The Book That No One Wanted to Read

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Good to see what he can do in a new medium. Now how do I categorise this.... age 7 or 8 and above I suppose. And for adult fans too - you won't feel it's just for children.

Inspiring to those readers who don't see themselves liking regular plot-driven books, equally to those who want to create their own masterpieces but don't have a solid idea - you don't HAVE to have one! Once upon a time, there was a book that no one wanted to read. Maybe it was dry and boring. Maybe the cover was unattractive. Maybe the book was high up on a shelf where no one could reach. Or maybe the book was biding its time until a special reader came along.... YOU! The book goes on to play some goofy games with the reader, very clearly citing fooling around as their course of action. The book suggests that the best way to deal with the boredom they both have is to play some games. And the games are engaging. But, what I loved most about this book is that it doesn't just begin and end with the conspiratorial nature and games. I like that (underneath the silliness) we get to explore some deep ideas about why we love to read and what is truly important in the stories we write or share. Imagination and courage are essential in life, and we get those from the books we read. Books can contain stories or facts about, and therefore be, virtually anything you can think of, but have you ever considered what a book might think about and feel? One neglected book in The Book That No One Wanted to Read, by Richard Ayoade and illustrated by Tor Freeman, has a chance to change its destiny when a reader encounters it and pulls it from a hiding spot on a high shelf, offering it a new future.The Book No One Wants to Read is the first of the "you don't like reading so read this!" books I've ever actually liked or considered worthwhile. Now, it still has the irksome the book is talking to the kid theme to it, but where it didn't work with previous books, it actually works in this one. Instead of just acting goofy, this book is conspiratorial with the reader. Readers find themselves making a deal, appeasing not only the supposed distaste they have for reading but entering into a secret in the process. So, this book isn't perfect by any means. I don't really expect it to be. Ultimately, I still think it's a great starting place. I would also like to clarify that Richard Ayoade is wrong when he states that this is the first book written by a book. It’s not, I reviewed one in 2016 called My Name is Book by John Agard, funny enough published by the same publishers – surely they would have remembered and told him!!! Then once we know who we are, we set off into the imaginary library to seek out this " unwanted" book. The book begins to tell us a story about a book no one wanted to read called of course " The Book That No One Wanted To Read".

This is a POV of The Book That No One Wanted To Read. The dialog between human and the book in the library. There is some facts that i would like to share; Throughout the book, Ayoade includes elements such as characters who are aware they are in a book, and they also comment on the plot and the other characters, making the book more of an exploration of storytelling itself. I found it quite clever and original, it makes you think about the creative process of writing and the purpose of stories. As a teacher, I think that this meta aspect would be something that children in KS2 will enjoy and can spark conversation about the nature of books. My first book from Ayoade, and I could not help but hear his voice in my head while reading it! ( He has a very distinct tone.) Interactive and funny, The Book No One Wants to Read talks to the young readers and brings itself to life as it occupies their “reading time”. They’ll be able to relate to it and feel as if they’re playing with a friend when it tells them that they should “pretend to read” while they are actually completing some of the challenges and games that are included in the book (but seriously, they really ARE READING!) The illustrations are simple and easy to connect with what the book is saying and it’s also easy to read for beginning and intermediate readers.

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Alone, fearful, settled in the dark corner untouched, and hence left to not feel the disappointment of others if we are NOT enough. So, what happened to the book that nobody wanted to read? There’s a plot twist! I leave it for you to find out when you read this book 😉. What is it that makes you want to read a book? They say you should never judge a book by its cover. But how else can you decide whether you might like it? You cant read a book to work out whether you want to read that book because, by that stage, you will have already read it. I often get (slightly) annoyed when a cover and/or the title seem to have little to nothing to do with the story. Argh. Now I want to say here that Ayoade is in fact incorrect, this is NOT the first book to use this technique. John Agard also wrote a book narrated by a book, My Name is Book, also aimed at children, so this claim is not actually true.

From actor-author-broadcaster-comedian-filmmaker Richard Ayoade comes a book narrated by . . . a book. Quirky, smart, and genre-busting, this is the saga of a book that nobody wants to read—until the day it meets YOU. I was glad it wasn't much longer, the length seemed just about right, and actually, despite Ayoade being quite clear that there isn't a point in these literary shenanigans, well actually there might be just one or two, hidden in there (don't tell the kids, folks, works better when they think it's pure popcorn). It’s a book written by a book which ‘manipulatively’ makes us part of its “social experiment” (in a good way). The book would ask its reader to be in an imaginative situation where the reader would find a talking book, which thought that nobody wanted to read it. The book and the bookfinder would then engage in funny and silly conversations. I am not going to spoil anything else because it wouldn’t be fun then.

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He asks us what's underneath our covers? What are we actually like? ( I love how he's making us go deeper, into ourselves to dig more into who we are, inside.) Because this is a book that is written to encourage children to read on their own, I wouldn’t recommend it as a group read aloud. Also, there are two mentions of the word “butt”, complete with an illustration, that some parents may not be pleased with, as it does encourage the child to “wiggle your butt (but not too much! People will definitely think you’re not reading!)”.