We’re in the wrong book!

Written and Illustrated by: Richard Byrne

Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (September 29, 2015

Ages:   4 – 8 years

Theme: interactive, friendship, adventure, belonging.

Opening Lines: Bella and Ben were jumping down the street, from one side of the book… to the other.

Synopsis: When a potato sack race goes awry, Bella and Ben find themselves bumped from their familiar page by Bella’s dog into uncharted territory. It’s a brave new world of lollipops and sphinxes… They have to travel through many other books to find their way home. From the back of the book…   Nice reader wanted to help us find a happy ending.

Why I like this: Well for a start the title was a knock out, and begged to be picked up. A great concept in where the reader is encouraged to follow Bella and Ben through the different books they find themselves in, such as a counting book, a comic, and at one time the library assistant pointed to a side room where they end up in non-fiction. Bella’s dog knocked them off the page into the wrong book, and now they just want to get back to their own book. Each page turn is a new adventure, through puzzle books, and how to make paper planes as well as coming across a monster… or is it? This is a wonderful book to encourage children to join in the activities such as counting, or doing puzzles to help Bella and Ben find their way. A wonderful way to bring fun to reading. The illustrations are simple, bold and effective giving at times the feeling that this was a colouring book or that Bella and Ben are cut-outs. I loved their expressions on big round faces.  I loved this book.

Richard Byrne is the author and illustrator of ” This book just ate my dog!”  He grew up in Brighton, England, and worked in graphic design before discovering his true passion in children’s books.

Resources/Findings:

The book itself has a number of interactive activities that could be carried out in the classroom or at home.

Richard is a man of few words and his blog is very much the same… but has written some wonderful books… take peek..   http://www.richardbyrne.co.uk/wordpress/portfolio/picture-books/

Other paper crafts that could be done in the classroom or at home…   http://www.kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/collection/paper-craft

I’m always pleased to be able to bring you some more special books that have come my way and be able to share them with you and join other great writers over at Susanna’s Blog, where there are literally hundreds of book reviews to view.  So pop over  and visit the lovely author, Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and find the tab for Perfect Picture Books.    Her blog is full of resources links and activities associated with books reviewed by many authors