Author Rob Sears and his illustrator brother Tom choose their five books that see the world in a different way.
1. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This wordless graphic novel is mind-blowingly imaginative, richly illustrated and very moving. It manages to reflect the experience of any immigrant who has had to find their way in an alien land.
2. Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections
A glimpse behind the stage curtain of the human world. This was full of revelations for us as kids – like the fact that crews on jumbo jets have their own sleeping compartments tucked just out of view.
3. Dear Data by Stefanie Posavec and Giorgia Lupi
This book takes the form of an exchange of postcards between two friends – it’s not written in English but in the language of data with hand-drawn graphs that reveal hidden patterns in everyday existence.
4. Here by Richard McGuire
A high-concept graphic novel showing a single location across history. On one page it’s a 20th-century lounge, on another a patch of prehistoric woodland. Makes you ponder the lives of the countless creatures and people who’ve passed through.
5. IPCC Climate Change Report 2022
OK, not a great beach read, but one that pulls together research and statistics to show the big picture of what’s really happening on our planet. Our book, The Biggest Footprint, tells a similar story, just with surreal images instead of long paragraphs, and a lot more jokes.
