Rules of Summer

This book is a short but a fun read. It’s about two brothers. The older brother kind of likes to mess with the little brother and makes up all sorts of crazy rules. Sometimes my big sisters mess with me that way. Some “rules” are silly, like “Never leave a red sock on the clothesline.” Some are things that we should always keep in mind like “Always know the way home.” The pictures are amazing and detailed and show what the words say and/or mean—even if it’s just in the boys’ imaginations.

The color blend of blues, oranges, reds, grays, whites, black, and such is very well done. Some lines have more than one picture like “Never wait for an apology” but it still goes with it. I also love the creativity of the pictures with the gigantic cat “Never give your key to a stranger,” and the stuffy owls for “Never eat the last olive at a party.” I can’t really describe it except as a colorful poured in mess of nature in “Never leave the back door open overnight.”

All the rules and colors are crazy, but by the end, you can see that the big brother really likes his little brother, even if he doesn’t always act like it.