I Love Going Through This Book [Hardcover]

Robert Burleigh (Author), Dan Yaccarino (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2001 | Age Level: 4 and up

A vibrant and imaginative picture book celebrating the joy of getting all the way through a book -- by yourself!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The adventure of reading takes on a whole new meaning in a nutty little book by award-winning creators Robert Burleigh (Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth) and Dan Yaccarino (So Big!). In this unusual and entertaining story, a boy is thrilled to be making his way through the very book readers are reading. As each page turns, we see the exuberant fellow embrace whatever comes his way: a page like a wall ("So what! I'll hoist my ladder and climb"); a page like a meadow ("I'll stroll and take my time"); a thick, dark wood; a cave ("I'll tighten up my belt a bit-- / and tell myself: Be brave"). Along the way he encounters plenty of compadres: a bookish bear, a puckish monkey, a ravenous goat (who manages to munch his way through several pages), a cowboy ostrich (complete with boots and a 10-gallon--at least--hat), and more. All the thrill and mystery of reading is explored, with a full spectrum of emotions, seasons, and characters.

Kids will be delighted to find someone as excited about reading as they are. They'll see themselves in our hero when no sooner does he celebrate getting through his book all by himself than he decides to "walk around to the front of the book" and start over! Clever illustrations and Seuss-style rhymes will quickly make this one a favorite. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

This meta-book proclaims that pages offer not just stories, but literal spaces to investigate. Its animal characters peer out of a die-cut hole in the dust jacket, as if standing inside a room that the boy narrator is about to enter. In the opening spreads, a monkey stamps "This book belongs to" name plates everywhere, mischievously calling attention to proper reading conduct. After reprimanding the monkey, the narrator points out, "The way this page swings open,/ then closes like a door!/ I'm heading into the next room now / because I want some more!" Rather than use real cuts and folds to suggest ripped and bent paper, Yaccarino (Oswald the Octopus, reviewed above) chooses a trompe-l'oeil technique. He paints dog-eared corners, a bear's cave opening on two consecutive spreads and a goat chewing its way through several pages. His thick, imprecise brushstrokes have tactile appeal, but do not lend themselves to visual trickery. Burleigh's (Lookin' for Bird in the Big City, reviewed May 14) imperfectly metered rhymes explain that a book is three-dimensional and full of surprises but, unfortunately, he then restates the idea without either inciting the imagination or carrying the theme further. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Joanna Cotler (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060288051
• ISBN-13: 978-0060288051
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,529,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Joys of Reading....., July 1, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Love Going Through This Book (Hardcover)

As our narrator tells us, "I love going through this book./Just watch me do it./No matter how long it takes,/I'm going all the way through it! And with an invitation like that, how can you resist turning the page and joining him and his animal friends. Our young guide teaches us that the pages of a book are like doors, each taking us somewhere new. We travel through a meadow, a forest and a cave. We play in autumn leaves, raft down a river in summer and play in the snow in winter. We see the starry sky, new people, places and things and when we're through and finished reading, we can catch our collective breaths and walk around to the front of the book and read it with him all over again..... Robert Burleigh has written a very creative and innovative introduction to the joys of reading as he demonstrates so cleverly that you can go anywhere, do anything and be anyone when you read a book. His light, simple joyful text, told in rhyme, is complemented by award winning artist, Dan Yaccarino's vibrant, imaginative, humorous illustrations. I Love Going Through This Book is perfect for early readers and a wonderful read aloud story youngsters 3-7 will want to hear again and again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Going through this book because of illustration, June 26, 2005

By 

Salami "Owner of Good Books" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Love Going Through This Book (Hardcover)

It's beautifully illustrated however no particular theme within. It's more likely good for baby-preschooler.

There was a boy leading a gang of animals appeared one by one and going thru the book. Walking thru seasons, day & night, up and down till the end. I'd say, toddlers could learn many action verbs and names of those funny featured animals.