Not Just a Book by Jeanne Willis - ADVISABLE

Not Just a Book by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross. PICTURE BOOK. Andersen Press USA, 2018. $18. 9781541535695

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

A young girl explains all the ways a book can be used. It can be used as a hat, a tent for a cat, a funnel, and so forth. Toward the end of the book she begins to explain the ways it is more than words and ink. It can make you laugh and weep, make you more clever and can be loved by you. 

This books is very meta in that you are seeing the book you are reading in the illustrations of this book. My first grader loved that. This is a book that is playful and meaningful. The physical uses of the book are silly, but the emotional uses of a book are an effective and age appropriate reflection on the power of literature. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher