Shaun Tan

I think it was inevitable that Shaun Tan would wind up on here. Recently, Tan won an Academy Award for his short film "The Lost Thing". The film was modeled after his children's picture book of the same name. Tan is after all of our hearts because not only are his children's books breath taking and surreal, but the subject matter is really challenging.

The children's book industry is over flowing with different books on all sorts of genre, but few are able to address themes such as land appropriation, immigration and childhood depression in a delicate way. Not only do his books address topics such as these, they do so in a way that is seamless. I (Alex) recently used his book "The Lost Thing" to talk about geometry to an art class. How wonderful that his works can be enjoyed and used on so many different layers. So here is to you Shaun Tan, a marvelous illustrator and maker of books!