I am having a moment of going through my collected works of Australian illustrator Shaun Tan. Rather than superficial princesses and shallow fairy tales, Tan asks us to also reflect upon aspects of life through original illustrations that are humorous, sentimental, poignant and satirical. Shaun Tan is an incredible artist whose pictures are able to capture nostalgia, and the bittersweet sadness that exists in the contemporary world. The Lost Thing itself, as a creature, could symbolically represent so many things: the poorly labeled and mistreated refugee the individual who lacks acceptance because he/she doesn't fit into the cultural norm the child-like zest that's missing in our lives the wonder we fail to see. The Lost Thing also questions the marginalisation of subgroups. We are becoming an industrialised model, which makes for a dull urbanscape and even duller society. Furthermore, it asks us to not accept our adult world, devoid as it is, of individuality.

The Lost Thing is highly critical of our need to label and categorise others. Tan challenges the reader to not follow the many signs and orders that have conditioned us, but rather to witness (and remember) the fantastic that exists. In a way, we have been conditioned to mirror the colourless world around us.

Themes: The Lost Thing explores how curiosity and wonder decay with age, until we, as adults, are simply robotic grey creatures. The boy sets out to find the Lost Thing a home.

In this mundane monotonous world of sepia, The Lost Thing, goes by relatively unnoticed. Plot: A boy, still curious due to his youth, discovers an odd creature at the beach, a 'Thing' that appears lost. His innovative illustrations speak volumes. The Australian artist and illustrator, Shaun Tan, is the Midas of the visual world. This incredible book was made into an academy award winning short film.

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan