Saturday, February 15, 2014

Warning: Do Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt

Warning: Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt (Author) and Matthew Forsythe (Illustrator) happily made its way home with us from the library today. Since then, the book has been read no less than ten times. (I know this because my oldest was counting each time I started the book over as my toddler kept shouting "Again!!")

This book hysterically warns readers to not open the book for fear of letting the monkeys out. However, Mr. Lehrhaupt obviously knows that the best way to get someone to read a book is by telling them not to read it. It worked for us. Not only was my toddler crying out to hear the book over and over, but my seven year old was also entertained.

The book uses muted colors, sparse words, and a seamless interplay between the illustrations and text to keep the reader playing along. It made reading the book feel like an activity instead of reading a story. Each time I slammed the book at the end to trap the animals my girls were in stitches laughing their heads off. It was the perfect read for my ornery little monkeys.

Our favorite page was where the narrator illustrates "The Plan" to trap the alligators, toucans and monkeys in the book. It is sketched out on graph paper with all sorts of arrows and instructions.

I personally liked how from the front cover to the back cover, every part of the physical book played into the story.

I am certain this book will be read constantly until we regretfully will have to return it to the library. However, I already know this one will be added to our wish list.

I would recommend pairing this books with We Are in a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems. Both books use narration to talk to the reader. My kids love being spoken to directly and drawn into the story as one of the players.

Do you have a favorite book that makes the book itself part of the story?


12 comments:

  1. Love books like this - and not letting the monkeys out is very good advice in my experience :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Especially when you already have two monkeys in your house. ;-)

      Delete
  2. Oh, wow, we have to get this one, we have been following Adam on twitter and simply have to track this one down. Thanks so much for reminding us and we will pin it so we don't forget LOL. Thanks for joining us on the Kid Lit blog Hop

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't he so funny on twitter? Imagine that all concisely bottled up in an adorable picture book.

      Delete
  3. Ten times in a row - that's a sign of a good book! I'm adding it to my wish list too :)

    Hopping over from the kid lit blog hop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for hopping over Catherine. Hope you are able to read it. It is so worth it.

      Delete
  4. This looks cute!

    There is a classic - and it's a licensed item so you might not suspect it of being as good as it is :) - but "A Monster at the End of This Book" or (something like that) with Grover from Sesame Street is a favorite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I had that book as a child! I completely forgot about it, and I LOVED that book. I will have to call my mom to see if she still has it. Yes, that would pair well with that book.

      Delete
  5. We have one that Max is too young for at this point, but it is a book specifically targeted to boys, showing them all about bugs and dirt and camping and s'mores. It is similar illustration-wise to this one. Thanks so much for linking in to the KLBH!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds like a book I will have to try and locate.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ha ha.. i know how that feels.. we had a couple of books which we had to tear ourselves away from in the recent past. This one's going on our list :) Thanks for sharing on KidLit BlogHop!
    -Reshama @Stackingbooks

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like such a fun story for kiddos. Reminds me of one of my favorite childhood books "The Monster at the End of this Book." Thanks for sharing this one!

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...