and while i know some of them are good, here's this guy who just wrote a book of short stories for adults that many trusted sources called "surprisingly good" and "better than james franco." and now he's coming out with this book that can't even be bothered to have pictures, even just shitty pictures like this: 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. October 9 2014 The Horn Book interviewed B.J. about The Book With No Pictures and “Meta” humor for children. 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.

Review the use of punctuation in the story. Can you explain why different types of punctuation have been used in different places? Novak has suggested that The Book With No Pictures “could be a whole new way to introduce the children to the idea of what a book can do”. And he’s certainly had fun playing with the form. Books don’t all have to feature straight, outside-looking-in linear narrative. And many don’t, of course. The picturebook world already contains some of the most creative and innovative books there are for any age. She had heard that Poppy had given me a children's book - young, young children's book - to help me on my way.)*This picture book with no pictures knows a thing or two about both books and kid-friendly comedy . . . Once children get the joke, they’ll want to play it on as many of their grownups as possible.”— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books on the one hand, i am not necessarily the most qualified person to judge this book. i don't have children, work with children, have family members who are children, or go near children, so i will never use this book as it is intended - to read aloud to children. 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: You can make lots of kids laugh by shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!”, and if your primary aim is to make kids laugh then shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!” may be no bad thing. But that doesn’t make it good, either. Surely there are more interesting and stimulating ways to raise a smile? I just read this with Busy Phillips doing expert narration. The other choice was the author, which I'm going to choose next, because I can. Overdrive has offered me both.

Kids & Children» Children, Teenagers & Young Adults (YA) Fiction» Humorous Stories for Children & Teenagers 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. El: I thought it was so good, and so funny! *El has just listed off about a dozen things starting with, "I liked it when... and I liked it when..." But I can't even begin to keep up... she's STILL listing things. ...Still going... A number of different fonts are used in this book. What is a font? Why has the author changed the font? Children adore this. Especially forcing adults who are known to be grumpy and serious to say silly things such as:Families can talk about teh silly words and noises in The Book with No Pictures. What's so funny about them? This book allows kids to see that power work for them in a way that gets their imaginations and giggles all going full speed. True to title, there are absolutely no pictures in this book, not even the obligatory author photo on the book flap, but there are some amazingly ridiculous words, written in colorful and bold fonts. Kids,(and adults. Trust me, I had five adults read this before I handed it to a child), start the book out hesitantly, wondering if they've made a mistake by choosing it, until they hit that first twist. The great thing about “The Book with No Pictures” is that it encourages the growth to reading novels and fast-forwards the love for text. Yet, the attention span of children is not lost because they want to see the silly words and how they are spelled. Novak truly puts a spin on books for this age group which makes “The Book with No Pictures” certainly stand out. but the cynic in me can't help but pipe up and say, dude. because while a lot of celebrity-types have written children's books, even celebrities i personally happen to enjoy in their day jobs, it always seems so … easy. and pandering. and cheap. 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.

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. Gwen: HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY! THIS WORD IS "FUNNY" RIGHT HERE!!!!! *Gwen just pointed to the word "funny" in the review. She's in Kindergarten right now. She's learned a lot in a little time.* but don't shout, i know this is an option, not a replacement for books with pictures. and i still understand and appreciate what he's trying to do here. Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY. Record an audiobook version of this story. Think about how you need to vary your expression at different points.

This innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Novak will turn any reader into a comedian. Kids & Children» Picture Books & Early Learning» Early Years & Early Learning Concepts» Early Learning ABC Books & Alphabet Books» Early Learning First Word Books