2018 School Spending Survey Report
Rules of Summer
illus. by Shaun Tan. 48p. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Bks. May 2014. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780545639125.
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Gr 1–4—Right from the endpapers featuring an ominously shadowed street on which two boys stand in silhouette—one clearly older whispering into the younger child's ear—readers are clued into a familiar sibling dynamic: big brother sets the rules; little brother is always one step behind, doing his best to follow along. It's too bad for little brother that the rules are nearly impossible to anticipate: "Never leave a red sock on the clothesline" is accompanied by the image of the terrified boys hiding from a house-sized red rabbit on the hunt for the crimson article. Some rules seem designed to teach ("Never eat the last olive at a party"), while others simply reinforce the power dynamic ("Never ask for a reason"). Tan's oil paintings, with their masterful layering of color and impressionistic plays on light and shadow, toy with the ordinary and the surreal. At its heart, this is a story about sibling relationships, and Tan artfully captures the frustration, sadness, and joy of what it means to be brothers. The sophistication of the visual narrative paired with the simplicity of the text invites multiple readings and opportunities for discussion. Sumptuous and sincere—this title is a winner.—Kiera Parrott, School Library JournalOn left-hand pages the narrator enumerates a series of "rules" ("Never eat the last olive at a party"). The right-hand pages depict, in thickly textured paintings, a young boy (presumably the narrator) and an older boy (perhaps his brother) in a variety of enigmatically surreal situations. The book delivers superb artwork that elicits both a cerebral and emotional response.
"This is what I learned last summer: Never leave a red sock on the clothesline. Never eat the last olive at a party. Never drop your jar." The narrator enumerates a dozen other rules, which are printed on left-hand pages that are marked by stains and wrinkles, smudged fingerprints, and streaks of colored-pencil scribbles. The right-hand pages depict, in thickly textured paintings, a young boy (presumably the narrator) and an older boy (perhaps his brother) in a variety of enigmatically surreal situations. The frenemy quality that characterizes many sibling relationships gradually reveals itself here, as the rules seem to be dictated by the older boy, and the younger one never seems to do anything right. They fight, and the younger boy finds himself confined to a prison-like train moving through a dreary subterranean gray landscape for several wordless spreads before the older boy rescues him, restoring peace and harmony. Rules of Summer delivers what Tan's fans have come to expect: superb artwork that elicits both a cerebral and emotional response and that, when coupled with the text, invites readers to plumb the mysterious depths of the human experience. jonathan hunt
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