The Incredible Book Eating Boy
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4.3 • 14 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
This is a read-along edition with audio synced to the text, performed by Jim Broadbent.
The mouth-watering book from acclaimed author illustrator, Oliver Jeffers.
Henry loves books… but not like you and I. He loves to EAT books! This exciting story follows the trials and tribulations of a boy with a voracious appetite for books.
Henry discovers his unusual taste by mistake one day, and is soon swept up in his new-found passion – gorging on every delicious book in sight! And better still, he realises that the more books he eats, the smarter he gets. Henry dreams of becoming the Incredible Book Eating Boy; the smartest boy in the world!
But a book-eating diet isn’t the healthiest of habits, as Henry soon finds out…
Reviews
"Mouth-wateringly irresistible" The Guardian
"This is a book that children will devour." The Observer
"The whole thing looks good enough to eat." Times Educational Supplement
"a beautifully produced edition that really is good enough to eat." The Bookseller
"with IBEB, Jeffers has produced his most appealing work yet, conjuring up a magical piece of fiction that is not only divinely illustrated and wittily told, but perfectly realised." Junior
About the author
Oliver Jeffers graduated from The University of Ulster in 2001 with First Class honours. His outstanding talent has been recognised by several high-profile awards, including the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold Award. ‘Lost and Found’ animation was broadcast on Channel 4. Oliver lives and works in Brookyln, New York.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This story, inventively painted in mixed media on discarded bindings, book covers and tattered, yellowed pages of paper, may earn Jeffers (Lost and Found) a reputation as an incredible book-recycling artist. Jeffers introduces a boy named Henry who gobbles books, though "red ones were his favorite." The information contained in each devoured tome directly enters Henry's brain, so "the more he ate, the smarter he got" (not unlike Susan Meddaugh's alphabet-soup-eating dog, Martha). Henry finds all content tasty "he wasn't fussy" and his knowledge exponentially increases until his excessive appetite starts giving him indigestion. After he gets sick, Henry tries reading books for a change: "Henry discovered that he loved to read. And he thought that if he read enough he might still become the smartest person on Earth. It would just take a bit longer." Jeffers has created a book about books from books, in a collage style less abstract than Sara Fanelli's. A whimsical die-cut in the shape of a toothy bite, taken from the lower rear corner of the final pages, further asserts the point that some habits die hard. Jeffers adeptly uses hyperbole throughout the tale so that the underlying message never feels preachy or didactic. Additionally, his beautiful handling of found materials ought to wow young artists who take a close look though not so close as to leave tooth marks of their own. Ages 4-up.
