THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY
by Oliver Jeffers
Henry is a little boy who loves books.
He doesn't read them, however; he eats them. He eats all kinds of
books, but red ones are his favourite. The more books he eats, the
cleverer he becomes. He wants to become the cleverest person in the
world, so he eats three or four books at a time. Eventually, of
course, Henry starts to feel ill. What's more, he has been eating
books so quickly that the things he has been learning get mixed up.
All sorts of experts tell Henry that he
must give up eating books. At first he feels sad, but then he picks
up a half-eaten book and starts to read it. He enjoys it so much that
he realises he could become the cleverest person in the world by
reading book after book. So this is what he does, but every so often
he can't resist nibbling the corner of a page.
Oliver Jeffers has created a totally
original story in “The Incredible Book Eating Boy”. It is highly
imaginative and full of humour that both adults and children will
appreciate. The illustration on the title page of Henry with a pile
of seven books cramming his wide-open jaw gives a taste of what is to
come. Further on, Henry juggles with books and catches one in his
mouth. He imagines taking part in a quiz show and being adorned with
a huge gold medal for being the smartest person on Earth. It's the
stuff of dreams.
The text of “The Incredible Book
Eating Boy” looks as though it has come from an old typewriter, and
occasionally hand-written words are inserted. While this sounds a
little strange, it does in fact suit the eccentric style of the book.
The text is superimposed on the illustrations, and sometimes the
background is a little dark. Most pages have only a small amount of
text, so young children who do not have a huge attention span will
not get bored. The adult readers and slightly older children,
however, will get quite a bit of amusement from the little extras
that Jeffers has included. When Henry is eating so many books that
information in his brain is getting confused, for example, Jeffers
gives the example 2 + 6 = elephant.
Oliver Jeffers' illustrations for “The
Incredible Book Eating Boy” are unusual to say the least.
Backgrounds are predominantly beige or brown and look as though they
have been painted on pages of old notebooks. Sometimes ruled lines
and squares are visible. Most of the characters are illustrated in a
much more colourful way than the backgrounds, so the overall effect
is not too dismal. Apart from the colour, however, the drawings are
quirky and amusing. Jeffers shows Henry with letters getting mixed up
inside his brain, and then presents a picture of him with a bulging
tummy crammed full of books. In two of the illustrations, enormous
books with faces, arms and legs confront Henry; one of them chases
him and threatens to eat him. The final mention that Henry still
nibbles pages from time to time is brought home by the fact that the
bottom corner of the last page actually has a piece missing from it.
While “The Incredible Book Eating
Boy” may not be the ideal choice for young children who are
obsessed with princesses or fairies, its originality and humour will
appeal to many listeners and readers. As a read-aloud picture book,
three and a half might be a suitable starting age. For independent
reading, children up to at least eight years of age are likely to
enjoy the story as it is not a childish one. Jeffers has come up with
a book that young readers are sure to remember and want to read to
their own children when they grow up. It is definitely worth
borrowing a copy from the library, but the chances are most families
will want a copy of their own to keep.
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
by Oliver Jeffers
Paperback, 32 pages
Harper Collins Children's Books, 2009
ISBN 9780007182312
