Meet my mate Lith - with thanks to Shaun Tan and our Librarian
Meet Lith - a creature from Shaun Tan’s book The Arrival who captured a little boy’s imagination and heart.
This story was shared with CMIS Evaluation by Angie, a librarian in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
At the library, a little boy is given The Arrival to read and share with his mother. The story has no words but conveys the migrant experience of coming to an unfamiliar landscape with indecipherable signs and strange creatures, through powerful thought-provoking illustrations.
When his mother shares this book with her four-year-old son, he is so taken with the pet creature in the story that he sleeps with the book under his pillow. He names the creature Lith and his mother makes him a stuffed toy animal in the shape of Lith.
They take Lith to show the librarian his new toy and the spark of imagination ignited by Shaun Tans’ extraordinary story and pictures.
Later, the little boy asks his mother if she ever finds a real live Lith, can he have it for his birthday for a pet. His mother explains that it’s just a made up creature but he says he would still like one if she ever does find a real live Lith.
