Book Review – Don't Read this Book by Jill Lewis
A Fun Picture Book for Children with a Twist on Familiar Fairytales
Most young children can’t resist a peek at the forbidden. In Don’t Read This Book! (Egmont, 2009) author Jill Lewis draws children into her fractured fairytale with a firm order from the King to “Stop right there!”
Don’t Read This Book!
The Royal story writer has a major problem. His story has gone missing and the King is not happy. The grumpy King refuses to let anyone read the book until the story is found, but someone has already started to turn the pages and the King blusters and threatens to no avail.
As readers continue through pages filled with Deborah Allwright’s fun illustrations, they meet a collection of favourite storybook characters helping with the search for the missing story. The gingerbread man, the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, her grandmother and the Wolf all help to find the story and then quickly change costumes to act it out.
By the time the story has been found and everyone is place, all but one of the pages have been read and the characters must quickly rush through the story of the Princess and the Pea before the final page is turned.
In the style of the classic children’s stories The Monster at the End of This Book (Golden Books, 1971) and Another Monster at the End of this Book (Golden Books, 2006), Jill Lewis entices children to keep reading by constantly telling them, through the demanding character of the King, to stop reading. Children won’t be able to help turning the next page to find out whether the story writer can find his story in time.
Fractured Fairytales
With a slight twist to the plot, characters or setting, fractured fairytales offer both the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of something different and unexpected.
Children who enjoy Don’t Read This Book! might also enjoy the following stories based in classic fairytales:
Beware of the Storybook Wolves (Hodder Children’s Books, 2001) and Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book (Hodder Children’s Books, 2002) by Lauren Child – a mixture of familiar fairytale characters and stories by the well-known author of the popular Charlie and Lola.
Wait! No Paint! (Harper Collins, 2005) by Bruce Whatley – a fun variation of The Three Little Pigs
There are fractured fairytales for adults too. Fans of Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair (Hodder & Stoughton, 2001) will no doubt be aware of his Nursery Crime series, starting with The Big Over Easy (Hodder & Stoughton, 2005). James Finn Garner has also reworked many familiar fairytales and nursery rhymes in his series of books beginning with Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (John Wiley & Sons, 1994).
Modern Twist on The Princess and the Pea
Young children will enjoy having this story read to them, as there are many opportunities for funny voices and whispered comments as the characters rush about trying to find the missing story. Independent readers will enjoy following the text as it winds through the illustrations and changes size, colour and font.
Jill Wright and Deborah Allwright have combined to produce a fun picture book sure to appeal to children from three to seven years.
Don’t Read This Book! (ISBN: 978-1-4052-3642-3)
Don't Read This Book by Jill Lewis
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