Books on the Blog: The Book With No Pictures

by Melissa Hurwitz

“Warning! This book looks serious but it is actually completely ridiculous! If a kid is trying to make you read this book, the kid is playing a trick on you. You will end up saying silly things and making everybody laugh and laugh! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

Do you enjoy hilarious, laugh out loud fun?  Are you looking for a way to spark your students’ interest in reading?  If you answered yes, then look no further than B.J. Novak’s The Book With No Pictures.  A read aloud best suited for the primary grades, this book will quickly become a classroom favorite. The book speaks directly to children.  The narrator slides up next to them on the carpet, stating yes, you might think that books with no pictures are boring and serious.  But books have rules, you see.  The reader must read all the words – even silly, made-up words, and oh boy, are there a lot of them.  Some of them big, some of them small, a rainbow-colored assortment of silly, zany, ridiculous words and phrases jump from the pages that will have your students begging you to read this book over and over again, sometimes more than once a day!  Children will laugh with glee as their teacher reads lines such as, “And my head is made of blueberry pizza.”

Best known for his writing and acting on NBC’s The Office, B.J. Novak has created an instant hit with children and adults.  The adult reading the book aloud will have just as much – if not more – fun reading it to her audience shrieking with laughter.  Not only will this book make your students laugh until their bellies hurt, it also teaches them an important lesson.  Books do not need pictures to be exciting or fun!  Some of the best, most enjoyable books are the ones that have no pictures.

Melissa Hurwitz is a 2016 PAWLP fellow who teaches first grade for Ridley School District.