Oliver Jeffers is one of our favourite authors, ever since we bought a copy of Lost and Found (which I will review soon) even before Noah was conceived. We were in London for the weekend then, chanced upon the book at the museum, and loved it so much that we just HAD to buy it, in the hope that we could read it to our future children.
When Noah was old enough to appreciate the book, I read it to him, and decided that I needed to have more of Oliver Jeffers’ books in our personal library, so I went on a mission to order a selection from Book Depository. Because Noah is a book lover, I thought he might like The Incredible Book Eating Boy, and I was right. He was fascinated by Henry, the book eating boy, and we’ve read the book quite a few times since we got our hands on it.
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Synopsis Henry loves books. But Henry doesn’t like to read books, he likes to eat them. Big books, picture books, reference books…Henry chews them up and swallows (but red ones are his favourite). And the more he eats, the smarter he gets. Just as he’s on his way to becoming the smartest person in the world, Henry realises he can’t digest all the knowledge he’s eaten. One day he feels sick to his stomach because all the information he ‘ate’ is so jumbled up inside! But, with a little help from his parents, he eventually finds a way to enjoy books the right way.
Noah was really amused when he first spotted the source of Henry’s distraction, and gleefully pointed out, “Look! Cat poo-poo, mummy!” You’d think he won’t be as amused by it after a while, but noooo… He still giggles when we get to that page, even though he knows it’s there. (Is it a boy/kid thing, by the way? I don’t see what’s so funny about it!)
Check out the “cat poo-poo”
We adore Oliver Jeffers’ books because of the whimsical drawings, and interesting storylines. The Incredible Book Eating Boy has a slightly different look from his other books, because the background of many of the pages resembles pages of various books. There are quite a few things to discover on the pages, as the illustrations build upon the story, and I personally liked reading what the characters say in these illustrations. Interestingly, Noah recently started getting upset by the picture of the “monster book” trying to eat Henry, and I’ve been trying to explain that it was only in Henry’s dream, and didn’t happen at all, but Noah doesn’t seem very convinced.
The more he ate, the smarter he got.
The “monster book”
I think the book’s ending was also pretty cute, and the little corner that was “nibbled off” is a rather special touch that we hardly see in other books. Noah zoomed in on it when we first read the book, and was really tickled by the idea that Henry ate that corner of the book. To be safe, I did ask him if he could eat books, because I was worried that he would decide to start tasting his books after reading about Henry, but thankfully, he looked indignant that I would even suggest that he ate his books, and said, “Nooo, cannot!”
Oops!
Noah reading the The Incredible Book Eating Boy
“Oh no! He ate the book!”
If you and your children love books, this is definitely a book that you should read. You’ll laugh at the funny things that happen to Henry, but make sure you remind your children not to eat their books! 😉
Happy reading!
Buy the Book The Incredible Book Eating Boy
on Amazon The Incredible Book Eating Boy on Book Depository
Borrow the Book The Incredible Book Eating Boy / Junior Lending Picture Book / English JEF / Check for availability here
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When Noah first spotted the promotional poster for the production of The Incredible Book Eating Boy in the Gruffalo programme booklet, he insisted on lugging it around with him around the house, and kept telling us, “Look! It’s The Incredible Book Eating Boy! My favourite, you know.” I knew then that I had to bring him to watch the show, and am really eager to see how he’ll react to the production. (He’s been saying, “I don’t like the monster. It’s going to eat the boy up.”) Personally, I’m looking forward to watching how the cast of three use song, movement and puppetry to bring Oliver Jeffers’ quirky, beautiful, and much loved story to life on stage. Look out for my review of the show next week!
Photo courtesy of ABA Productions Singapore
PS. Check out the promotional video HERE.
THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY Friday, 22 May – Sunday, 24 May 2015 Fri, 22 May: 4.30pm Sat, 23 May: 11am & 2pm Sun, 24 May: 11am, 2pm & 4.30pm NEW SHOW ADDED ON WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY, 945am
Show runs for approximately 50 minutes with no interval. Recommended for children aged 3 and above and their families.
Venue: School of the Arts (SOTA) Drama Centre
Ticket Pricing (Excludes Booking Fee): S$58, S$48, S$38 Book tickets online HERE.
FLASH GIVEAWAY!
ABA Productions Singapore has generously offered to give away a set of FOUR category 1 tickets to ONE loyal reader of Growing with the Tans! Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to participate. Terms and conditions apply.
Terms and Conditions: This giveaway will end on Monday, 18th April 2015, at 2359h, and is open to Singapore residents only. Winners will be contacted via the particulars provided when entering this giveaway, and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be selected. All incomplete entries will be disqualified, and all entries will be verified before the winner is announced. To be fair to our sponsor, please note that all fake Facebook accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in contests, with no or very few real friends), will be disqualified. Tickets must be collected at the venue (SOTA Drama Theatre) at least half an hour before the show. Please do not participate in this giveaway if you are unable to attend the performance on the 22nd of May 2015, at 430pm.
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