This innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Novak will turn any reader into a comedian. As an early childhood educator, I own and have read many picture books during my career. But, I don’t think I have encountered a book quite like The Book With No Pictures. It is offbeat, quirky, creative and a departure from the picture books I tend to read to my students. This isn’t a cute animal story, but an intelligent play on words that demands the full participation of the reader and the audience following along with this zany book. This book is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, and it’s perfect for one-on-one sharing with a parent or caregiver. Expect requests for repeated readings.”— School Library Journal

Say what we will, but the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of people, not just kids, who run screaming from any and every book that is word-heavy. For years, book snobs have, whether admitting it or not, equated someone's literacy skills based on whether they choose books with illustrations. It's been a running joke for years. The beauty of this book is that it reminds(not really teaches) us that we can create the pictures in our own minds and that there is power in the written word. The Book With No Pictures is a funny read-aloud experience for young children that may also inspire conversation about the power of the written word and the nature of a book itself. Some questions that could be discussed: This book is relatively fun, and it is definitely an interesting concept for a kid's book. I think this should be geared at 3-6-year-olds.

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I am a monkey who taught myself to read...and now I am reading you this book with my monkey mouth in my monkey voice...and my head is made of blueberry pizza. Hopefully you love making small children giggle and squeal in delight. However, if you are too much of grumpypants and think that reading this sort of thing is humiliating, you will HATE this book.

Use of "butt " as part of a silly name for a hippo. One mention of "Ba-DOONGY FACE," but it's not directed at anyone.Review the use of punctuation in the story. Can you explain why different types of punctuation have been used in different places? Si le dan este libro a un niño, no esperen que lo disfrute o que le llame la atención, la experiencia con este libro va de la mano a que los padres o la persona leyéndole el libro al niño se preste a la diversión y adentrarse al juego. Update: I just realized that the author of this book is our good old Ryan from The Office. I hadn't noticed the name of the author when I read it. In light of this pleasant discovery, I just want to add some metaphorical stars to the book because B. J. Novak is hilarious. My rating will remain the same though. on the other hand, i do like a bunch of children's books, even though i am an old lady, but mostly because of the PICTURES. i like cute things. The Book with No Pictures” is a creative and uniquely stylized book targeting children up to about age 7 (per the author and publishers). In a sense, the book has no plot and is simply colored words and phrases (literally and figuratively) but will induce laughter in children with their nonsensical meanings. “The Book with No Pictures” is set-up so that adults read the humorous words but then also a parental side dialogue. One may think that young children are not interested in reading a book without pictures but think again: they love it!

Watch this video of the author reading the book. Can you create your own promotional video or a retelling of the book? As the author shared with librarians as part of his speech to the American Library Association, every kid who brings you a book to read to them is kind of a mini-producer. They bring you their favorite story, knowing that you may be reading it but that they are in control. You will huff and puff and blow the house down. You WILL make the scary voice of the witches. They own you. A number of different fonts are used in this book. What is a font? Why has the author changed the font?What do you think about a narrator speaking directly to you, the reader? Does that help make the story funnier?

Children’s Book World is hosting a book signing with B.J. Novak, Drew Daywalt, and Pharrell Williams!Record an audiobook version of this story. Think about how you need to vary your expression at different points. Are you now convinced that a book without pictures can be as fun as a book that has pictures? How about a book that has pictures but no words? Author B.J. Novak hilariously proves his point: that a book with only words can be as amusing and engaging as one with images. THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES is super silly and very clever as it panders to young kids' love of funny sounds, made-up words, and undignified words such as "butt." Truth: "Here is how books work: Everything the words say, the person reading the book has to say. No matter what."