The Book That No One Wanted to Read

The Book That No One Wanted to Read

Richard Ayoade

Tor Freeman, Illustrator

Walker, 2022

108 pages

Grades 3-Up

Humor

Meet the dusty old book that no one wanted to read, who is also our narrator. It lives on the top shelf of a slightly dusty library wearing an unattractive and quite boring cover. You are the reader who must pull down the book, after carefully observing that it seems hedgy about being chosen. After a witty conversation between yourself and the book the time has come to check out what is between the covers. What lies within is a surprise for the reader, who is left with a chuckle and a challenge in this liberally illustration comedic book from across the pond..

British comedian, Ayoade, turns his talents to children's books. Not much happens in this story--it serves as more of a conveyance for Ayoade's humor--yet readers will be questioning why they pick the books that they do and wondering if books really do have personalities. Comedic illustrations by Freedom are a great match and help convey the humorous intent. The design for the book is masterful, including maps, funny diagrams, colorful shading, and variations of font style and size. The humor is notably British and may not appeal to the more slapstick Dogman crowd. Instead, smart and clever readers will enjoy this meta ride and love that they get the jokes. It is a quick read and highly illustrated, yet is deceiving and needs to be put in the right hands. I personally enjoyed it and found myself laughing out loud at certain bits, yet am not sure to who I would recommend it under the age of twenty-one. Not a plot driven book, but one that will get certain readers chuckling and interacting with their reading material.