It’s not that BJ Novak is aiming for the lowest common denominator. Surely there are more interesting and stimulating ways to raise a smile? You can make lots of kids laugh by shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!”, and if your primary aim is to make kids laugh then shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!” may be no bad thing. Then again, had I been surrounded by children rocking with laughter and squealing with delight as I was forced to say sillier and sillier things, my attitude might well have been different. Compared to the extraordinary ingenuity and engagement of, say, Viviane Schwarz’s There Are Cats in This Book series, it’s a one-trick pony that I, as an adult, am quite happy to put out to grass. But The Book With No Pictures has pretty much one tone throughout. Yes, it does develop a dialogue between the book, the reader and the child. And there is a slightly alien, once-removed feel to the whole project. Having said that, as well as lacking pictures, this book is for me also lacking in any real charm. The picturebook world already contains some of the most creative and innovative books there are for any age. Books don’t all have to feature straight, outside-looking-in linear narrative. And he’s certainly had fun playing with the form. Novak has suggested that The Book With No Pictures “could be a whole new way to introduce the children to the idea of what a book can do”.
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