I Like Books

by Anthony Browne

Who better than Anthony Browne — and one of his most personable chimps — to celebrate all the fun to be found in the world of books?

Do you like books? Funny books or fairy tales? Scary books or song books? Books about dinosaurs or pirates or ABCs? This simple, inviting ode to the pleasures of reading stars an obliging chimp sampling books of all sizes and shapes, vividly and humorously rendered in Anthony Browne's crisp, polished style.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Books About Books, Animals, Fiction, School

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Anthony Browne, a Hans Christian Andersen Medalist, is the author-illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including Silly Billy and Little Beauty. He lives in Kent, England.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Ben Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Like Books is a picture book that introduces children to the concept of genres. The protagonist is a young chimpanzee, and on each page he names a different type of book that he likes: funny books, scary books, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, etc. Each page contains an illustration featuring the chimp, one or more books, and something that reflects the type of book being named. For example, the picture for "scary books" features the chimp reading a book with black binding with a frightened expression on his face, and he is overshadowed by a dark, pencil-drawn figure that appears to be a ghost. The page "books about dinosaurs" features the chimp riding on top of a stegosaurus who has books instead of spines along his back.

I Like Books contains a cool contrast between simple text but deceptively complex images. For example, the "Fairy tales" page features the chimp dressed as Red Riding Hood, and the ominous shadow of a wolf advancing toward him. The "books about monsters" page is placed within a frame with bats at the corners. The pictures are quite beautiful, and the facial expressions of the chimp (and other assorted characters) seem to represent the range of emotions children would experience when reading books in these genres.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can I not like a book about liking books? Cute pictures--some fairly clever, too. A good book for toddler read-aloud (lap-read or storytime). I think a really good book for beginning readers, too, with the large text, few words to a page, and pictures to help along.

4/6/10 & 4/8/10 This was a little harder to read in storytime than I had expected. I didn't think ahead of time of what I could say about the pictures to get them thinking as I did a sweep with the book. So while it was short and simple, it seemed like each time I finished the book, I was left with a "yeah, and?" Oh well. Hopefully they liked the pictures, too.

[Herbie Behm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book for children learning to read. There is only 1 to 3 words on each page as well as a large picture which is good for very novice readers. Having only a few, repetitive words on each page has its positives and negatives. A positive is, by only having a few words to read the young reader may get a confidence boost by finishing this book and want to move on to others. A negative is, this book doesn't really help a young reader advance his/her reading skills. It simply presents the same word over and over again and once the book is done only about 10 words are used. I would say this book is a good stepping stone book for very young readers but nothing more than that.

[Library Quine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has brief text and no story line. It could be useful as an introduction to genre, but on the whole shows the difference in physical characteristics in books, rather than the differences in the content. Nevertheless, I think this could be a useful book to help explain the range and variety of books available in the library.

[Shoaa Aljohani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's intended audience is kids 2 - 4 years old. So it was reasonable for the author to rely heavily on images to express his ideas and make himself understood. There is no tale to tell, and it comes across like a tutorial book, in discussing and discriminating between types of books. The design and illustrations are not high quality, but they effectively get across the main idea

[Ryan Madis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I Like Books" is simple. That is good. I like simple. I like these kinds of books.

It revolves around one character giving the audience an example of what kind of books they like, using many examples to back up the widely accepted opinion.

Everything about this book is simple, from the pictures of the main character to the short and sweet sentences.

One thing I noticed reading the book again is that on each page there is always one monkey and one or more books, with everything else colored on the page up to the monkey's imagination. It enforces the idea of variety, which I can say is super helpful, considering I used to be skeptical of all books merely because I knew I was not a fan of a few genres. I believe the mood Anthony Browne went for was imagination, creativity, and variety. I felt all of those things reading this book. The theme is merely that there are so many different kinds of books out there to read.

The book would not be the same without the illustrations. With the exception of one page, the entire book's pictures consisted of a monkey with colorful books, clothes, characters and much more in the center of the page, surrounded by a lot of white space. Going along with the idea of simplicity, Anthony Browne used a simple easy-to-read font for the simple easy-to-read sentences.

[Cassaday · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading "I Like Books" by Anthony Browne, my overall impression is that this is a book intended for a very very young audience as the dialogue on each page is between 2 and 3 words. The initial impact is that this is a book to show younger children the different kinds of books there are; scary books, fat books, books about dinosaurs. The design elements of this book are not intended to confuse the reader, in fact, they are made to show the reader a visual of the different kind of books that one can read. The artistic style is that if the page says counting books there is a monkey counting books as the visual, The images are nothing out of the ordinary, however, they are simple and get the message across. The mood and tone is simple and laid back, there is no punctuation to suggest that there is any excitement in the book. While they do not introduce the main character we can see that it is a monkey. Rate: 4/5.

[Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I Like Books" is a book by Anthony Browne about a monkey who likes various types book. This is an awesome book to use with early readers. It's a easy to read book that can be used to model good reading behaviors that a student can practice independently later. I think this book promotes literacy and encourages students to read books in different genres (i.e. I like books about dinosaurs can be used to introduce informative or expository books or I like books about pirates can be used to introduce narrative books) . It can also be used to introduce reading genres. I really enjoyed this book because I noticed that it can be a great book to use for vocabulary and grammar instruction. The illustrations in the book vividly depict the book being described. One may also use the book to introduce adjectives (i.e. Fat books and Thin books). I love the versatility of the book. It can be used for many purposes! Parents and Teachers will both love it.

[Katia Yanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I thought the book was adorable. The art style and simplicity of the writing makes it easy for younger kids to follow along, and each genre of book somehow matched the monkey, which is sure to get a few laughs from any child who stumbles upon it. Children are very influenced by things they like, and this book is a great starting point in introducing children to reading. After this, they might start to look for funny books, or books about dinosaurs because that is what the monkey read. Reading aloud to children is also a performance, if you read in a dull, monotone voice, they will more than likely dose off. If you put in effort, and enthusiasm, children are more likely to remember it, and this book makes it fairly easy to achieve that.

[Jenee Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a monkey who tells all different types of book genres he likes to read. I liked how the pictures on the pages matched the type of book told on that page. The illustrations add meaning to the text. This book was extremely simple, but a little long. The words "I like" and "books" were very repetitive. I would use this book with early readers to introduce a love for reading and the unlimited amount of choices there are when choosing a book to read. I also liked how the pictures of common fairytales and nursery rhymes were included. I give this book 3.5/5 stars because it was a good book for early readers and for introducing genres, but I just wish there was more "depth" and an actual "story".

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si el niñ@ elije este libro y como adulto le ayudas (comprar, regalar, prestar) para que pueda leerlo, ten por seguro que es una buena elección. Si como adulto, te gustaría conocer un poco más sobre el libro, entonces te invito a leer la reseña:

El libro está compuesto por bellas ilustraciones que hacen alusión a enunciados cortos, relacionadas con los libros mencionando sus características, ya sea físicas o de temas que tratan.

[Kelly Ayala · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great book for beginners, those little kids that are going to start to read. It gives them options on genre with not too harsh of a picture. By this I mean, when he mentions scary books, its not a horrifying picture, just his facial expression and a shadow in the back. This gives the audience of chance to really think about different genre and not just books about books.

[Savannah Levos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is good for children who are just starting to read. The pictures are really well illustrated. It helps the reader understand the meaning of the words by the pictures. Each page was different, but very creative in its' own way. I recommend this book for preschoolers or for a kindergarten class.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to chuckle... while reading this to my students we noticed that the character is frequently not being gentle with his books. Lead to a good discussion about the right way to care for our books! I used this (in conjunction with Brian Won's Hooray for Books!) to get children thinking about what kinds of books they like to read.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is essential.
The world of books is a wonderland.

While you’re reading a book, you trip into a completely different world and dimension.
Beyond time, place, countries, and language….

Because we live in a modern world, we are lucky to be able to connect with people who love books through Goodreads!

[Dorthe Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

På min date med @deichmanbjorvika i dag har jeg funnet frem mange @anthony_browne_books, og de er så gode. Denne er ett lite vidunder om bøker, og passer helt perfekt inn i engelskundervisningen for å få inn litt godt vokabular. Min undervisning i engelsl tar alltid utgangspunkt i barnebøker, så det å ha ord for å fortelle hva slags type bøker en har lest og liker er viktig!

[Samantta S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó muchísimo. Anthony Browne nos presenta la historia de un monito que disfruta todos los libros y todas sus presentaciones.

Cómo siempre las ilustraciones son grandiosas y traen consigo otros tintes en la historia.

Léanlo. Y compartan. 💓

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to young children of the various forms of literature. Simple illustrations. For younger kids 3-5.

[Miss Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Browne favorite of my soon-to-be two-year old son. He took this one to the crib for his nap. How can I deny more hypnotic brainwashing to supplement his already active obsession with books.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chimpanzee walks us through different types of books.

[BibliofiliaFull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunca decepciona. Super recomendado para todos los niños.

[Memmis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sencillito y carismático.

[Mairéad · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 A nicely illustrated amusing way to gently introduce children aged 4+ to the concept of genre and personal preferences when choosing reading material.

[J.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

💗

[Hope Gregg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Está libro es muy fácil y esta es muy bonito! ¡Yo aprendi nuevas palabras! Perfecto para los niños y adultos.

[Magenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was written about me

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun book! I love how the book showed all the places that the monkey liked to read books.

[Sarah Plitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Like Books

This simple story about a boy describing the types of books he likes opens the realm of choice as a reader. As frequently featured in Anthony Browne books, the main character is illustrated as a young monkey. The young reader shares his passion of being a reader by listing all the types of books he enjoys. The text accompanied by humorous illustrations makes the book endearing and inviting in many ways. The illustrations brilliantly depict the type of book mentioned using shadows, and manipulation of the character. Each type is illustrated in a framed box that at times has thematic corners to accompany the text and illustration. After reading Anthony Browne’s Zoo and Voices in the Park, this light hearted simple read was welcomed. The humorous and simple illustrations were the perfect addition to such simple text. Although the text is dry, the book comes to life through the illustrations of monsters, and dinosaurs to name a few. This book is great to inspire young readers and provoke reflection one one’s own reading tendencies. I realized I need to explore different types of books!

[Syndi Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, in this book, it talks about what kind of books the little monkey likes to read. It talks about different genres like scary books up to fairy tales. There are others that are named throughout the book. It is an easy read for young children and will most likely enjoy. Some connections are that a child can see what kinds of books there are and what might be something they like that pops up in the story. The pictures throughout the books are very eye-catching and take up most of the page. Like many children books, the pictures go really well with what is being said in the story. The book looks to be a small, squarish hard-back book that a small child can easily hold. I sentences are all about the same length with easy vocabulary in the range for children. Those words are easily understood for the child. The pictures can help the child understand what each type of genre there are in the reading world. The entire story can encourage young children to read in hopes that are they get older, they continue reading.

[Kate Ballan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I Like Books" is full of scary books, mystery books, fairy-tale books, and many other kinds. The bear is dressed up like he is in each one of the books. The bear is wearing a cape in the mystery books, and dressed like humpty-dumpty in the nursery rhyme books. The bear then holds a very large book, then a very small book. There are more books like dinosaur books, counting books, and even singing books. The bear really likes books.
This book can be read to a class to encourage the students to read because there is so many genres of books they can choose from. It shows students the fun in all types of genres. It is very important to encourage students to read at a young age and if they find the right genre for them then they will more likely read more often because they found what caught their interest. The same character throughout the book also shows kids that they can read many different kinds of books.