Customer Reviews

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Oh wow! The elementary teacher in me just jumps for joy at this book! What an utter delight of story-telling and children's book-making at its most hilarious best!

Not only is there a great blatant message in the importance of education, but the story is told in a surprisingly nonchalant way in comparison to the over-the-top gorgeous illustrations that use its character as only a detail in wild book-related images.

The narrative happily trots along, not rushing, not stretching, just telling the story as entertainingly as possible in an awesome layout.

Awesome story, incredibly made book. Almost good enough to eat.

Oliver Jeffers third book is his best yet. While the story is clever and whimsical, it is the outstanding illustrations that are the star of this book. Jeffers illustrations are bold and unique. Each picture tells a story of its own. Kids and adults alike will love this book.

I got this for my niece for Christmas last year, she absolutely loved it! I thought that maybe she was too old for it and worried that when I gave it to her, she wouldn't like it (she's 9). But it went over really well, it's one of her favorite books!

I also enjoyed reading through it myself before wrapping it up for her, it's just such a clever childrens book! The fact that there is a bite out of the corner of it is an added bonus :)

My 6 year old son is a big reader and I've been having a hard time trying to find good transition type books between preK/K and full-on chapter books. This one seemed to fit; he really enjoyed this book. He especially found it funny when the boy ate too many books and the information started to get jumbled up.

Love the artistic merit of this book. It is humurous and well written. Miss 5 and Master 3 love it too.

My 4 year old daughter loves this book and is part of her nightly read. She always says "ewwwe" but is in amazement that he loves to eat books. Great ending.

We love this author. This is a funny story about a boy who eats books to get smarter. It is easy to read for 4-5 year olds. The pictures are nicely done and there is a bite mark at the end of the book. My son reads this book everyday and hopefully your's will too.