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The Wrong Book

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Author(s): Nick Bland ISBN: 9781741693416 Binding: Paperback Published: 2010-03-01 Nicholas Ickle is trying to tell a story, but he keeps getting interrupted by characters from other stories-a pirate, a queen, even some monsters! To get a chance to tell his story, he has to convince the others that they are in the wrong book. Ages: 4+

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

3 people are currently reading
280 people want to read

About the author

Nick Bland

70 books128 followers
Nick Bland was born in the Yarra Valley of Australia, in 1973. He was the son of an artist and a primary school teacher, and spent his early years on the farm where his parents lived. At age six, he moved with his family to 'the bush'. He wanted to be a cartoonist and a writer from a very young age. In 1996, he took a job at a book store, and decided to write and illustrate children's books. His first book, "A Monster Wrote Me a Letter" was published in Australia in 2005. He currently lives in Darwin, Australia and works full time as an author illustrator.

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5 stars
151 (41%)
4 stars
120 (32%)
3 stars
72 (19%)
2 stars
13 (3%)
1 star
8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Matt.
4,841 reviews13.1k followers
August 27, 2018
Nicholas Ickle is a determined little boy trying to tell the story. However, every time he seeks to introduce the topic, he is interrupted by someone or some thing trying to steal the spotlight. From an elephant to a rat to a queen, Nicholas must contend with others inching their way onto the page. WIll Nicholas get time before the end of the book to reveal the true topic at hand? Read and see! It is great to have Neo back for another week, with books like these that we can read together. Wonderful way to kick off the week together.
Profile Image for Brenda.
5,093 reviews3,020 followers
July 26, 2011
Such a great little book!!! I was laughing out loud while I was reading this book...a wonderful kids book, fabulous for the adults to read to the kids. Terrific pictures too. A definite recommendation for the young and the young at heart.
Profile Image for Ivy.
260 reviews
November 7, 2021
Homework reading. I will honestly read anything by Nick Bland, I love him.
Profile Image for Jo.
987 reviews26 followers
May 28, 2017
The Wrong Book
By Nick Bland
Synpsis
Nicholas Ickle is trying to tell a story, but every time he starts, his books keeps being invaded by characters from other stories.
Review
This book is utterly charming, its funny and beautifully illustrated. Nick Bland is one of my favorite authors of children's books, there's something very special about them and this is no exception. Nicholas's frustration is absolutely palpable and hilarious. This is one off those books that's destined to be a bedtime favorite.
4stars
7,020 reviews83 followers
January 6, 2020
4,5/5. Tentant cette année d’introduire plus la littérature jeunesse dans l’enseignement de la lecture auprès de mes élèves, ce livre est une de mes premières trouvailles dans la bibliothèque de mon école. Très bien illustré, simple (dans le bon sens) et drôle, ce livre me semble intéressant. Moi, je l’ai bien aimé, reste à voir la réaction des plus petits!

Profile Image for LoLo.
295 reviews47 followers
June 7, 2012
I love this book. It's adorable and a lot of fun. I would have MUCH rather done this for the the Simultaneous Storytime than The Very Cranky Bear.

This book has potential to be a fantastically dramatic read during storytime sessions and would go with some great "make your own story" activities for older kids too.
6 reviews
August 17, 2012
The story, or attempted story of Nicholas Ickle is exactly that. Unfortunately people keep interrupting Nicholas so he never gets to tell his story. To me this is a great book, but sad in another respect because the little boy in this story wants to have a voice so badly however the story ends before he has a chance to be heard.
Profile Image for Amy.
60 reviews7 followers
May 6, 2017
This has been the pick of the month by the kids at daycare. Some of the kids even have the words memorized and will read along with me, which is always a sign of a good picture book to me. The kids like to "guess" what's coming on the next page based on the hints in the illustrations. As an adult it gets kind of mundane and I feel kind of bad for our protagonist Nicholas Ickle, who keeps getting interrupted. I wish he had a sequel where he finally gets to tell his story!
1 review2 followers
July 22, 2018
Have to give this as low a rating as I can. Really not happy that I’ve waited patiently for this author to update his book through apple, only to find that he will not ever do this (he has apparently told apple that he will not update his book) and I have wasted my money on an app that no longer works. No offer of a refund or anything, just a useless app. Shame on you for be a dodgy rip-off, Nick Bland!
Profile Image for Leah.
128 reviews22 followers
January 12, 2019
I took my cousins to the library and we read The Wrong book LOL and it was hilarious! they loved it! and enjoyed the illustrations and asked a lot of questions but we really enjoyed this book its a book for a family!
Profile Image for Nicole.
2,870 reviews10 followers
December 28, 2017
The first time I read this I was not impressed but, when reading it aloud to a child, it is so much fun. Little ones very quickly learn the repetition and join in. Lots of fun!
Profile Image for Mrs Heidrich.
801 reviews35 followers
September 5, 2018
Adorable book about a little boy trying to tell a story, but he keeps getting interrupted. This would be great for a beginning to students doing their own storytelling/writing.
Profile Image for Joy Keil.
607 reviews
July 3, 2019
The illustrations were really fun and this was just a really cute book. Would definitely get this one from the library again. Fun to see all the characters in the book...
Profile Image for Jill.
704 reviews5 followers
August 6, 2019
This book is quirky and fun ! A little boy is trying to tell a story but all these different characters keep interrupting ! The kids have fun with it and we’ve read it over and over
Profile Image for Erika.
87 reviews2 followers
September 3, 2019
My three year old loves this book and will comment as we go. It's a quick and fun little book to read to the littles at bed time.
Profile Image for Freddie D.
898 reviews6 followers
April 10, 2020
Fun to play along with and use funny voices when reading, as Nicholas Ickle gets progressively exasperated. Love the illustrations, too.
8 reviews
October 27, 2021
Funny and charming this book will delight both children and adults alike. The illustrations highlight the plight of Nicholas Ickle beautifully.
Profile Image for Steven R. McEvoy.
3,805 reviews173 followers
January 7, 2023
I really love Nick Bland's diversity as both an author and illustrator. This new book is no exception. It is the story of Nicholas Ickle, or at least the story Nicholas is trying to tell, but he keeps being interrupted by others, including an elephant, monsters, a pirate and a queen and even rats. Bland's illustrations are wonderful and amusing; the book will be fun for your family time and time again.
Profile Image for Paul Grose.
108 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2017
What happens when characters from other book keep invading Nicolas' book and he keeps getting interrupted when trying to tell the reader all about himself? A fun picture book that uses post-modern elements to push along an original and engaging narrative, and is not afraid to break the fourth wall for a laugh. The world truly moves on with or without us as Nicolas finds out. A great message hidden in a easy to read format in which illustrations and text combine to produce a special learning experience
Profile Image for Cruth.
1,656 reviews146 followers
March 28, 2015
Author/Illustrator: Nick Bland
First published: 2009

So once your new reader has gotten the hang of it, we start reading for fluency and expression. And that's where "The Wrong Book" comes in. It's one of those books that's really about *nothing*. It's silly and comic and has no lessons or heavy-handed morality. It just is. And so it encourages, even *needs*, an expressive, fluent reader to do it justice.

The illustrations have the cartoon quality typical of Bland with a wonderfully anthromorphised elephant and pictures with added complexity. They aren't static images, and they draw the reader in.

I happened to stumble on the app and grabbed it out of curiosity. It's not a great app, in that really it's just a book reading with a few clickable objects.... BUT it's read by The Great Frank Woodley. Talk about expressive. And then you can record your own narration. Which my daughter did. Multiple times. In different voices. And a song version. With added lyrics.

A great way to value add to the reading experience!

Have a look at thelittlebigbookclub .com for more ideas on engaging and interacting with "The Wrong Book".

scholastic .com also has some teacher notes.

Age (taking into account comprehension, concentration, language):
Read aloud - 3+
Read yourself - 6+
Profile Image for Kara.
39 reviews
December 13, 2013
Genre: Picture Book
Copyright Date: 2009
Opinions/Thoughts:
I had a hard time with the fact the story didn't really have a plot. Well, I guess it did but it was difficult to identify at first. It's about a boy trying to tell a story and never really gets to. The reader must pay attention to the illustrations because they were half the story. The little boy in the book named Nicholas Ickle tries to tell a story and every time he says this book is about.... some character is taking over the page. This happens with multiple characters until the page is full of illustrations of a story happening on the page with a full group of characters. Nicholas Ickle keeps saying they are not what the book is about and asks them to just leave. I created my own story in my head based on the illustrations and I think young readers would too. I also believe they would find it ironic and funny. It's also interesting because the little boy wants to share his voice so bad and gets frustrated with not being able to because of the interruptions.
Profile Image for Tami.
Author 38 books85 followers
April 15, 2012
Nicholas Ickle has a big problem. He is trying to tell us his story. Yet everything he tries to tell us what the book is about silly things happen. Elephants show up. Pirates appear. Then, there are the rats. Nickolas keeps telling these creatures that they have to go, after all they are in the wrong book.

The Wrong Book is silly fun. After the first reading, my grandson started in with the “You’re in the wrong book”. I can see this being one of those books that he pretends to read as the text is quite simple with the illustrations giving prompts.
Profile Image for Vivienne Fraser.
Author 24 books249 followers
July 2, 2017
Everyone loves Nick Bland’s animal books, but my favourite book of his is The Wrong Book. As always, this book has great illustrations and well written story that will capture children’s imaginations.

In The Wrong Book Nicholas Ickle is trying to tell us about a book, and all these weird and wonderful characters turn up but they are not part of Nicholas’ book. He is getting increasingly frustrated until….. well you will just have to read the book to find out.

from my Blog at http://thebookbubble.com/2017/07/book...
Profile Image for Kristen Clothier.
10 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2020
Nicholas Ickle is very excited to begin his story but before he can let us know what it is about he is interrupted by various people and creatures including elephants, monsters and pirates.

This is a great read aloud book. Children love to use the visual clues to guess what the story is really about and love to join in when telling the new comer to go because they are in the wrong book.

We also use the interactive digital version of this story to the children's delight.
Profile Image for Ella.
7 reviews
February 9, 2012
The Wrong Book is hilarious!This beautifully illustrated book by Nick Bland has bright and cheerful illustrations. Nicholas Ickle is a shrimpy little boy who is trying to tell what his book is about but he constantly gets interupted by chubby grey elephants to a posh royal queen with a baddazeled crown! This absurb book is definatly a must-read for all ages!
Profile Image for Ubalstecha.
1,612 reviews19 followers
June 4, 2010
Poor Nicholas Ickle is trying to tell his story but he is continually interrupted by other storybook characters who just show up. He valiently (although grumpily) continues, only to be interrupred again. A whimsically, sarcastic tale of a story gone wrong. Fun for adults and kids.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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