At the same time, the story’s premise gets right to the heart of what’s meaningful about our relationship with the books we read and how those relationships foster empathy and creativity. Tor Freeman’s illustrations complement and build upon Ayoade’s jokes, adding visual gags to a story that’s already not taking itself too seriously. This short tale, targeted at readers 6–10 years old, is laugh-out-loud funny and deceptively simple. They turn around and face anew… THE BOOK THAT NO ONE WANTED TO READ. You see, they’ve spent a long time up on that shelf, and no one has ever, ever expressed the slightest interest in reading them – they can’t face rejection again! Ayoade’s reader is ready to accept the book’s wishes and even goes so far as to begin walking away before realizing that few people have the opportunity to have a conversation with a book (or, at least, to have one talk back to you). In Richard Ayoade’s new book for young readers, that’s literally what happens, except that the book speaking telepathically to an unwitting library patron is insistent that they don’t want to be read. Roaming the aisles of the library, seeking our next great read – is there anything quite like it? It’s almost as if the books call out to us, imploring us to single them out from their neighbors and get lost in the worlds they depict.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |