Shaun Tan emphasises that he writes picture books not children’s books. His books, like many picture books, deal with complex themes.
There is an appealing simplicity in the form, which is not to say that it is necessarily simple: the restrained coupling of text and image can contain any level of poetic sophistication or complexity. ‘Art,’ as Einstein reminds us, ‘is the expression of the most profound thoughts in the simplest way.’