have a secret side. For instance, there was a secret involving a blanket. And another one, about wolves, a terrible storm, and two brave children. That was a very exciting secret, and no one knows about it but Stella and Marigold. And you, if you read the book!

I especially loved the seventh and final story in book one - The Brave Children. Here is the Kirkus Star review.

Book 2: Stella & Marigold: Mermaids and Mix-Ups

Stella and Marigold live with their parents in the half-house. But in other houses in other cities, there are other people who were part of Stella and Marigold’s family. One of them is Cousin Judy, who sends them lots and lots of presents for no reason at all. One day, for no reason at all, she sent them a purple present. It was a book, and in the book, they were supposed to list their friends. That’s when Stella and Marigold discovered they didn’t have enough friends. They needed to make more. But how? With flowers? With magical recipes to make snow fall? With lots of nice Bandaids? How about a mermaid candleholder? The two sisters are full of ideas and plans. Maybe they turn out and maybe they don’t, but luckily, Stella and Marigold always have a best friend at home.

Here is the Kirkus review of Book Two.

Book 3: Stella & Marigold: Past and Presents

Nowadays, Stella and Marigold live in the half-house. But the half-house is very old, so they are not the only children who have ever lived there. One surprising day, they discover that there was another girl, maybe named Ziamara, who not only lived in the half-house, but drew on the wall. And who not only drew on the wall but left secret presents for Stella and Marigold. And who not only left secret presents but maybe went all the way up to the roof of the house! Inspired by this hero from the past, Stella and Marigold make great plans for the future.

Here is the Kirkus Star review of Book Three.

I listened to a podcast this week where Sophie Blackall talked about creating Stella and Marigold with Annie Burrows. I had seen the covers of the two books in this series from 2024 but I had not read them. The first book is just a delight - it would be a fantastic book to read aloud in your family or as a gift for a young reader aged 7+ AND if you are in a school library this is a must add series for your collection. The paperback editions are very affordable. Here is a video where Sophie Blackall talks about the series.  See inside book one here. 

Here are a few quotes from the podcast (you can read it from the transcript or listen):

Bianca: Stella or Marigold: who are you most like?

Sophie: I’m definitely Stella. I can’t even pretend for a second that I’m Marigold, but I love Marigold with my whole heart. She makes me laugh so much. She is such a person; she is so real to me. But I’m more like Stella, always wanting to do the right thing and be responsible.

Bianca: What do you love most about working with Annie (Burrows), or about her as a person, that people might not get from the books alone?

Sophie: Annie has a way of channeling childhood like no other writer I know. She is right there, and she finds all the incredibly specific things that, as soon as we’re reacquainted with them, come back in a rush of “Yes, that is what it feels like to be a child.” A child’s sense of time, a child’s sense of injustice, a child’s sense of who they are. ... 

With Annie, it’s really a lot about characters and finding how to convey all of Marigold’s feelings in a spread. Marigold patting a banana because she feels sorry for it. Marigold wondering what dust tastes like, because she’s so bored she can’t think of a single other thing to do except get on her hands and knees and pick dust out of the crevices in the floor. Marigold waiting a hundred years for her sister Stella to come back from school, because that’s how long it feels. ...

When Annie was thinking about names, she came up with Stella because Stella is celestial. She is cool, composed, and ethereal in a way, a wise soul like a star. Marigold is hot and close to the ground. She has big feelings. So in the books, I drew Stella in cool colors, and Marigold is always in reds, yellows, and oranges, and she bursts off the page.

Reviewers compare Stella and Marigold with Beezus and Ramona but for me the tone beautifully matches the Miller Family series by Kevin Henkes - especially the books with Sal as the central character.

I also thought of the Violet Mackerel series:

Read more here

You library might also have another series about sisters (twins in this case) - Ling and Ting by Grace Lin (4 books). 

Meet the author and illustrator Gail Gibbons

I saw the name Gail Gibbons mentioned on a Social Media post. The library where I volunteer each week has a number of her titles. Goodreads list over 120 of her nonfiction titles. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything tells me her early books broke new ground in nonfiction. Many of her titles are now out of print but I am sure your school or local library will have some. Gail Gibbons first published book was Willy and His Wheel Wagon (1975).

You can see a list of many of here titles here. You could use the titles I have put at the bottom of this post as a way to show a young group of library learners the range of topics that they could explore in your school library. Or you could use these as a prompt to demonstrate how Dewey numbers work to bring subject together. 

Of course you might guess I would like to see this one:

I previously mentioned Gail Gibbons because we share a birthday! Here is a video where she talks about her book Clocks and How they Go and her unicorn, dragon books and the one about puffins!

Here are some books by Gail Gibbons - Alphabetical order by title. (see more here)

Kirkus gave her book Volcanoes a Star review and they said:

Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. ...  The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.

The Partition Project by Saadia Faruqi

This is the third time in a week I’m hearing about this thing called Partition. Torture. Massacre. Forced to move. Friends versus enemies. What on earth was this event and how come I’ve never heard of it before? We learn about the Holocaust in school, but not this. Never this. Now, suddenly, Partition seems to be the only thing everyone is talking about.

This is one of those stories where you do need to be very patient with the main character. I rightly predicted early on in the story that something dreadful had happened Dadi back when her family were forced to leave their home in India in 1947 but Maha just doesn't seem to ask the 'right' questions. This is also a very long book with over 410 pages. 

Here are some text quotes to give you the flavour of this book:

She’s way older than any grandmother I know, but that’s because she adopted Abba in her forties, and then Ammi and Abba waited a while to have kids after they got married. But I don’t think she wants to discuss her age. “You speak English,” I say as we enter the house through the mudroom. “I thought you—” She turns to look straight at me. “What? That I’m uneducated just because I’m from Pakistan?”

I perk up, because in the dumpster fire of my life, this year’s electives are a cool bucket of water. Bethune Middle offers changing electives every semester in seventh grade, and I’ve signed up for media studies this semester.

“You were forced out of your home? Why would anyone do that?” The story she’d told me just a couple of hours ago about her childhood in Ludhiana was so ...  Lovely, even. Her friends Rasheeda and Prisha. Her abba and ammi. Her school where they wrote on slates with chalk. It sounded like the best kind of dream. How could anything bad have happened there?

Millions of Muslims fled to Pakistan on foot and via trains, while a similar number of Hindus and Sikhs traveled to India in the same manner. Along the way, they faced bloodthirsty mobs, hunger, and disease. Historians estimate that more than 15 million people were displaced during the period of the Partition, and almost 2 million

We packed a few clothes, but that was it. Hakam and Jamal wanted to take all their toys, but Ammi didn’t let them. I wanted to take the journal that Abba had given me, but there was no room. It didn’t really matter at that point. Everything was so tense, I had a constant stomachache from all the fear of what was going to happen. 

What just happened? Did I lose my best friend, as well as my new friend? Did I just forget every rule about not losing my temper or saying mean things while fasting? I want to ditch school and go home, crawl under the covers and cry my heart

I haven't given this book any stars mainly because the 'voice' of Maha somewhat annoyed me especially the way she was so uncaring towards her best friend however Kirkus loved this book:

Powerful and timely. Kirkus Star review

Awards:

• South Asia Book Award 2025
• Kirkus Best Books of 2024
• Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2024
• Texas Lone Star Reading List 2024

Blurb from author webpage: When her grandmother comes off the airplane in Houston from Pakistan, Mahnoor knows that having Dadi move in is going to disrupt everything about her life. She doesn’t have time to be Dadi’s unofficial babysitter—her journalism teacher has announced that their big assignment will be to film a documentary, which feels more like storytelling than what Maha would call “journalism”. As Dadi starts to settle into life in Houston and Maha scrambles for a subject for her documentary, the two of them start talking. About Dadi’s childhood in northern India—and about the Partition that forced her to leave her home and relocate to the newly created Pakistan. As details of Dadi’s life are revealed, Dadi’s personal story feels a lot more like the breaking news that Maha loves so much. And before she knows it, she has the subject of her documentary.

Last year I visited Gleebooks at Dulwich Hill and I spied a middle grade novel about partition BUT I did not write down the title or take a photo so ever since I have been searching for it. This is not that book and so my search continues. (All I can remember is that there were a group of kids on the cover). 

The 1947 Partition of India led to one of the largest migrations in human history, radically changing Southeast Asia’s landscape. The area that was India under nearly 90 years of British rule was divided into two. The division that came with independence from Britain created a new Muslim-majority state of Pakistan and a Hindu-majority state in India. Muslims in India were forced to leave their homes for Pakistan (which was later divided into Pakistan and Bangladesh), while Hindus in Pakistan had to leave their homes for India. Approximately 15 million people were displaced, and an estimated one million died from violence or disease. School Library Journal

Companion books that explore partition:

Lion of the Sky

The Night Diary

And these are some recommended by Ms Yingling (and others)

Here is the book that Maha does not read that she was supposed to study with her friend for their English project and the one she does (yay for the Teacher-Librarian who recommended it):

Inside out and back again

I want to feel closer to Kim, and this book is the best thing I’ve got. I also want her to stop thinking that I’m obsessed with the Partition specifically, because other historical events are also 

suddenly making me sit up and take notice. ... “I chose this book for two reasons. First, the story was similar to what my grandmother experienced in Pakistan as a kid. Being a refugee. Being alone in a new country. Worrying about war and death and all sorts of things."  ...” The second reason is my best friend, Kim.” I look straight at her. She’s staring at me with a blank face. No smile, but no anger either. 

I’ll take it. “Her family is from Vietnam, and I wanted to learn more about their

Here are some other books by Saadia Faruqi:

Author note: I hope after reading Maha’s dadi’s story you will think deeply about how history affects the present and even the future. And then, I hope you talk to your elders and ask them to tell their stories to you, so you can learn about your own heritage and what your place is in family’s history. 

Wolf Road by Alice Roberts illustrated by Keith Robinson

"Even if he never returns ... his friendship will stay with you. You treated him kindly and encouraged others to do so as well."

Publisher blurb: Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. Tuuli knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises that he might hold the adventure she is looking for.  He is from another tribe, sent to find safer ground and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will impact the rest of human history. 

Readers aged 10+ who have good reading stamina and who are curious about ancient peoples are sure to enjoy Wolf Road. If you are book talking this book with a library group you could read the chapter "The River's Pull".  In this scene Tulli is swept away by a fast-flowing river and all her possessions are lost. Such was the power of this scene that I felt a dreadful grief for Tuuli and I hoped she could, by some miracle, perhaps find all her worldly goods again but alas this doesn't happen.

"Her share of hides for the tents, her summer clothes, her hide boots, pieces of antler; the bit of tusk ivory that she'd been going to carve into an amulet for Aski. Her pieces of birch bard and packets of pine resin. And her carefully wrapped parcels of reindeer meat, fermented willow, sweet horse food and groundsel. And all her spare darts, her harpoon, her half-made stone points. Everything."

This book also has really good descriptions of place, seasons, weather and people:

"He was wearing a really basic tunic made of deer-skin, crudely sewn up at the sides. He had a broad hide thong tied around his chest, under his arms, and a short, wooden spear was tucked under the strap at his back. A single fox-tooth hung from a cord around his neck. He was wearing what looked like fur boots, but on closer inspection, Tuuli saw that these weren't properly sewn. They looked like rough pieces of fur just tied onto his feet with sinews."

The cave art descriptions on pages 185-187 reminded me of this book:

Ancestory

I also enjoyed the sophisticated vocabulary used by Alice Roberts and I learned a few new words from this book too such as spoor (animal droppings), pulk, talo, and knapping.

This book caught my eye at a charity book sale earlier this year. It has taken me a few weeks to complete my reading and I will say the second half of this book is way better than the slow beginning. Also this story has tons of characters and yes, there is a list of them at the beginning of the book, but really, you only need to focus on three or four names - Tuuli, Wren, Remi, Aski and Lupa (Tulli's wolf friend).

This story is set against harsh scenery and dramatically changing climate. The impact of these determines what they wear, hunt and eat as well as the superstitions and belief system they live by. Respect is shown to the environment that they survive within, and acceptance that sometimes it gives and at other times it takes away. ... There is a very dramatic twist to this story that sets Tuuli and her lovely wolf cub on a different path. The strong bond between Tuuli and the cub is built up carefully; it is not forced, and grows naturally. Recommended for competent readers of 10 years + who enjoy a page-turning adventure of loving bonds and survival. Historical Novel Society

Wolf Road is a debut novel for Alice Roberts - the sequel is Wolf Mountain (2025).

In her author notes at the back of Wolf Road Alice Roberts explains the way she deeply researched the setting and lifestyles of her Ice Age or Stone Age or Paleolithic people. You may have read about the way Michelle Paver did this too for her book series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. Here is a video with Alice Roberts. 

"I have even lassoed a reindeer. I have found out for myself how warm you can be in a reindeer fur coat and reindeer fur boots in seriously subzero temperatures."

Companion books:

The Cave

Tarin of the Mammoths

A River Running Through You by Amy-Jane Beer illustrated by Elin Manon

"Have you ever lingered on a riverbank watching the water flow, and wondered where it comes from, or where it might be going? These are very old questions. 

And old questions often have stories for answers."

You might expect this book to follow the journey of a river from source to ocean but that does not happen. Instead we read about all the places the river has visited such as the ocean, glaciers, underground, in swamps, marshes, ponds and lakes. 

I can imagine taking this book outside and sitting by a river and reading this book quietly and slowly. 

The format of this book is similar to the series Read and Wonder or as they were later called Nature Storybooks with text in two formats - the lyrical story in a larger font and science facts in a smaller italic font. 

Think about these lyrical phrases: "held the land it it's ice embrace"; "where in darkness it crept and pooled"; "your river has lived uncounted lives".

This is a book to share with all ages from 6 to 11 and perhaps even junior high school. 

Our students and children and grandchildren are so lucky today because there are so many wonderful non fiction books that use simply wonderful illustrations. Take a look at this Pinterest collection from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. You can see inside A River Running through You here published in 2026. 

Can I suggest you act quickly - the hardcover edition of this book is a great price AUS$25 [9781917366304] and it is here too. I highly recommend you add this book to your library.

Bookseller blurb: Embark on a never-ending voyage in which young readers explore some very old questions-questions so old that they have stories for answers. This mesmerizing journey through mountain springs to vast oceans, from rivers in the sky to streams within our own bodies, guides readers through reflections on nature, life, and our place within it.

A River Running Through You is on the Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books Shortlist 2026. The winner is The Great Bear by Annie Booker.

Amy-Jane Beer is a biologist turned naturalist and writer. She has worked for more than 20 years as a science writer and editor, contributing to more than 40 books on natural history. She is currently a Country Diarist for The Guardian, a columnist for British Wildlife and a feature writer for BBC Wildlife magazine, among others. She campaigns for the equality of access to nature and collaboration between farming and conservation sectors. Her book The Flow won the 2023 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.

Elin Manon is a freelance illustrator from Wales now based in Cornwall. She graduated from Falmouth University in 2020. Her work is inspired by the natural world, ecology, folklore and anthropology.

The illustrations reflect the lyrical and slightly mystical mood the text creates. Books for Keeps

I am keen to see this book also illustrated by Elin Manon:

Companion books:

A River by Marc Martin

Song of the River