Do Not Open This Book [Hardcover]

Michaela Muntean (Author), Pascal Lemaitre (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In the spirit of the bestselling classics DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK comes a riotously funny, interactive picture book from a hot new team.

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are, opening this book when the cover clearly says, DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK? The reason you weren't supposed to open this book is because it is not yet written!...You think it's easy to put words together? Hah! Now go away--I need time to think."
So begins Pig's valiant attempt to pen his masterpiece. But he is constantly interrupted by the reader who is seduced at every turn into foiling his efforts ("please go away" "please do not turn the page")--until at last we reach the final page & discover that together, Pig & the reader have indeed created a book.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4-After admonishing youngsters for ignoring the volume's title, a peevish pig explains that the book is not yet written, indicating a blank page and a hodgepodge of words printed on rectangle banners. Using numerous exclamation points, the author repeatedly-and rudely-tells everyone to get lost so that he can get to work. Eventually realizing that the spectators won't budge, the pig demands silence, climbs a ladder, and carefully glues and nails words to the wall, forming the beginning of a story. Unfortunately, the next page-turn blows the words around and when they settle down, they now describe a ferocious mouse that appears on the scene. And so it goes, until the exasperated porker pens an insulting tale about a giant pest, telling readers to say their names whenever there's a blank in the narrative. Then the pig declares the book completed, heads to bed, and dreams about literary accolades. The loose-lined, messy-looking cartoons in glossy, bold colors suit the text's truculent tone. Comical details include boxes of words (labeled verbs, animals, etc.) and a spider and fly that assist and poke fun at their friend. Although the story is a bit monotone and the humor stretches thin, this offering might make a lighthearted starting point for discussions of creativity and the writing process.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. In this playful send-up of the writing process, the illusion of trespassing boundaries is a big part of the fun. Recriminations ("Are you always so rude?") begin on the endpapers and continue as children penetrate deeper into what a pig character identifies as his own, in-progress book. Turning the pages appears to wreak havoc on the narrative within, as words shake loose; form new, unintended sentences; and enrage the frustrated auteur--until he discovers that the unwanted intrusions have, in the circular fashion so beloved of postmodernism, created the very story he had struggled to produce. Along with hand lettering Muntean's text, LeMaitre contributes bright, comics-style pictures that clarify the occasionally dizzying concepts (the words of the story-within-the-story, for instance, are represented on individual placards, making the constant reconfigurations easy to follow). Similarities to titles such as James Stevenson's Don't Make Me Laugh (2003) are obvious, but children will be no less enraptured by the irreverent, interactive premise and will emerge with a fresh understanding of the powerful qualities of words. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439698391
• ISBN-13: 978-0439698399
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!, March 3, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do Not Open This Book (Hardcover)

Pig is about to write a book and has everything ready in his workshop. However, he is rudely interrupted by the reader and can't continue creating the story with the presence of a nuisance who simply won't leave him alone. So the pig decides to include the disturber in the story and try to get the book written anyway.

What comes out of the collaboration is a fun and entertaining book. It teaches you how the words work and what happens when you are not careful with them. The illustrations complete the story and make you laugh all the way to the end.

What I really liked about the book was the simplicity and originality of the idea. Now that you have opened the book, when you clearly were told not to, you are in for some big family laughs. My daughter and I really enjoyed this book.

Armchair Interviews says a great book for children of all ages--if they can learn to use words more effectively

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite amusing., September 20, 2006

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do Not Open This Book (Hardcover)

Michaela Muntean, Do Not Open This Book! (Scholastic, 2006)

A cute little book, this is, that not only gives youngsters a picture of the writing process (and some of its more cantankerous denizens), but also carries a subtext about the care with which a person should choose words-- a lesson which the next generation will be in dire need of learning, given how the generation above it seems completely incapable of same.

Our protagonist here is a pig who's trying to write a book, but his audience keeps messing things up by turning the pages. It's possible that very young children may get bored-- this is very much a one-trick pony-- but the story is sufficiently short that that shouldn't happen. And there is a great deal for kids to think about here, and for parents to talk to kids about after they've had a chance to ponder. A fun book with which to explore options with your budding writer. *** ½

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review, March 25, 2006

By 

Edward Ferroni (Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Do Not Open This Book (Hardcover)

Do Not Open This Book is delightful. The narrative and the illustrations work very well together. I especially liked the idea of an interactive book that deals with the problems of writing. Children will thoroughly enjoy this book.