And it flies off to the forest, laughing at humans. Cicada’s body splits and out of the formerly green and now grey body emerges a beautiful glowing orange creature with translucent wings.

While the reader thinks that one thing is going to happen, something entirely different happens. He’s been ignored, overlooked, mistreated, and downtrodden the whole time. After seventeen cheerless grey years, he retires without so much as a thank you. He is paid so little that he must sleep inside a wall at the office. He is bullied by those who see him as different, and they think cicada is stupid even though he’s never made a mistake. He is alone in a sea of cubicles, and he alone finishes his work after the humans leave for the day. Because cicada is not human, he’s not promoted or even allowed to use the bathroom. He has worked for seventeen years without any sick days. And cicada, who is given no other name, works as a data entry clerk in a grey cubicle. It’s about a nameless city filled with grey skyscrapers. As Tan writes on the inside cover of the book, “Cicada tell story. The Guardian’s review says Cicada is a meditation on belonging and bullying.Īnd here’s a video from Hachette, his publisher, featuring the author and artist himself.Shaun Tan creates another thoughtful, insightful, simple-yet-oh-so-complex picture book with “Cicada.” The plot, on one hand, is simple.

This is an excellent Christmas gift - a classic! - for that person who is depressed and frustrated in their office job or is about to embark on a sea change. The language used is simple, evoking English as a second language in a rhythm suggesting the sounds a real cicada makes.Īlthough Cicada can be appreciated by younger readers, to me the appeal is for the more mature, embracing Shaun Tan fans, office workers and the like. The text is in a sans serif font so it should be good for beginning readers except it is very small. Perhaps it’s because of my experience of bullying at the University of Canberra in the year leading up to reading Cicada. However, a word of warning: I thought the action was leading to suicide. Shaun Tan has the Midas touch, and Cicada is no exception. This adorable book is mostly illustrated in shades of grey because Cicada’s world is so bleak, but these shades are contrasted at the end.

Cicada works in an office job, possibly in the public service or at a university.

Cicada tan shaun