Another brilliant book by Shaun Tan – Cicada is a book with subtext for both older children and adults but with illustrations that young children will enjoy too.
Cicada is a story about a cicada who works in a dreary office building, performing the same task day in, day out with no recognition or appreciation of the effort he puts in.
Cicada is treated poorly, ignored by colleagues and constantly calls out ‘Tok, Tok, Tok”, which could represent the noise of a keyboard, the clicking of a clock, the noise cicadas make or perhaps even the monotone thoughts of the office workers. Whatever you take it to mean, it shows the bland existence of humans and this cicada.
But all this changes on Cicada’s last day of work, where instead of having a farewell party or a thank you handshake he simply packs up his desk and ascends the stairs.
The stairs to say farewell to this greyscale existence.
The stairs to something much more wonderful, so much so that the cicada wonders why the humans haven’t worked it out yet.
I won’t spoil it here – you’ll have to read it yourself!
So what else can you do with this book at home and at school?
Younger readers.
Younger readers may not see the subtext of this book but other issues can be explored such as:
– Explore the life cycle of a cicada and the time the spent underground compared to the time above.
– Think about what you would do if you had to live in a world without colour, creativity or fun. How would you feel?
– What does ‘Tok, Tok, Tok” mean to you? What sound would you make if you worked in a world like this?
– Why do the humans think he is worse than them? Why do they ignore him or make him go to the toilet out of the building (this can be linked to some women’s prejudice issues of the past).
– Why do you think the cicada never left his job?
– What is the importance of getting out into the world around us and exploring more than just making money?
– Why do we need nature? Why do we need to explore?
– Is money really that important? (Big idea – take time to discuss this)
And here are some more in depth ideas if you wish to study this book for older readers:
Notes from Hachette, click here.
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