I Will Not Read This Book

by Cece Meng, Joy Ang (Illustrator)

This is the story of how the ultimate reluctant reader became a book lover. The little boy in I Will Not Read This Book has a lot of excuses, because if there is one thing he doesn’t want to do, it’s read this book. He won’t read it even if you hang him upside down by one toe, over a cliff, with sharks down below. And you know what? You. Can’t. Make. Him. In this book illustrated with wit and whimsy by Joy Ang, Cece Meng delivers once again with a pitch-perfect reluctant reader who is finally convinced to read the book if—and only if—someone he loves will read it with him.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Humor, Books About Books, Fiction, France

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2011

About the author

I was born in Walnut Creek, California, the middle child of five kids. Don't believe everything you hear about the forgotten middle child. We have our methods for getting noticed. My siblings excelled at everything academic. I excelled at daydreaming. My parents were not amused.

My experiences volunteering at a homeless shelter while in college helped me understand the importance of communication and the role it plays in how we see and understand each other as a society. It also showed me how grownups are instrumental in giving kids hope, health, and inspiration to succeed.

My thoughts on writing? For me, it's about the music and the rhythms found in words. The joys of my childhood - music and poetry - wrapped up in the words of today. I love to honor the impulses of our spirited children. I tell my kids I have the best job in the world. I'm a professional daydreamer.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect to read to a class of rambunctious kindergarteners!

[Amy Seto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The young boy in this book is not keen on reading the book in the title. He’s not very good at it and there will be words he doesn’t know. He also has a (very long) list of things you could do to him and he still wouldn’t read this book. You could hang him upside down by his toe and he wouldn’t read it. And even if you dangled him over a cliff while it was raining and there were sharks and dragons, he wouldn’t read this book. His list is dramatic and never-ending; will this stubborn little boy ever read this book?

Meng’s text, written from the boy’s perspective, reads like a child of 6 years old talks. Child logic is strong stuff and this boy has it in spades. As the book progresses the boy adds items to his list and the cumulative pattern is fun to read aloud. The digital illustrations feature a dynamic boy with a rectangular head and mustard yellow pajamas. The scenarios in the boy’s imagination come to life on the page in vivid detail. Ang’s use of white space balances the busy images from the boy’s imagination. The illustrations are tightly drawn and utilize light, shadow, and composition deftly.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2...

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny book for a reluctant reader - it could be used as an example of anaphora as a literary device if you needed to illustrate that. Readers could write their own anaphora story. It could be a fun read aloud challenge - who can read that last list the fastest?

[Peter Derk · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know what always bothers me about books, movies, and so on?

How come almost all of our entertainment is based around characters that are either A1 great people or at the very least have very strong redemptive qualities?

This is a little heady for a review of a picture book.

Here's the thing: Kid doesn't want to read a book. We go through a whole slew of ways the kid could be tortured that still would not convince him. Hanging upside-down, having a pool of sharks below him, being waterboarded, receiving a FedEx box containing his wife's decapitated head (note: my memory is a little fuzzy here, but you get the drift).

And, of course, by the end he relents and allows someone to read him the book. And we live happily ever after.

Okay, can we get one goddamn book where the kid acts like an asshole and remains an asshole? Because most of the kids I've met have moments of greatness, moments of rock bottom assholery, and then a lot of in-between times. So maybe it would be reasonable to say that the kid remains an asshole for the entirety of the book? And then the parents reading this aloud can say, "Man, what an asshole. I'm glad you're not like that, son."

Does everyone have to provide a good example? We had Goofus and Gallant. Goofus was the bad guy. The dum-dum. The one who could do no right. And who was more fun to read about? Goofus, goddamn it! Gallant was boring.

The other thing I've never really seen a kid do is express their disdain for forced activities in cool creative ways. Hell, if the kid can string together an ever-building list of mortal threats, remembering each one in order and constantly adding more, I would say that he probably doesn't need to read the damn book, or any books for that matter, until at least junior high. He seems to have a pretty developed sense of narrative already.

I just hate that. I hate when things get cute at the end. Everything has to end cute. There's not one picture book out there where the dude says, "You know what? Being a porcupine blows, and although people want me around when an evil fox shows up, I'm still pretty pissed about the litany of other issues here. It doesn't really make for a good cost/benefit ratio here."

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

No. No way. Uh huh. There is nothing you could possibly do to get the young narrator to read a book. He procrastinates even opening its pages until he has flossed his teeth, washed behind his ears, fed his fish, and cleaned under his bed. Then, in an ever increasing and increasingly frightening list of things you could do to persuade him to read the book--such as hanging him upside down by one toe over a cliff--he states unequivocably that nothing could possibly make him read that book. Of course, the kicker at the end of the story is that he might just be willing to read it if someone like you is willing to read with him. The repetitive phrases make this a good book for increasing fluency as well as for a read aloud with young readers, and while the boy is a bit melodramatic, many youngsters will be able to relate to his avoidance behavior. Certainly, I hope that what they are trying to avoid won't be reading. I like how the colorful illustrations focus on his feet on certain pages and then pull back to show his entire body hanging from the cliff.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I recieved this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Thank you to Cece for listing this giveaway.*

My son and I LOVE this book! My son is only 2 so he can't read yet, but he loves for me to read this. He loves the story and the pictures. It is one of those repetitive books that builds on itself and it just captures his attention. This book is also wonderfully illustrated. It is definately a book that will be sticking around our house for a long time. My son enjoys me reading it to him and when he's a little older i'll enjoy him reading it to me!

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just read this at my desk while cataloging it. It's short and about the crazy imagination that a young boy resorts to in order to avoid reading. I was confused why there was a monkey tickling the boy's feet.

[Samantha Hodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

My eight year old said this was boring. "It's too repetitive, Mom." I must agree. It's kind of a pain in the butt to read and I got bored myself. I'm sure little kids will like it, as repetition is a pre-reading skill, but as a mom, it's just too much.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy looks and acts too young to be reading on his own (okay, fine, I read at 3. Some kids do. Most don't!)which will turn off older kids, but the text has little to attract younger children. Language is stilted, not evocative, though the pictures are sort of funny, if ugly.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using building and imaginative text the author creates a story about a boy who refuses to read a book...until something happens that might change his mind about reading the book. Silly. May be a nice story to tell to older preschool/early elementary if the reader is "feeling" it.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh what fun!! I found myself laughing aloud as I read this cumulative tale of a young boy who does not want to read before going to bed. Well, maybe he will if you read along with him. :-) This is a gotta have book in every home with little ones who dread bedtime.

[Rebecca Heywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute, wish it had a different ending, but it was still very cute.

[Jennifer Rummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

a similar book to Green Eggs and Ham

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little picture book~! So kid-like how at the end in his bedroom, you can see how he got all his ideas.

[Evan Pauley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was won from the Goodreads giveaways. It was a bit repetitive but has good illustrations and should be enjoyed by young children.

[Elina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story about not reading a book. I might read it to my first grade class. And base a project on it.

[Cathy Blackler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many Dr. Seuss books, and The House that Jack Built, this book builds upon the young boy's resolve to "not read this book". Great for teaching sequencing.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! :)

[Danielle]

A book to put a reluctant reader in the mood for story.

[Shannon]

I will have to read it in secret

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great repetition and humor for young readers!

[Adams Eagles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlyn L.
11

Review:

In the beginning the narrator,a young boy, does not want to read that book.If only someone he loves would read it with him but who. Well read this book to find out. He says a lot of excuses so watch out for that . I can relate to him I don't like reading. But this book is a good book to read.

I will say that I like this book because I can relate to him.because I don't really like to read. but this book makes me want to read. What I did not like about this book is that why does have to sound so violence. I like when he says a lot of excuses because I can relate and sometimes i do excuses.

I will recommend this book to 1-3 grade why because it is kinda easy to read. This is a good book to read. I think the reader who reads this book would enjoy the pictures because the pictures are really good. It show you the pictures while you read it. This is a good book to read.

[Erika L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun to do in toddler storytime! As the story progresses, the stakes get higher and higher, and the main character still refuses to read the book. The kids had fun trying to guess what happens next. This is a fun book to act out as you are reading it! It really gets the kids going when they see the excitement (or in this case, distress) on your face. I would recommend this to fans of B.J. Novak's The Book With No Pictures, and will probably do this for a preschool storytime or early elementary school storytime in the near future.

[Dow Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little boy who doesn't like to read and will make any excuse not to. by the end of the book the boy is pursued to read the book only if someone he loves will read it with him which ends up being his mother. With how the book is written it is similar to Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss which I loved. I knew that the boy was going to end up reading the book but I couldn't figure out how, no matter how much I kept on reading on so I thought that was interesting because it made me want to keep reading until the end.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could definitely be used in the 4th grade classroom as an exemplar text for cumulative stories like There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and that whole series. This is another way to do a cumulative story. I also like the fact that it takes a simple event like going to bed and reading a story and turns it into a whole book. That would be great to show how simple ideas can give you a lot to write about. Finally, that eventually everyone gives in to reading. : )

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as I would have liked it. It reminded me a little of The House That Jack Built. But it didn't quite get to that level. I have 3 kids; 2 of them love to read (1 boy, and 1 girl), my other son never liked to read and there wasn't anything I could do to make him want to read. I have 2 brothers, 1 loves to read and the other could take it or leave it. Some kids don't read, maybe this book will help. To me this book was eh.

[Arwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book! If you have a struggling or hesitant reader this is a great book for them. It's funny and with it's repetitive nature should be a book that is easy for them to pick up and read themselves after you've read it to them. I'm going to suggest this as one of the book I read during my volunteer time in the 2nd grade classroom this year.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A growing list of all the conditions under which the child narrator will not read this book.
Fabulous! I used this one during my visits to the elementary school to promote the summer reading program and it was extremely well-received. The children laughed as the conditions grew more and more convoluted. Really great pick!
Perfect for a library-themed, or books-and-reading-themed storytime.

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a 4 year old, I thought this book was hilarious and made my mom read it to me before bedtime for many nights. I liked how repetitive it was and how my mom read it. I also liked how in the last picture, you could look around the boy's bedroom and see where he got all the ideas for the things he was saying.

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care what other people say, this book is amazing and if you read it once you will remember it for sure. Yes, the story can get a bit repetitive because it's cumulative, but that is what young readers enjoy. You will enjoy it more if you read it out loud and interpret it, rather than if you try to read is as a book for more experienced readers.