Read This Book If You Don't Want a Story

by Richard Phillips

Mr. Book is determined to share nothing with readers, but his pages have other ideas.


It turns out that Mr. Book’s big fear is having nothing worthwhile to say, but in this fun, zany tribute to the creative process, he needn’t have worried. The bumbling blowhard of the first page inspires empathy and affection by the time the last page chimes in. The messages are simple: Stories are fun, and all of us can tell them.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Writing

36 pages, ebook

Published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Madhusree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, inspiring book.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read This Book If You Don’t Want a Story by Richard Phillips, illustrated by Eric Zelz. PICTURE BOOK. Tilbury House, 2019. $19. 9780884487050

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre- K, EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

The book may be adamant about not telling a story of any kind, but the page numbers and the pages itself may have something quite different to say about it.

I’m so glad there are more and more books with clever plots surrounding interacting with the idea of story. Humor and whimsy mix in an absorbing read.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of metafiction will surely enjoy this literary romp as they follow the Book With No Story. Gouaches and pastel illustrations set against abundant white space add to the book's appeal, and the rhyming text tells a story that might be familiar to anyone who's struggled with writer's block. After all, this book has no story to tell, at least according to its narrator. As various pages offer suggestions about content and images, the poor book just keeps declaring that he has nothing to say. After receiving a reassuring but smothering hug and being shaken by the readers, he still doesn't have anything that is all that interesting. After further reassurance and some gentle nudging and thinking, he decides that he does have something to say, after all; in fact, maybe he and his helpers have several stories that merit telling. The final images feature several readers who are caught up in the possibilities of the stories and what might happen next. It's a cool idea and fun to imagine what might happen if various words were shaken loose from a book's page or from a would-be author's imagination and stories might then begin to unfold. I might share this with my students as they consider what on Earth they could write about during a writer's workshop.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a book. This book does not want to tell a story. However, the pages of the book want a story. And they help the book find the words he needs to make the story. This book was just fun. It says it was written by the daughter of the author challenging him to write a book with no story. And they did a successful job. The illustrations are wonderful the contents of the book whether story or not are a great funny read.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, but a bit too "meta" at times. It's kind of tricky matching illustrations in the book when the main character IS the book itself? And then a bunch of kids are reading at the end and providing commentary, and I wasn't sure how those fit in? Although I did like the message of "Don't ever imagine you have nothing to say."

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what I was expecting when I opened this book, but what I found was disappointing...

This is an overlong running gag about a book who does not want to tell a story. It becomes tedious as he argues with page numbers the whole way through. Eric Zelz's gouache and pastel illustrations are the highlight of the book, but not enough to redeem it.

Optional for PreSchool-grade 3.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok book. Didn't really move me.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little meandering and confusing and just not terribly interesting.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've read a few too many of these lately. Pass.

[Alice]

Interesting

[Meghan Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Don’t ever imagine you have nothing to say.” When you Shake together all the letter, words are made, thoughts are had. You just have to speak the, into existence.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting concept. The book talks with the pages. The pages want the book to tell a story. The book does not want to tell a story. I liked the illustrations, and I think I enjoyed the imagination Idea at the end.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little children especially would love this book, good opportunity to do different voices and have the children hug the book, shake the book and see the story progress bc the pages talk and the book talks.