We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
Rules of Summer
On sale
7th November 2013
Price: £14.99
CILIP Kate Greenaway Children's Book Award, 2015
Kate Greenaway Medal, 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.’ – The New York Times
‘Thrilling, disturbing and hard to shake…one startling image after another.’ – Wall Street Journal
Other titles by Shaun Tan include: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, Tales from Outer Suburbia and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival.
Shaun was the first BAME author to win the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2020. Read more about Shaun Tan at http://www.shauntan.net/
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.’ – The New York Times
‘Thrilling, disturbing and hard to shake…one startling image after another.’ – Wall Street Journal
Other titles by Shaun Tan include: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, Tales from Outer Suburbia and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival.
Shaun was the first BAME author to win the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2020. Read more about Shaun Tan at http://www.shauntan.net/
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
The multi-layered illustrations are glorious... this is a strange, thought-provoking and enlightening book.
Pure magic... told with minimal text and the beautiful surreal imagery of Tan's paintings. I would be quite happy to give this book ten stars out of five if that were allowed. Simply unmissable for readers who seek out unique and thought provoking books. When the children outgrow this, I will be keeping it for myself. * * * * *
A mesmerising addition to Shaun Tan's eclectic array of thoughtful and surreal picture books... breathtaking.
Shaun Tan has earned the reputation as the creator of picture books that defy easy interpretation... enigmatic verbal and visual clues to construct narratives... lovingly detailed painterly illustration... starkly realistic and elusively surreal.
Shaun Tan continues to push out the boundaries of the picturebook medium... whichever way you look at it, this is an extraordinary picturebook, an aesthetic abject, with much to enjoy, respond to, think and talk about.
Visually fascinating.
Tan's mesmerizing, gorgeous art is as beautiful and entrancing as ever.
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.
Thrilling... one startling image after another.
Evocative, enthralling and with absolutely astounding artwork so good readers will wish that ike summer, it would last forever.
Sumptuous and sincere... this title is a winner.
Brilliant... as always, the swirl of emotion that Tan's artwork kicks up lingers long after the book is closed.
Magnificent. Big, confident and blazing with colour.
Beguiling, magical, vivid, sumptuous. Tan's open-ended tales invariably suggest possibilities beyond the frame, creating an imaginative space for readers to inhabit the stories.
Lavish, brilliant paintings...As always, the swirl of emotion that Tan's artwork kicks up lingers long after the book is closed.
Magnificent...big, confident and blazing with colour
Thrilling, disturbing and hard to shake...one startling image after another
Shaun Tan is a truly innovative and original picture book creator and this book does not disappoint . This book can be explored on different levels throughout KS2 and would prompt detailed discussion about the paintings, themes of isolation and alienation and consideration of which rules in life makes sense to the children. A treasure trove.