In the Tree House

In this quietly resonant tale, a boy's tree house becomes a symbol of childhood itself.

The unnamed boy recalls last summer, when his family moved into a house with a yard and, most important, a tree.

He began sketching out spectacular ideas for a tree house, and his big brother joined in, and pretty soon even Dad was excited.

Thus, the tree house was built, and once stocked with games and comic books, it was the best summer ever.

But things are different now. His big brother has his own friends and doesn't climb the tree anymore.

So now I'm the king of the castle, the boy narrates-but he looks rather sad about it.

Then a neighbourhood blackout changes the situation for one more perfect night.

With the streets plunged into darkness, the big brother comes into the tree house, and the two play games for hours.

Petricic's pen-and-inks alternate multiframe pages with spreads that reach across the book's wide length, and feature squiggly-lined characters against dramatic backgrounds (especially during the blackout).