The Incredible Book-Eating Boy (Hardcover)

by Oliver Jeffers (Author, Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 3—Henry loves books. In fact, he literally devours them. And the more he eats, the smarter he gets. When he starts eating too many too fast, he can no longer digest them, and their contents get all mixed up. The simple cartoon illustrations twinkle with humor and feeling. Done in paint and pencil on smart backdrops—pages from old books—the pictures set the stage for the quirky story. When forced to give up eating his favorite volumes, Henry eventually learns to enjoy reading them. However, an actual bite taken out of the back cover suggests he still succumbs to the occasional indulgence. This well-done package will charm its audience. The snappy text works well for reading aloud, but older children will enjoy exploring the subtle details hidden in the illustrations and backgrounds.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
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From Booklist
Henry loves books--eating them, that is. The more books he eats, the smarter he becomes, prompting him to devour them at an alarming rate. Henry imagines that if he keeps eating at his current pace, he could eventually become the smartest person on earth. Unfortunately, he starts to get sick from eating so many books, and everything he has learned becomes all jumbled up. Eventually Henry gives up eating books and finds that it can also be satisfying to read them. The text is straightforward and minimal, but Jeffers' illustrations ("created with paint, pencil and Letraset on pages from old books that librarians were getting rid of, the artist found, or people were throwing out") cleverly convey why Henry might find books so enticing. The cover is a pleasing shade of chocolate, and many of the pages look good enough to eat, with print, lines, and texture from the recycled book pages cropping up in unlikely places (see the front cover of this issue). Children will enjoy sinking their teeth into these detail-rich, delectable pictures. Randall Enos
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (April 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399247491
• ISBN-13: 978-0399247491
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,826 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously different, September 2, 2007

By	Julee Rudolf "book snob" (Oak Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Incredible Book Eating Boy (Book & CD) (Paperback)

One day while walking his cat, Henry gets a hankering for the taste of a word, a page, and eventually an entire book. Pretty soon he is eating several volumes in a single sitting, and the knowledge in the books is going straight to his brain. He dreams of being "the smartest person on Earth." And then his taste for books goes south as do his book smarts. Fortunately, he figures out another way to get smart that isn't so hard on the stomach. Unique pages and illustrations relating to books are incorporated into the "book" theme. Probably best for seven to nine year olds, and their parents.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good story kid will eat up, June 4, 2007

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Henry loves books. But not like other children love books. No, Henry loves to eat books. Any and all books, though red ones are his favorite. And Henry notices that the more books he eats, the smarter he gets. Unfortunately, once he begins to eat many books in one sitting, the information gets all jumbled up and he doesn't know anything. Besides, it gives him a stomach ache and excessive library fines.

Can Henry enjoy books in any other way?

This lively story is made by its unique illustrations. There is a chomp taken out of the back cover, for Pete's sake! One could pour over them for hours and still find something new, I'm sure. On the flip side, there is a busyness to them, due to the background of every illustration being a book page, that can hamper the read on the first go through. This isn't a problem on successive reads, once the reader knows what to read, but may put some readers off in the bookstore. I encourage readers to give it a second try because the book is too fun to pass over.

The text is also fun, don't get me wrong. And I love that it makes books fun, intelligence inducing and "cool."

Armchair Interviews says: This is a great book for any child's library.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eat it up, March 17, 2008

By	M Faith - See all my reviews

This is such a charming book! As so many reviewers have mentioned, the visual details are amazing. Yes, the story is simple, and I think that allows us to enjoy all the extras Jeffers gives us on every page. The plot is predictable to adults, but my son was quite engaged and even a bit worried when we read "This is the worst bit." My 4-year-old loves it and my 2-year-old repeated "monumental" multiple times while we were reading it for the first time. I really enjoyed finding a book with an obvious message, agenda even, that doesn't overdo it.