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Set in the near future, a dystopian Melbourne, Australia, The Lost Thing is a story about Shaun who enjoys collecting bottle tops for his bottle top collection. One day, while collecting bottle tops near a beach, he discovers a strange creature, that seems to be a combination of a crab, an octopus, and an industrial boiler.
- Shaun Tan
- 32
- 2000
- 2000
Jan 1, 2001 · The Lost Thing is a gently humorous story that will be read and enjoyed by a wide range of ages. While the narrative is full of typical thoughts of an observant and caring young person, the illustrations provide a surreal and thought-provoking backdrop for this 'lost dog story' with a definite twist. The Lost Thing is the first book that Shaun ...
- (5.7K)
- Hardcover
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Jul 5, 2011 · Magnificently illustrated and vibrantly poetic, the story is really about the search for belonging, a fine addition to these must – read children’s books with philosophy for grown-ups. What started out as an amusing nonsensical story soon developed into a fable about all sorts of social concerns, with a rather ambiguous ending.
The Federal Department of Odds and Ends (detail), 1999, acrylic oil and collage on paper, 70 x 50cm. The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at the beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met ...
- Character
- Setting of The Lost Thing
- Story Structure of The Lost Thing
The first person narrator is ‘the every child’ — at the moment in children’s literature the every boy is white, and a boy, not a girl. Unusually for children’s book narrators, this is a knowing adult looking back at an incident from his childhood with somewhat renewed insight. This kind of narrator is more often encountered in adult fiction (about ...
This world is a bit steampunk. It’s full of contraptions that we don’t recognise (including the lost thing itself.) This is a world from perhaps the 1980s, when intriguing people and advice could be garnered from the back pages of a newspaper. (I’m probably the last generation to know what sorts of things were found there.) The television is the ol...
The boy as every child means that the shortcoming/need is cast upon the reader: We are all too busy fitting in to notice little things (and also, probably, very big things!) that are right under our noses. We need to stop and look at world. This is metafictivein a less obvious way; picture books require readers to slow down and study the pages in a way no other medium really does. You won’t be able to read this picture book properly unless you linger on the illustrations.
The boy wants to know more about this big red thing, and know that it’s happy and safe.
The natural opponent is wider society, disinclined to look after the odd things that don’t fit anywhere. This ‘society’ is personified by the parents, who need the Lost Thing pointed out, and even when it’s pointed out, they take no real interest in it.
Books. The Lost Thing. Shaun Tan. Lothian, 2000 - Juvenile Fiction - 30 pages. "The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by ...
The Lost Thing By Shaun Tan Summary The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice its presence.
