Review: Shaun Tan's 'The Rules of Summer' Captures Universal Childhood Fears and Adult Social Anxieties

Croatian literary critic Miljenko Jergović has lauded Australian artist Shaun Tan's 2013 picture book, 'The Rules of Summer,' describing it as a work that speaks to both the child within adults and the adult within children. Tan, an Oscar winner for his animated short film 'The Lost Thing,' is known for his unique ability to craft narratives that transcend age demographics.

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Every picture book by Shaun Tan is for the child in the adult and the adult in the child.

Jergović notes that Tan's picture books function as bridges, guiding readers from the world of images to the world of words, or vice versa. 'The Rules of Summer' is presented as a collection of illustrations, each accompanied by a single sentence encapsulating a rule remembered from the previous summer. These rules, often imbued with a sense of childhood unease and surrealism, invite multiple interpretations.

One example discussed is the rule, 'Never forget the red sock on the clothesline.' The accompanying illustration depicts a night scene with two frightened boys observing a detached red sock, while a menacing rabbit patrols nearby. Jergović interprets this as a typical Tan illustration, filled with the dread of a child's nightmare and infantile surrealism.

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Never forget the red sock on the clothesline.

Another rule, 'Never eat the last olive at the feast,' is presented as a more adult-oriented piece of advice. The illustration shows a boy reaching for the final olive on an otherwise empty table, surrounded by figures in formal attire who appear to be waiting. Jergović connects this to a universal fear of social faux pas, specifically the perceived greed of taking the last item from a shared meal, suggesting it's a socially unacceptable act that marks the perpetrator.

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Never eat the last olive at the feast.