I Hate To Read! [Paperback]

Rita Marshall (Author), Etienne Delessert (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

As a third-grader who hates to read unwillingly looks at a book, the characters come alive and interest him so much that he really begins to care about them, and begins turning the pages...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although "most of the time Victor Dickens was a really good kid," he manifests all the symptoms of the "I Hate to Read Syndrome." One day, while Victor is pretending to read so that he can move on to his favorite activity--watching TV--an alligator pops out of the pages of the book and bids Victor to jump into his pockets, where other children await story hour. Victor resists the invitation, as well as those issued by a succession of outlandish animals who try to entice him to read. A bizarre dream turns the stubborn boy around, however, and when he awakens he decides that he feels "a little sad" for the animals, for "What would happen to them if their stories were lost?" So Victor opens his book to look for his friends, and, predictably, becomes engrossed. Marshall's text may be didactic but it is liberally sprinkled with clever wordplay, and her book design offers such diversions as folios facing every conceivable direction. Yet most impressive is Delessert's inventive art, which wreaks playful havoc with perspective and scale, and features striking, earth-tone pastels punctuated with splashes of vibrant color. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Creative Paperbacks (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898125219
• ISBN-13: 978-0898125214
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,344,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LOST SLEEPER HERE! You need to check this one out., March 5, 2011

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Hate to Read! (Creative Editions) (Hardcover)

This is another of those books that have been around for quite some time now and has probably never received the attention is so deserves. It was published in 1992. I have seen it on several library shelves and after examining the last one I found that it had been read quite a lot which fired up my curiosity as I had never heard of the thing...! There is a sequel, I Still Hate to Read! which is usually a pretty good sign that someone, somewhere was a ware of this first offering.

This is the story of Victor Dickens who just hates to read. Now Victor is a pretty good lad...most of the time.

"He lamost always wore his crash helmet when he practiced wheelies on his skateboard.
And once a year he allowed his mother to comb his hair with a dab of mousse for the class picture.
He ate artichokes and liver regularly, that is to say, whenever his dog, Page, was not around at dinnertime."

But alas, Victor had a flaw...as stated...he hated to read!

One evening he was setting at his desk pretending to read while waiting for this favorite T.V. show to start (T.V. being Victor's favorite pastime), when suddenly a crocodile in a white trench coat crawled from the page and told Victor to jump into his pocket "if you like to read." Of course Victor protested, refused to enter the pocket because "I hate to read, and besides my favorite T.V. show starts at 8:00!"

And the adventure begins. Page after page Victor is visited by some rather unique individuals which include a frantic little field mouse shouting form him to plant the coins, a pipe smoking parrot with a wooden leg dressed and speaking like a pirate, a white rabbit wearing black barn boots, a slimy frog with a broken feather in his hat and a beautiful princess who looked embarrassingly like Natalie Nickerson, a girl at school who had invited him to a birthday party.

This of course is a dream sequence. Will it cause Victor to turn from T.V. and join this odd crew found in the pages of the book?

No spoilers here...you must see for yourself!

Etienne Delessert illustrated this work and I must say an impressive bit of art is feature here. The artist had used earth-tone pastels as the overall background which have been punctuated by slashes of color which simply pop from the page. I don't remember seeing anything quite like the technique here...it was truly impressive! Each picture held a certain amount of whimsy, but extremely exciting and moving whimsy...if that is possible. After reading this work and examining it closely several times, I have to tell you that Delessert has moved way up my list of most favorite illustrators! Examine these pictures closely! You will be rewarded.

Examine the text closely...the author has an extremely acute sense of humor.

Love this book.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks