Cicada’s narration suggests, coincidentally or not, that of an Asian immigrant, and Tan’s story could be regarded as one that holds out the hope of liberation for every mistreated foreign laborer. Bullied by his colleagues and not allowed to use the staff bathroom, Cicada suffers indignity after indignity: “Cicada no afford rent./ Live in office wall space./ Company pretend not know./ Tok Tok Tok!” But Cicada has a secret, and what looks like a terrifying end as he steps to the edge of the corporate building’s roof becomes a different, lushly illustrated fate. It tells the story of an office working cicada who, in broken English, tells of his life of hard work for little reward and often bullying within the workplace. Created by Learn From Play - Teaching Resources Cicada is written and illustrated by Shaun Tan. No promotion./ Human resources say cicada not human./ Need no resources./ Tok Tok Tok!” Viewers see only Cicada’s human supervisor’s back he can’t even be bothered to turn around to look at his employee. Cicada by Shaun Tan - 2019 CBCA Picture Book of the Year. Cicada is a loyal company employee, and Tan paints with deliberate strokes the rumpled folds of the insect’s suit, his clip-on identification badge, and the back of his green head in a gray office cubicle. Cicada’s strangely addictive little refrain of ‘Tok Tok Tok!’, which echoes the insect’s call as well as a mindless, keyboard-tapping corporate world, will stay with you, as will this beautiful book.Like the stories in Tan’s Tales from the Inner City, this fable stars a creature who interacts with human society but stands apart from it-or, in Cicada’s case, is excluded from it with stiff-necked contempt. The mood of the story shifts at the end though it retains some ambiguity (the cathartic change in colour palette recalls the uplifting end of The Red Tree). Told in Cicada’s broken English, the short narrative also conjures metaphors with the refugee experience. Tok Tok Tok Cicada works in an office, dutifully toiling day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his. The concrete, minimalist illustrations Tan uses here contrast with his earlier work, and the seemingly simple story is multilayered, lending itself to various readings.
The journey of the eponymous cicada-an unappreciated, abused office worker-reimagines the peculiar life cycle of these extraordinary creatures in a stark, bleak, near-monochromatic human office environment, where all but the besuited insect are faceless, and the maze of cubicles look like Escher’s might have if he’d had the joy stamped out of him.
Although more distinctly a narrative picture book than some of his others, Cicada’s darkness breeds a rich subtext that will serve well in classrooms and resonate with older children and adults.
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