If the adult had to say silly things, I knew the kid would feel very powerful and would feel that books are very powerful.

Please perform for my enjoyment.” I thought the funniest thing in that situation would be for me to have to say things I don’t want to say-things that the kid is making me say. This kid was handing me a script: “Here are your lines tonight. The actor in me started to realize that there was something very funny about the whole experience. Seuss, any Mo Willems?” The books I loved as a child all had one thing in common: They were very fundamentally on the side of the kid. So any time I’m at friend’s house with kids, I always selfishly ask, “Can I read your kid a book? Do you have any Dr. It’s so validating-you know there’s no such thing as the polite laughter of a child. Novak: Like many comedians and comedy writers, I really love getting a kid to laugh. What made you want to write a book for preschoolers?ī.J. To order The Book With No Pictures for £10.39 go to Rothenberg Gritz: You don’t have any kids yourself. Philip Ardagh’s The Grunts in a Jam is published by Nosy Crow. Interesting idea though it is, however, The Book With No Pictures left me feeling a little empty. The book features made-up words (“BLORK … BLUURF”), humiliation (“I am a monkey who taught myself to read”), manipulation (“the kid I am reading this to is THE BEST KID IN THE HISTORY OF THIS WORLD”) and general silliness. It’s not that BJ Novak is aiming for the lowest common denominator. Surely there are more interesting and stimulating ways to raise a smile? You can make lots of kids laugh by shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!”, and if your primary aim is to make kids laugh then shouting, “Willy! Bum! Poo!” may be no bad thing. Then again, had I been surrounded by children rocking with laughter and squealing with delight as I was forced to say sillier and sillier things, my attitude might well have been different. Compared to the extraordinary ingenuity and engagement of, say, Viviane Schwarz’s There Are Cats in This Book series, it’s a one-trick pony that I, as an adult, am quite happy to put out to grass. But The Book With No Pictures has pretty much one tone throughout. Yes, it does develop a dialogue between the book, the reader and the child. And there is a slightly alien, once-removed feel to the whole project. Having said that, as well as lacking pictures, this book is for me also lacking in any real charm.

The picturebook world already contains some of the most creative and innovative books there are for any age.

Books don’t all have to feature straight, outside-looking-in linear narrative. And he’s certainly had fun playing with the form. Novak has suggested that The Book With No Pictures “could be a whole new way to introduce the children to the idea of what a book can do”.

Author of the book with no pictures