The Viewer tells the peculiar story of a boy (Tristan) who discovers an ancient box full of optical devices at the local dump. Of particular interest to him is a mechanical object- The Viewer- through which he can observe scenes of destruction, violence and the collapse of ancient civilisations. Although he is afraid, he cannot help but look into the machine time and again as the images change. This is typical Shaun Tan- dark, challenging and extremely thought provoking. It is a fantastic, richly illustrated text which may be particularly appealing to boys. Cross curricular planning for this text, which includes maths, geography, art and history is in Blog 4, 'Journeys.' This could also be used with 'Journey to the River Sea,' by Eva Ibbotson, which is also in this recommended reads section.