The Lost Thing

Kate Milner I think Shaun Tan is absolutely amazing. In The Lost Thing he creates a whole world, and in this case it’s a barmy world. It’s so rich in detail. There’s a sense of this being a real other world that you’re allowed to look into. It’s about a boy finding a lost creature on a beach. The boy decides to take it home. Eventually he sets it free again. A less imaginative illustrator may have made this story cute and the situation comforting. Instead, Shaun Tan gives us a massive thing that’s half sea creature, half machine. It is an imaginative book—full of energy—it is also magical, almost gothic. (Source)