If I were given a dollar for every time I was asked to read this book by my students on casual days I am quite certain that I would be able to afford to take myself on a European holiday. I remember strolling through my favourite children's bookshop one afternoon when I overheard two mothers discussing this book called 'The Book With No Pictures' and how their children had been raving about it one day after school. Any book that children had been talking about long after the final page had been turned must be something I invested in, especially as I was about to embark on the scary but exciting journey of casual teaching. Next thing I know I'm walking out of the bookshop with my very own copy of B.J Novak's masterpiece tucked into my already crowded satchel. To say that this book is a crowd pleaser would be an understatement. My first ever casual day was a 2/3 class and they erupted in laughter the very first time I read them 'The Book With No Pictures'. They then proceeded to ask for it to be read again for the next 2 hours...I caved and read it again at the end of the day for them; enjoying it just as much as they did the first time. News quickly spread around the school through playground gossip that Ms T had this awesome book that had no pictures in it and it made her say silly things. What can I say? This seemingly simple picture book picked up for $25 dollars at the bookshop one afternoon had children talking about literature in the playground and well as giving me some "cool teacher cred" amongst the students. As my time teaching casually at this school increased, the book was recommended more and more. To be honest, I'm not surprised. B.J Novak has done a fantastic job and the kids love it! 'The Book With No Pictures' is pretty self explanatory. However the lack of illustrations doesn't take away from the overall effect of the story. Novak has instead employed typography techniques to explore character voices, dynamics within the story whilst making it visually engaging. Bold lettering, contrasting colours and text of different sizes makes the reading of the text that much more engaging, especially when the reader themselves "performs" the reading. This is in fact essential for the text to reach its full potential. There is nothing much more I can say apart from the fact that you should definitely get down to your local bookstore or open up a computer tab on Amazon, purchase this book and keep it for your own enjoyment or if you are a teacher like me, take it along with you to class. I can ensure you that it will receive roaring acclaim from children and teachers alike.
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AuthorBook lover, tea drinker and Primary School teacher. Archives
April 2017
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