Tales From The Inner City written and illustrated by Shaun Tan includes 25 stories about the relationship between humans and animals, both domestic and wild, and all of the imaginative topics in between such as civilization, joy, wisdom, fear, knowing, obligation, predators, nature and friends. The stories range from one to ten pages in length. Many are written in a poetic prose and all are engaging and imaginative!
“Once we were strangers” is the second story in this book of 219 pages. It’s about the friendship between humans and the dog that developed over centuries. The story is powerful and the 13 double-page illustrations depicting the history of this nearly-sacred relationship are breathtaking.
“One day I threw my stick at you.
You brought it back.
My hand touched your ear.
Your nose touched the back of my knee.
Then we were walking side by side
as if it had always been that way.”
The story entitled One afternoon the members of the board all turned into frogs is a hilarious piece of satire. The illustration adds to the fun as every seat around the boardroom desk is occupied by a glass of water and a frog. The executive secretary plays an important role in this short story about obligation.
Stories such as Bears with lawyers, Where money gathers, so do pigeons, The butterflies came at lunchtime and The rhino was on the freeway again are full of thought provoking ideas and curious predicaments.
Tales From The Inner City skillfully-written and imaginatively- illustrated by Shaun Tan is a perfect gift book for probing readers 12 years of age and Up (Arthur A. Levine Book/ Scholastic, 2018).
Questions and activities for Tales from the Inner City
Which of the 25 stories made you laugh? Which of the stories made you cry? Do you have a favorite story? Why? Did any of the stories make you feel anxious? Why? If you had planned the cover of this book which story would you have decided to place there? Why?
Re-read the second story about humans and dogs and study the 13 accompanying illustrations. How are these watercolors similar? How are they different from one another? How does Shaun Tan visually represent the passing of time in these pictures? Why is the passing of time important to this story?
Before the title page there is a haunting double-page illustration. How does it capture the essence of this book? Think about it and then create a title for this illustration.
On second reading of this book make sure you pay attention to all the words that are new to you. Make a list of them. Add the words (with meanings) to your literacy notebook.
