This Is Not a Picture Book
Sergio Ruzzier
Chronicle Books
Essentially this delicious work of metafiction is about learning to read, or rather, becoming a reader. It begins with a duckling coming upon a book. No actually it begins with the front endpapers which, for a competent reader, present no problem, but might well be how a not yet reader views a printed text – as an intimidating jumble of letters and seemingly senseless words. Here are the first few lines: ‘One day, a itellet ldgicukn was anigtk a wkla, nhwe he wsa itegmohsn erd nyigl on the gonrdu. “A book!” he etyclxied. He kiecpd the book pu, eladyra ikgnntih fo all the faileutbu eispcutr hatt, he was eicnrta, eerw snedii.’
Back to our duckling and his book, a fat looking volume, which, he discovers on opening it, is completely lacking in pictures. This is what happens next …

Along comes a bug, eager to know what duckling has and whether he can read it. There follow an ingenious couple of spreads symbolising the beginning of duckling’s transition from someone that finds pictureless books a no go area, to a reader in the full sense of the word …

One who appreciates the worlds that open up through words be they funny, sad,

wild or peaceful, words that take you far away and also, bring you back home again, words that no matter where you are, will always be with you …

What a wonderful testament to the power of reading and the way it can change individuals and, one hopes, the world.
Readers of this terrific book should turn now to the back endpapers to see the transformation to comprehendable text completed … job done for that particular duckish reader.

Ruzzier’s gentle watercolour and ink illustrations speak volumes demonstrating the power of visuals too. Quite simply, brilliant.

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