You Have to Read This Book!

by Bruce Eric Kaplan, Bruce Eric Kaplan (Illustrator)

Overview

From Bruce Eric Kaplan, the author of Monsters Eat Whiny Children, comes a sidesplitting story about a dad’s determination to share a favorite book with his son, who would prefer to do anything else—perfect for fans of books by Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.

Morris is excited to share his favorite childhood book with his son, Benny. The problem? Benny isn’t interested.

Not even if it’s the last book in the pile.
Not even if it’s the last book in the house.
Not even if it’s the only book Morris brings on their desert vacation, and their plane has just left, and their train has just departed, and the camel they rode in on is far, far, away.

And they are stranded.

Not even then.

Unless...?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534462878
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	500L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bruce Eric Kaplan, known for his distinctive, off-beat single-panel cartoons, has been a New Yorker cartoonist for more than fifteen years. He is also a television writer and was an executive producer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, as well as a writer on Seinfeld (funnily enough, one of his most well-known episodes is one where Elaine becomes increasingly frustrated over what she takes to be an utterly nonsensical New Yorker cartoon). He has authored and illustrated seven adult titles including the cult classic The Cat That Changed My Life; the collections I Love You, I Hate You, I’m Hungry; No One You Know; and This Is a Bad Time; and three titles featuring the wonderfully neurotic Brooklyn couple Edmund and Rosemary: Every Person on the Planet, Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell, and Everything Is Going to Be Okay. Bruce is also the author and illustrator of five picture books: Monsters Eat Whiny Children, Cousin Irv from Mars, Meaniehead, Someone Farted, and You Have to Read This Book. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

01/18/2021

When Morris, a bowtie-wearing bear father, secures a copy of his favorite childhood book, Tom, the Angry Truck, he insists that his cub Benny love it as much as he does. But Benny doesn’t, and an epic battle of wills begins, with Dad bringing an instantly recognizable, annoyingly indefatigable energy to the table. He plants the volume in places where Benny can’t avoid it and tries bribing him with a sundae for breakfast: “Sorry we didn’t have time for the book,” says Benny, after consuming the sundae in mere moments and developing a stomachache. Finally, he takes Benny to the middle of a desert where there’s “nothing. Just the book.” The standoff is classic Kaplan (Someone Farted), from Dad’s comic mania to Benny’s precocious, oppositional sense of self (“I don’t need any more negative energy in my life,” he tells Dad following his initial rejection of the book) to the desert scene, where the author’s signature black outlines and starkly configured spaces are punctuated with traffic-warning-sign yellow. It’s the ideal book for kids working to lead their own personal resistance—and for well-meaning parents who just want to be involved with their offspring. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly