The Book With No Pictures
Here’s my Perfect Picture Book Friday choice:
The Book With No Pictures
Written by B.J. Novak
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2014
Fiction, 48 pages
Suitable for: ages preschool and up (Publisher says 6-8)
Themes: Imagination, Reading, Jokes
Opening Lines: This is a book with no pictures.
Synopsis (from jacket): A book with no pictures?
What could be fun about that?
After all, if a book has no pictures, there’s nothing to look at but the words on the page.
Words that might make you say sill sounds …
In ridiculous voices …
Hey, what kind of book is this, anyway?
Link to Resources: Explore the website for information about the book and resources for teachers and parents. You can also talk about how you read books with your children. Do you read every word? I mean part of the joke this book involves the reader being required to read every word.
Here’s a video of B.J. Novak reading the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs
For writers: Interview with B.J. Novak.
Why I Like This Book: Reading this book turns into a performance — whether you want it to or not! While I was hesitant about this book when I first read about its publication, I saw one of the videos of B.J. Novak reading it to an audience of children and was hooked. I ordered it immediately. With little acting from me — just reading the words — Enzo giggled, laughed, and snorted his way through the first reading. I left the book out when I knew my husband would do bedtime, while I attended a writer’s conference meeting. When I returned home, Hubby said, “Boy, Enzo really likes that book with no pictures.”
Most of the pages are white with black text on the right hand page with the left page blank, but as the reading continues there are splashes of color and double spreads. It could have been a few pages shorter, but overall feels like genius.
Find more PPBF at Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
