There's much to explore, interpret, and examine in this unique and symbolic art book. 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. The climax, starting with a series of wordless spreads and finishing with just four lines of text is heartbreaking and freeing, relentless and hopeful. Shaun Tan has the Midas touch, and Cicada is no exception.

The spreads each feature a vignette showing the humiliation and isolation Cicada has endured for so many years. In some illustrations, repeated shapes seem to represent the incessant repetition of office work. Utilizing a palette of black, white, and gray with just a touch of the green from Cicada's head and handlike legs protruding from vast suit cuffs, light and shadow depict the static, sterile, impersonal corporate world. The illustrations, created with oil paints on canvas and paper, are unflinchingly direct. Each page features just three lines of text followed by Cicada's rhythmic 'Tok Tok Tok!' printed in a simple font on light gray pages. The spare text is made up of concise sentence fragments, mimicking the Basho haiku included on the closing folio page, and emphasizing Cicada's otherness. Now that retirement has arrived, Cicada is at a loss, but hidden under Cicada's wrinkled gray suit lies unexpected strength. Gr 8 Up-Isolated and alone, Cicada is bullied, ignored, overworked, and underappreciated during their 17 years of work for a nameless corporation housed in a depressing gray skyscraper.

Shaun tan cicada