Please Don't Read This Book

by Deanna Kizis, Sam Boughton (Illustrator)

Overview

In this laugh-out-loud book that begs readers to break the rules, silliness and hilarity reign supreme! Perfect for fans of The Book with No Pictures.

Wait—are you reading this book? Even though the cover asked you not to?

Well, if you're going to read it, then you'll have to follow the rules, or you're going to have WAY too much fun. And you don't want to have FUN, do you? DO YOU?!

That's what I thought. So definitely, positively, DO NOT read this book!

Join along for zany antics, silly sounds, and endless fun in this breaks-the-fourth-wall book that will have readers coming back time and time again—regardless of what the title says.

Praise for Please Don't Read This Book:

"Inviting of energetic engagement and laughter." —Kirkus Reviews

"A brilliant job of engaging even the most reluctant reader, showing how much fun a book can be." —New York Journal of Books

"'Please Don’t Read This Book!' is hard to resist — and that’s clearly the plan." —The Virginian-Pilot

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593116814
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	175,134
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Deanna Kizis (deannakizis.com) is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. She was the West Coast editor of Elle magazine and a contributor at Harper's Bazaar, and her byline has appeared Vanity Fair, People, Us, Details, Self, Glamour, Redbook, Allure, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Nylon, and many others. She's also penned screenplays for ABC, MTV, Sony and Paramount. Please Don't Read This Book! is her first children's book. Deanna lives in Los Angeles, California, and loves her dog, her kid, her cat, burritos, and gardening, but definitely not in that order. (Hint: She really loves her kid. And burritos. Definitely both of those things.) Follow Deanna on Twitter @dkizis and on Instagram @deannasayswhat.

Sam Boughton (samboughton.co.uk) is an award-winning British artist and illustrator with degrees in illustration from Bristol UWE and the Cambridge School of Art. She is the author/illustrator of Hello, Dinosaurs! and The Extraordinary Gardener. Sam lives in Teignmouth, UK. Follow her on Twitter @samillustrates and on Instagram @samboughton.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Please Don't Read This Book:

"Inviting of energetic engagement and laughter." —Kirkus Reviews

"A brilliant job of engaging even the most reluctant reader, showing how much fun a book can be." —New York Journal of Books

"'Please Don’t Read This Book!' is hard to resist — and that’s clearly the plan." —The Virginian-Pilot

From the Publisher

2020-09-29
A blue-green blob demonstrates that some rules are meant to be broken.

The blob looks like a round splatter of paint, with stick limbs and big eyes. “Oh, hi. I see you’ve opened this book,” it says in greeting. It warns that there are rules in the book. “You” must not do “any of the cool or awesome things” the rules say not to do “because then you’ll have WAY too much fun.” Listeners at just the right age may find this rib-ticklingly funny. The first rule is that a fart noise must not be made, with large letters to sound out the noise strewn colorfully across the two-page opening. While possibly a cheap chuckle, given the audience, it allows listeners to feel bold and enjoy some silly, supervised rule-breaking. The white background and creative use of text placement, size, and color keep the visual focus on the simple, instructive narrative. The blob demonstrates additional rules, becoming larger and more animated in its agitation as an unseen listener apparently breaks the following rules: do not make “the weirdest, silliest, most RE-DONK-A-DONK face you can,” or “tap your head and rub your belly at the same time,” or “hug yourself and yell I AM THE BEST,” or “turn to whoever else is in the room and say YOU’RE AWESOME, TOO!” And finally, “please do not ask to read this book again.” Good luck. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.3% of actual size.)

Slight, but inviting of energetic engagement and laughter. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews