The World of Literature for Children and Young Adults

In a highly literate society, it is popular to see written texts with drawings, especially in books written for children and young adults. The primary goal of using such a method is to express what is valued, evaluate values, and affect others’ thoughts and behaviors. In certain ways, such literature contributes to the formation of views, ideals, and behaviors that shape how people interact with one another. Shaun Tans Rules of Summer uses illustrations through which the audience understands the characters and develops social values at a time when the gap between animate and inanimate is still being filled.

When writing for children, it is important to understand that the world is still a magical place because they use pre-logical thinking - an aspect that is also referred to as magical consciousness. At this point of development, children and young adults have a minimal understanding of inanimate and animate objects, and their thoughts are controlled by a lot of vulnerability and confusion (Doonan 14). Using a collection of original oil paintings, Tan brings out this concept in a manner that allows the fragile mind of his audience to connect people, objects and events. Through his characters, Tan conjures up an image that is not only thrilling but terrifying into magical consciousness. Such illustrations are of great significance in the development of connections, meaning and thoughts in an intelligent way even to the human mind.

Some vivid and magical appearances in Tan’s Rules of Summer are weird and unacceptable in the human mind, but they manage to teach certain values. Some of the paintings come with rules such as “always know the way home”. Throughout the story, Tan creates a landscape filled with magical animals such as terrifying rabbits and a humanoid cat. As antagonism between two brothers develops, the older brother sells the younger one (Tan 16). However, the final section portrays the two brothers as individuals who work together such that they both manage to escape. The redemptive ending portrays the aspect of love and this is inculcated in the audience. Without the use of illustrations, it would be difficult to create the social values of companionship and brotherhood (Hunt 29).

Using the many illustrations, Tan brings out the fact that both brothers are actual heroes and the same aspect is rubbed onto his audience. A particularly outstanding portrait that portrays both brothers as protectors of each other is the one titled “Never leave a red sock on the clothesline”. In this printing, the two brothers huddle together while a red-eyed rabbit keeps eyeing the red sock. In this painting, it is the older brother who protects the younger one as he places his protectively on the back. Such an illustration is important in the book as it helps the children and other audiences comprehend the magnitude of the warning. The red-eyed rabbit is not only scary but it does not exist in reality.

A particularly outstanding aspect in the illustrations is that there are no parents and this creates a sense of independence. Every time children are on their own, they make the rules as they go by and this inculcates the aspect of responsibility in young learners (Doonan 38). The scene where the elder brother sells his younger one for birds and then rescues him with bolt cutters takes one to the side of imagination. Such vivid imaginations not only bring about a sense of responsibility, but they play a major role in the development of independence. In real life, brothers or siblings will always fight but such illustrations enable the children to understand the importance of love in a family.

Using illustrations brings about an ambiguous result with a lively tension as words and images connect, not to clarify each other but to fuel unexpected associations. Throughout the book, Tan does not just use vivid images but he incorporates words through which he strengthens the imagination of his audience. It is evident that Tan is using this form of literature to reveal beliefs that transform attitudes in his audience. The illustrations play a particularly significant role in the development of imagination and fill the neurological bap between reality and fiction. Through the combination of the two, Tan manages to help his audience understand the whole idea behind some social interactions.

The issue with the use of illustration or anthropomorphism is that it permeates the mind of an individual to the extent that they use the same lessons in solving real life problems. For instance, through the illustration with the tornado, it is possible to see the kind of danger that the children were undergoing at a particular time. Such lessons and images permeate the human mind to the extent that it remains a significant memory even in adulthood.

It is evident that illustrations are not only helpful in the minds of children but that of adults too. In Rules of Summer, the illustrations play a significant role in the comprehension of social values especially at a time when the gap between animate and inanimate is still being developed. The illustrations are not only for entertainment but they create vivid images bound to inculcate some values in children. These values are carried through to adulthood.

Works Cited

Doonan, Jane. Looking at Pictures in Picture Books. New York: Thimble Press, 1993. Print.

Hunt, Pete. Children’s literature: an illustrated history. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.

Tan, Shaun. Rules of summer. Chicago: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2014. Print.