The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak (A Review with No Pictures)

I have seen lots of books with no pictures, but they are not aimed at young readers. So The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak is unusual.

You could easily write a easy book for kids with no pictures and have it be nothing special. Maybe it could be a little story, such as how dust settles under furniture or which trees lose their leaves first in the autumn. Maybe it could be instructive, telling how to tie shoe laces or how to sharpen pencils. Maybe a book listing all of your cousins and their favorite colors would be interesting. Of course, all of these books would be better with some pictures.

The idea behind The Book with No Pictures is that it has to be read aloud (every word) by one person to another person. You might assume that would be an adult to a child. That would be fun. It might also be fun to listen to a child read it to another child.

The first time you read it should be aloud to someone else without having any idea what will be on the next page. This is the way to maximize dramatic tension.

There are some colored parts and larger than normal words.

I do not want to say too much and give anything humorous away. Try it.

Novak, B. J. The Book with No Pictures. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2014. ISBN 9780803741713.