The Book With No Pictures
B.J.Novak
Puffin Books
Giggles and guffaws galore are guaranteed when you read this wonderfully subversive book aloud to one or preferably lots of children; it really depends on how big an audience you are willing to make a fool of yourself for. Its author, TV writer and actor, is certainly accustomed to large audiences and knows just how to exploit willing players to the full.
Back to the book itself. There isn’t a plot (not in the accepted sense anyway). There’s not a single illustration in sight though there’s plenty of colour. How is this? I hear you asking. Apart from the highly colourful nature of the text itself, the whole thing is a typographic orchestration, the changing tenor of which is cleverly conveyed through alterations in font size, type and colour.
“It probably seems boring and serious. Except … Here is how books work“ Then comes the all-important proviso… “everything the words say, the person reading the book has to say. No matter what.” … “BLORK. (audience titter) … I am a monkey who taught myself to read.” (children now starting to giggle) …

… Is this whole book a trick? Can I stop reading please? No?!!
There follows a song,

some very mild toilet humour…

crazy noises and much more before the final plea: “Next time, please please please please please choose a book with pictures.” Can’t see many children taking notice of that however.
What they will take notice of is the sheer silliness of the whole thing and the tacit way in which it gently leads beyond picture books to that all important next step in reading where pictures no longer play the major role in a book and text is loved for its own sake.
As someone who loves to perform with book in hand and more important to share the best of them with children, I’m off to find some more audiences.
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