Pre-order
1
of
1
Hometown
Brief Description
You need to know who I am.What I think and how I feel.Then you'll know why I did what I did. Imagine living in a perfect world. You have a loving family, a beautiful home and awesome friends. Everything is just as it should be. Until...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$3299
$3800
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Pre-order
Releases
29th
September 2026
(Approx. Date)
Pre-order "Hometown" now to secure your copy from our first shipment
Found a better price? Request a price match
Hometown
$3299
$3800
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
From the internationally acclaimed and award-winning creator of The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia comes a glorious graphic novel about belonging and identity, family and the power of 'home'.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
You need to know who I am.
What I think and how I feel.
Then you'll know why I did what I did.
Imagine living in a perfect world.
You have a loving family, a beautiful home and awesome friends. Everything is just as it should be. Until one day, when a stranger arrives. A stranger who looks just like you. A stranger with a troubling message...
From the creator of The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia comes a visually stunning, moving and humorous meditation on all the things that make us who we are and how we choose to live.
PRAISE FOR Hometown
'Loved it!! Chockfull of magic!!' - Guillermo Del Toro
'I can't overstate how much Shaun's work has meant for me and my family over the years. And now, his latest is a passionate, clever and inspiring tale about how we choose which family to love. I am so excited to share this one with mine.' - Darren Aronofsky
'Where The Arrival was about leaving home for the strange but hopefully welcoming new world, Hometown is about what makes us what we are—family, friends, environment. A joyful, surprising, marvellous book.' - Kelly Link
'Here is a cornucopia of a world to set beside the densely realised imaginings of Topor or Miyazaki - a many-splendored thing.' - Dave McKean
'A spectacularly surreal coming-of-age story about choice, family, and the gravitational pull of belonging.' - Kirkus, Starred Review
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781761180811
Publisher: A&U Children's
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 29 September 2026
Country: Australia
Imprint: A&U Children
Audience: Children
DIMENSIONS
Width: 215.0mm
Height: 260.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 144
About the Author
Shaun Tan is an artist, writer, and filmmaker from Perth, Western Australia, the recipient of an Academy Award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the Kate Greenaway Medal. He lives in Melbourne with his wife, two children and various plants, animals and machines.
Also by Shaun Tan
View all-
The Singing Bones
In this beautifully presented volume, the essence of seventy-five fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is wonderfully evoked by Shaun Tan's extraordinary sculptures. Nameless princes, wicked stepsisters, greedy kings, honourable peasants and ruthless witches, tales of love, betrayal, adventure and magical transformation: all inspiration for this stunning gallery of sculptural works. Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman and leading...Hardback$4100Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Eric
Eric is eternally curious and effortlessly charming – a house guest whose approach to the world will capture your heart.Hardback$2299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Arrival
What drives so many to leave everything behind and journey alone to a mysterious country, a place without family or friends, where everything is nameless and the future is unknown? This silent graphic novel is the story of every migrant, every refugee, every displaced person, and a tribute to all those who have made the journey. The Arrival has become...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Cicada
WINNER OF THE CBCA PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019 Cicada work in tall building. Data entry clerk. Seventeen year. No sick day. No mistake. Tok Tok Tok! Cicada works in an office, dutifully toiling day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his coworkers. But one day, cicada goes to the roof of the building, and...Hardback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Tales from the Inner City
Where can we live if not in each other's shadow? World-renowned artist Shaun Tan applies his unique imagination to a reflection on the nature of humans and animals, and our urban coexistence. From crocodile to frog, tiger to bee, this is a dark and surreal exploration of the perennial love and destruction we feel and inflict—of how animals can save...Hardback$3600Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Cicada
WINNER OF THE CBCA PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019 Cicada work in tall building. Data entry clerk. Seventeen year. No sick day. No mistake. Tok Tok Tok! Cicada works in an office, dutifully toiling day after day for unappreciative bosses and being bullied by his coworkers. But one day, cicada goes to the roof of the building, and...Paperback$1999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lost Thing
The Lost Thing is a humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature whilst out collecting bottle-tops at the beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice its presence. Each is unhelpful in their...Paperback$1999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Dog
Once we were strangers,legs bent the wrong way,rough voices falling to the wind ...But in our hearts we wanted more than this. In our hearts, we knew there was more. A tour de force. - The New York TimesHardback$2299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Rules of Summer
A beautiful paperback edition of the future classic by Academy Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner - Shaun Tan. Combining humour and surreal fantasy, Rules of Summer pictures a summer in the lives of two boys. Never break the rules. Especially if you don't understand them. The boys hide from a giant red rabbit and outwit a crowd of...Paperback$2199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Rules of Summer
Academy Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Shaun Tan combines humour and surreal fantasy to picture a summer in the lives of two boys. The boys hide from a giant red rabbit and outwit a crowd of scary eagles, but when their games become ever darker and sinister, they learn that breaking the rules can be dangerous. Visually fascinating....Hardback$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Lost Thing
A boy discovers a bizarre-looking creature while out collecting bottle-tops at a beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notices its presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents are all unwilling to...Hardback$3499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Tales of Light and Dark: A Shaun Tan Collection
Who is that exchange student living in our cupboard? Whatever happened to all those bears with lawyers? Why do dogs bark in the middle of the night?Collected together for the first time, forty illustrated tales of urban and suburban wonder, fear, humour and hope by the acclaimed creator of The Arrival, The Lost Thing and The Singing Bones.Tales from Outer...Book$4500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from Children's Books
View all-
New ReleaseCass and the Beast
A sweeping and original picture book about a girl who chooses not to be afraid, a modern-day heroine in a story we feel in our bones like an ancient folktale. When a fearful beast arrives in the township, Cass finds her courage and is rewarded with a wild and magical journey. The creature takes her on a thundering ride through...Hardback$2399Elsewhere:$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseThe Case of the Viral Video: Violet and the Velvets 3
Violet and the Velvets can hardly believe they've come so far in the BandChamps competition with only hard work, a smidge of talent, and a whole lot of thinking outside the box. This time, they get to record their new song in a proper recording studio and star in their very own music video! But Violet is letting her perfectionism...Paperback$1600Elsewhere:$1899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseRoyalslinger
K Pop Demon Hunters fans will love this! Graci Kim is back with the second book in her exciting and fantastical Slinger series where dragons and phoenixes roam the skies of Seoul; meals magically appear based on your mood; and dreams literally come to life. Praise for Dreamslinger: “A mind-blowingly original fantasy adventure—Graci Kim has done it again!”—Rick Riordan, New York Times #1...Paperback$1999Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseDetective Beans and the Map of Mystery
Enjoy this new DETECTIVE BEANS adventure in the bestselling and award-winning graphic novel series by Li Chen! Your favourite kitten detective is back with a new mystery to solve . . . and treasure to find! When Captain Scuttlebeard gives Beans a treasure map, Beans is determined to find the prize at the end. The clues take him all over...Paperback$1900Elsewhere:$2200Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseMei Mei the Bunny
Mei Mei the Bunny is Laufey's picture book debut about a bunny learning to believe in herself through music. Experience a heartwarming tale of self-belief in this enchanting picture book by GRAMMY Award-winning musician Laufey. Meet Mei Mei, a little bunny with a big dream—to spread joy through her music! As her debut recital at the H'Opera House draws near,...Hardback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseHunted: Wolf Girl 15
Just when Wolf Girl is finally reunited with her father, he is torn away from her once more, and Gwen vows to stop at nothing to track him down. But danger is closing in: a giant snow leopard and a mysterious hooded figure are hot on their trail. As Gwen and the pack race through deep caverns to snowy peaks,...Paperback$1699Elsewhere:$1899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseWhat If You Could
From the former prime minister of New Zealand comes a guide for teens on chasing your dreams and embracing the unexpected qualities that truly make a person strong. When Jacinda Ardern became prime minister of New Zealand, she was one of the youngest people in the world leading a country. Many people thought she would never succeed — herself included....Paperback$2599Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseLonasei and the Mystery of Origin Grove
Eleven-year-old Lonasei is lonely — she wishes her older sister Eva Grace wasn't so mean, and that her mum Aria didn't have to work so much. But when Aria inherits her childhood home, Lonasei discovers she can enter her late Aunt Malia's paintings and experience the memories within. Through them, she discovers that her mother had another sister, Agnes, who went...Paperback$2199Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Dawn Raid: The Apology
This sequel to Dawn Raid follows Sofia Savea’s family, 50 years later, as Sofia's grandson becomes involved in the quest for a government apology. INVERCARGILL, 2020 Wow, I thought I knew a bit about the dawn raids, but this is HUGE. It happened to my OWN family and I never knew! I had no idea that Granfia and her family...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2099Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseBig Bang Bread
In this time-travel storybook and cookbook with a cosmic twist, take a journey through time and space to discover the secrets of baking! Did you know that bread is made from stardust? Board the rocket and blast off on an adventure through time and space to discover the secrets of a home-baked loaf! Big Bang Bread is a kids' time-travel...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseB is for Bird
From award-winning artist, Lily Emo, comes a beautiful celebration of birds. Paired with a fun rhyming story, gorgeous illustrations, and fold-out pages, this book is set to be a favourite for everyone and the perfect gift. Make your way through the alphabet with this stunning book featuring a cast of familiar birds. From albatross to fantails, gannets to quail, and...Hardback$1999Elsewhere:$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Signed CopyThe Curse of the Carnivorous Cactuses
(Sam: Nothing could be as bad as being covered in icky purple blobs ... wait, what does carnivorous mean again?) The gang is determined to defeat Glam-Evil and her nasty curses so that they can save their park and get back for Shackleton and Amelia's very first sleepover. But Glam-Evil has a few new tricks up her ultravillainous sleeve ......Paperback$1400Elsewhere:$1499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
