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This Is Not A Book
A playfully deceptive format that encourages young readers to see things differently. Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2016, Picture Books category. This is not a book - it's a laptop, a pair of hands to clap, a toolbox! Each spread of this book is actually something else entirely, challenging young readers to see things quite differently! Turning the page and finding a full-sized image of piano keys will invite children to swing the book on its side for imaginative play; turning the page again to find a monster with its mouth wide open will prompt children to use the book to chomp everything around them! The result stretches beyond the pages of this book, prompting readers to think creatively about other objects in their daily lives. Ages 2-4 years
32 pages, Board Book
First published March 21, 2016
2 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Jean Jullien
54 books33 followersJean Jullien is a graphic designer who works in a wide range of media, including illustration, photography, video, installation, and clothing. Originally from France, he now lives in London and regularly exhibits his work in both places.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
February 2, 2018
This is not a review.
March 27, 2016
Without doubt, this is the best board book I’ve seen in a very long time. Each page turn transforms this book into something new. It is a theatre stage, an open fridge, a laptop. It even steeples into a little tent that you can peep inside. I’ve watched a little girl play a lovely recital of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on the ‘piano’ that’s inside it. I’ve seen a little boy giggle delightedly at a surprise bottom. I’ve had a lovely conversation with a monster, too.
This is Not a Book may have lots in common with other titles aimed at very young readers – tough, glossy pages, vivid colour and bold illustration, but Jean Jullien has produced something quite fantastically different here. Every page is an invitation to think. This book becomes whatever its reader wants to make of it. It invites you to play. So, when is a book not a book? When it several things besides. This is hours of imaginative, creative play cunningly disguised as an ordinary book. Don’t believe me? Pop it into the little hands of a small child and just watch…
This is Not a Book may have lots in common with other titles aimed at very young readers – tough, glossy pages, vivid colour and bold illustration, but Jean Jullien has produced something quite fantastically different here. Every page is an invitation to think. This book becomes whatever its reader wants to make of it. It invites you to play. So, when is a book not a book? When it several things besides. This is hours of imaginative, creative play cunningly disguised as an ordinary book. Don’t believe me? Pop it into the little hands of a small child and just watch…
March 26, 2021
But it really is - a wordless board book that is all about perspective - great 'out of the box' idea that will help young children see objects in a new way.
August 29, 2016
A highly witty, playful form of the board book. Jean Jullien, known for making us rethink form, space and place with his artwork does it with great aplomb here. Although we think of board books a reading material for the very young, I think anyone with find the book funny and intriguing.
Jullien has about 16 double-page wordless spreads tell very different stories with their scenes, none of which are linear in their telling or even connected. Instead, the illustrator is playing with form of the book and this if made clear in the title itself.
You open the page to the open jaws of a monster, a laptop, tennis court, fridge, butterfly and, among others, my favourite, a tent, which asks the reader to use the book rather than just read it.
Both children AND adults will enjoy this clever play on form and it could encourage some to think more abstractly about the things around them.
Jullien has about 16 double-page wordless spreads tell very different stories with their scenes, none of which are linear in their telling or even connected. Instead, the illustrator is playing with form of the book and this if made clear in the title itself.
You open the page to the open jaws of a monster, a laptop, tennis court, fridge, butterfly and, among others, my favourite, a tent, which asks the reader to use the book rather than just read it.
Both children AND adults will enjoy this clever play on form and it could encourage some to think more abstractly about the things around them.
November 18, 2019
This is a great books that challenges the norm of a picture book. It is fun and engaging and makes the reader use the pictures to infer and make sense of what could be going on in the pictures. Very different to what I have read before but found it very amusing and think children would too!
December 31, 2016
Cybils nominee for best board book. More later.
December 1, 2017
I read this book with a child tonight. It's really cute and great to let children tell the story themselves, since there are no words.
April 20, 2022
Esto no es una reseña.
Jajaja qué imaginación, qué simple, qué divertido y qué razón.
El típico libro que los niños leerán en bucle y con el que los padres volverán a ser críos para disfrutar del humor absurdo.
Jajaja qué imaginación, qué simple, qué divertido y qué razón.
El típico libro que los niños leerán en bucle y con el que los padres volverán a ser críos para disfrutar del humor absurdo.
October 17, 2016
Shall we start the week off with a very good book indeed? Yes. Of course we should.
This is Not A Book by Jean Jullien is an outstanding thing; a board book that defies conventions and expectations by resolutely refusing to be a board book. There's no linear narrative here, rather there's a series of double page spreads where the book is something other than a book. It's a set of piano keys with the sheet music for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or it's a man walking across a tightrope, or it's the inside of a tent, a girl sat on a chair reading a book to her pet dog, or a gorgeously simply rendered pink bottom.
This is a delightful book because of its ability to give a constant surprise. It's so defiant of convention and expectation that it manages to deliver something quite extraordinary. Not quite book, not quite toy, but rather wonderfully creative experience. I loved it. This is classy, brave and smart work.
This is Not A Book by Jean Jullien is an outstanding thing; a board book that defies conventions and expectations by resolutely refusing to be a board book. There's no linear narrative here, rather there's a series of double page spreads where the book is something other than a book. It's a set of piano keys with the sheet music for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or it's a man walking across a tightrope, or it's the inside of a tent, a girl sat on a chair reading a book to her pet dog, or a gorgeously simply rendered pink bottom.
This is a delightful book because of its ability to give a constant surprise. It's so defiant of convention and expectation that it manages to deliver something quite extraordinary. Not quite book, not quite toy, but rather wonderfully creative experience. I loved it. This is classy, brave and smart work.
September 3, 2016
At one point I got it, and went back to the beginning.
At another point I gasped and my knees began to wriggle in excitement.
I finished by laughing and shouting, "Oh! Oh!."
If that's the reaction of a 40-something, imagine the joy of the usual target audience for a board book. And grown-ups: back away. Let the kid figure this out, even if it takes them a while. Although if they aren't able to read yet, they may get it faster than you.
At another point I gasped and my knees began to wriggle in excitement.
I finished by laughing and shouting, "Oh! Oh!."
If that's the reaction of a 40-something, imagine the joy of the usual target audience for a board book. And grown-ups: back away. Let the kid figure this out, even if it takes them a while. Although if they aren't able to read yet, they may get it faster than you.
October 13, 2016
This is a fantastic interactive book... or is it even a book at all? It is a frightening monster, a laptop, a fridge, a piano, and even a cheeky bottom! A brilliant book for engaging children and challenging the notion of a 'book'. It can be turned around and used in imaginative play as a laptop or piano, shut quickly (all pages are hardback) at the sight of a scary monster, on even positioned open upside down to form a tent. A very unique and interesting book.
July 15, 2016
Interesting concept. This is a board book. It shows scenes that are clearly not books, like the inside of a refrigerator, a piano and sheet music, an open toolbox. Then, last page fold out reveals a boy sitting in a chair holding a book with the words "This is a book" on the cover.
November 7, 2016
This book is so clever! The reader needs to bring with them a knowledge of common objects. It really isn't a book at all but to me a collection of things enclosed in pages. It's impossible to predict what is coming which made it exciting and fun to read. I didn't want it to end!
July 16, 2017
An adorable board book that creatively uses the two facing pages to imagine that it is, indeed, not a book. For example, one set of pages have a drawing of a computer screen on the left and a keyboard on the right. If you rotate the book, you are looking at a paper laptop, definitely Not a book!
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October 8, 2019An enjoyable and interactive 'board book' full of pictures that children, particularly in EYFS and Lower KS1 could engage with.
I really enjoyed this book, as an adult, which shows that the book itself can be enjoyed by all, not just younger children.
I really enjoyed this book, as an adult, which shows that the book itself can be enjoyed by all, not just younger children.
May 3, 2016
Clever, but I don't know. I would need to try it with a child. And is that one page a person's naked bottom?
July 1, 2017
Fun board book that makes clever use of gutters.
September 10, 2017
My daughter loves this book. It's super clever. The book does all the playing for you.
September 29, 2017
Another great board book from Jullien, who here really takes advantage of the board book form to create a really unique reading experience.
May 9, 2019
coworker: I bet a little kid who is 3 or so would really enjoy this.
me: I'm 27 and I still find it thrilling.
me: I'm 27 and I still find it thrilling.
November 18, 2019
A picture book that plays with the conventions of a book. Great fun to look at and explore.
November 18, 2019
This is a great book that is different for children to read.
April 28, 2022
This is a great gift idea for kids! Creative, funny, and well done. Wish I had this one when I was a kid on car trips!
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July 29, 2024Lu a ma petite cousine. C'était grave intelligent, j'aime
June 4, 2020
Yes, both a wordless picture book and a French book, even if only the title :)
This is a really clever board book playing with the layout of the pictures and the spine of the book to create all sorts of new pictures - none of which are books! A great book for an infant or toddler storytime, and definitely one to play with one-on-one. Plenty of interactive possibilities too (sing a song with the piano keys, clap at the end, etc). Much much fun.
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Oui, à la fois un livre sans mots et un livre français, même si seulement le titre :)
C'est un livre cartonné vraiment intelligent, qui joue avec la disposition des images et la colonne vertébrale du livre pour créer toutes sortes de nouvelles images - dont aucune n'est un livre! Un excellent livre pour une heure du conte pour bébé ou enfant en bas âge, et certainement un pour jouer en tête-à-tête. Beaucoup de possibilités interactives aussi (chanter une chanson avec le piano, applaudir à la fin, etc.). Beaucoup de plaisir.
This is a really clever board book playing with the layout of the pictures and the spine of the book to create all sorts of new pictures - none of which are books! A great book for an infant or toddler storytime, and definitely one to play with one-on-one. Plenty of interactive possibilities too (sing a song with the piano keys, clap at the end, etc). Much much fun.
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Oui, à la fois un livre sans mots et un livre français, même si seulement le titre :)
C'est un livre cartonné vraiment intelligent, qui joue avec la disposition des images et la colonne vertébrale du livre pour créer toutes sortes de nouvelles images - dont aucune n'est un livre! Un excellent livre pour une heure du conte pour bébé ou enfant en bas âge, et certainement un pour jouer en tête-à-tête. Beaucoup de possibilités interactives aussi (chanter une chanson avec le piano, applaudir à la fin, etc.). Beaucoup de plaisir.
April 10, 2017
(I thought I had written a review for this already! Oh, well!)
This innovative board book will be enjoyed by both kids and adults as they flip the pages and discover all the things what they hold in their hands can be!
My favorite one is when it's a tent. There's a quite cheeky page that I didn't think the young ones would get but they do.
This innovative board book will be enjoyed by both kids and adults as they flip the pages and discover all the things what they hold in their hands can be!
My favorite one is when it's a tent. There's a quite cheeky page that I didn't think the young ones would get but they do.
May 21, 2019
No, it’s not a book. YES! It’s a butt!!!
I’m only 9 months old and I know what the image is on the seventh set of pages.
This is a fun and wildly creative book that leaves the stories and interactions up to you! This book will turn storytime into story creating time or play time.
I can’t wait to learn how to speak words so I can tell my mom and dad what’s going on in this book.
I’m only 9 months old and I know what the image is on the seventh set of pages.
This is a fun and wildly creative book that leaves the stories and interactions up to you! This book will turn storytime into story creating time or play time.
I can’t wait to learn how to speak words so I can tell my mom and dad what’s going on in this book.
February 14, 2017
Very clever concept for a book. A book is not just paper and pages--it is an exciting adventure full of beauty, food for the "soul", games, shared experiences, etc. I would have rated it 5 stars except for the naked bottom picture, which wasn't appropriate for the age group for this book.
March 4, 2017
What a unique and clever book!! One needs to look it over a few times to totally find and understand all that Jean intended for us to see and experience! It is a great book for young and old alike. Great job Jean!!
March 12, 2018
What do you think you're looking at? A computer, a piano, a fridge? What about a tennis court or a stage? Jean Jullien challenges the mind and creativity with this board book - suitable for all kinds of curious minds.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews