© Shaun Tan, illustration from Tales from Outer Suburbia, Allen & Unwin, 2008. Acrylic, coloured pencil and gouache on paper, courtesy of the artist.

In Shaun Tan's story Alert but Not Alarmed, from his book Tales from Outer Suburbia, every home has its own cruise missile. Shaun's pictures invite us to wonder about just how strange the everyday world can be.