Book Review - The Book With No Pictures

About the Book
B.J. Novak has published a ground-breaking new “picture book” that reimagines storytelling for a young audience. THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES (Dial Books for Young Readers; ages 3-7) turns the notion of the picture book on its head, by delivering a text-only story book for young children. Designed to make any reader into an extraordinary storyteller, THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES is packed with the type of warm and playful humor that will appeal to fans of The Monster at the End of This Book and Press Here.

B.J. Novak was struck with the idea for the book last year when a friend’s son thrust a picture book into his hands and ordered him to read it. “There is something special and distinct about the time when a book is something that is read to you,” says B.J. “The whole idea of a book is still new and exciting, and the experience is about the bond between the adult and child just as much as it is between the child and the book. I thought it would be fun to find a twist on that experience: what if the book and the child "teamed up" to force the adult to say silly things? It could be a whole new way to introduce children to the idea of what a book can do.”

The Book with No Pictures is deceptively simple. Novak tested the jokes on his friends’ children and refined the text and design numerous times before the book went to press. “I actually printed the book and "made" copies, with construction paper and paper clips, to try to trick kids into thinking it was a "real" book. I didn't tell them I had written it. Then I would watch kids read it to see how they responded. Afterwards, I'd go home and edit the book based on their reactions, until I got a version that seemed to work equally well for every type of parent and every type of kid.”

About the Author
B.J. Novak is well known for his work on NBC’s Emmy Award-winning comedy series The Office as an writer, actor, director, and executive producer. He is also known for his work as a standup comedian and his performances in motion pictures such as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks. Novak’s collection of short stories One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (Knopf) was published earlier this year to rave reviews. The New York Times Book Review called it “Hugely pleasurable…droll and smart in spades, but often humane and vulnerable, too…" The Washington Post called Novak “a gifted observer of the human condition and a very funny writer capable of winning that rare thing: unselfconscious, insuppressible laughter.” He is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English and Spanish literature

My Take on the Book
This was a hilarious book that my daughters just loved. After reading this the first time, we were asked to read it a second and even a third time. My youngest daughter, who is in first grade even took this to her teacher and he read it to the class and she said the kids were laughing so loud it was hard to hear the book itself. Even though the book has no pictures, the book was written in such a way that it inspires & demands interaction, and it makes the reader act and do things that they would not normally do, which just delights kids! This is a book that keeps giving and giving and with every page that you read, you really have no idea what to expect next. Get ready for a fun read with your kids!

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