Eric

Written by: Shaun Tan

First line: Some years ago we had a foreign exchange student come to live with us.

Why you should read this book: Another absolutely stunning and surreal work by the artist, this small children's story presents a small protagonist, referred to as a "foreign exchange student," although his origin is...unclear. Eric looks sort of like a demon, and sort of like a leaf, and sort of like a shadow, and he is substantially tinier than whatever species his host family might be, and his worldview and life experience are clearly so different from ours that it's a struggle for the narrator and the reader to quite comprehend what he might be thinking. However, Eric is so interesting and appealing that the narrator and the reader both very much want to untangle the mystery of his inner experience, and see some part of the world through his eyes, and to know that his emotions are positive and that he feels safe and enjoys our world. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're deeply xenophobic and automatically reject anyone who is different from you.