'When is a board book not a board book? When it's a laptop computer, tent, or butterfly with flapping wings. And thanks to Jullien's bold cartooning and clever rethinking of how the facing pages of each spread interact, this delightfully designed book transforms into those objects and many more.' – Publishers Weekly, Best Books of the Year
'A witty board book that's perfect for inquisitive preliterate kids.' – Financial Times
'A visual riot, glossy high quality pages with two-page spreads of vivid illustrations. No words! My boys used their own words, made up stories, acted out scenes, mimed the actions for the pictures. It fires up imaginations; it gives your children stories. An imaginary treat.' – Guardian
'This wordless picture book is simply brilliant! This is a book (not a book!) that works on so many levels — it will entertain the littles ... engage and inspire the slightly older kids, and perhaps remind any adults who might have forgotten that books can take us anywhere we want to go. Books really are so much more than "just books." Jean Jullien = creative genius.' – Kids' Book Review
'A bright, innovative board book that will get children thinking ... Perfect for developing kids' imaginations and cultivating a lifelong love of reading." – The Sun
'A fabulous board book designed to challenge younger readers to think creatively about objects in their everyday lives. Really unique.' – Angels & Urchins
'This is Not A Book. It's not. It's a fridge full of food, a laptop, a piano. It's an attempt to get kids to play with the world around them, and it's created by Jean Jullien, the designer and satirist behind the 'Peace for Paris' symbol" – Observer Magazine
'It can used as a pretend piano, and there's a monster lurking on one page. Look out for the twist at the end – it folds out to become a house.' – Evening Standard
'Every page brings a new surprise ... won't fail to spark your child's imagination and inspire them to create artworks of their own. Especially when they discover this book's hidden secret, which will leave them wondering ... Is it really a book at all?" – Smallish
'In a tour-de-force of visual transformation, French graphic designer Jullien makes good on the promise of the title, turning this board book into a laptop, butterfly, fridge, tightrope, human rear end (yes, that’s right), and more. The magic lies in Jullien’s loose, expressive cartooning and smart use of the hinge at the center of each spread—after the book is turned sideways, the hinge separates the laptop’s keyboard from its screen, just like a real one, while a scene of a boy reading in a tent demands to be propped up, tent-style. The final pages—a pair of hands to “clap” together-deliver some well-deserved applause.' – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
'[Jullien] is a rising star, famed for his bold, black-pen drawings and playful take on the world.' – Metropolitan: Eurostar Magazine
'Probably the most unique book concept I’ve seen in a while ... The children love this book.' – Diary of a First Child
'Fine example of engaging a much younger audience in the love of books. We love this!' – Picture Book Blogger
'Jean Jullien engages kids' imaginations in absorbing style, asking them to suspend their assumptions about for and play with the conventions of the book in their hands ... Very enjoyable indeed.' – Absolutely Mama
'The simplicity of the artwork makes this book very user-friendly and I can easily see how it can provide a lot of fun … A brilliant not-a-book, or better still, more-than-a-book.' – The School Librarian
'Will allow adults and children to create own their own stories. Views from many angles help inspire the imagination for all.' – Inis, Reading Guide 2016/17 (Ireland)
05/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—With the turn of a page, or a change in orientation, the object in one's hands (absolutely not a book) morphs into the open mouth of a monster, a piano with sheet music, a tennis court, a laptop computer, the inside of a fridge, and a pair of clapping hands. Colorful illustrations create a Dada-esque board book that is a wordless assemblage of images. Included here are a butterfly, a toolbox, a tent, and a stage, as well as an open-the-flap section depicting the interior of a house; there's even one picture that may make older children giggle when they realize it is probably a bare bottom. VERDICT A clever wordless board book that is perfect for dialogic reading and a tool for fostering visual literacy.—Paige Garrison, Augusta Richmond County Library System, GA
2016-04-13
This unusual board book is a visual ode to both the rectangular and things that open and close.In these nearly wordless pages, Jullien presents the gaping mouth of a monster, an aerial view of a tennis court, and the keyboard of a piano, to name a few, in droll cartoons employing thick, black lines. The ideas here range from the clever (the image of a youngster reading inside a tent encourages readers to stand up the book as if it were a tent) to the everyday and banal (the inside of a toolbox), often encouraging youngsters to change the orientation of the book. Very young children, who are the core board-book readers, may appreciate the items that are the most identifiable, particularly the open refrigerator and butterfly. The open laptop, complete with keyboard, may prove a dated reference to tablet-wielding toddlers. A double gatefold (the only one) opens up to a kid reading a book titled This Is a Book, but there is no setup for this revelation. The page turn that reveals white buttocks (with the crack running down the gutter) will prompt a few giggles once it's parsed. While Jullien's art is delightful, it is a shame he couldn't diversify the subjects in these scenes; few, if any, of the people depicted are people of color.A decidedly mixed bag of ideas that does not quite come together. (Board book. 3-5)
