The Book with No Pictures
Written by B. J. Novak
Narrated by B. J. Novak and Busy Phillips
4.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
This innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Novak will turn any reader into a comedian.
You might think a book with no pictures seems boring and serious. Except . . . here's how books work. Everything written on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. Even if the words say . . .
BLORK. Or BLUURF.
Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY.
Cleverly irreverent and irresistibly silly, The Book with No Pictures is one that kids will beg to hear again and again. (And parents will be happy to oblige.)
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Reviews for The Book with No Pictures
493 ratings50 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really love the concept. While I wish the author had taken it even further (sequel?), I'm very happy with the final hilarious result.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I wanted to up my substitute teaching game with some new picture books. I took this to school with me today to read to a class of second graders. They loved it and could not stop cracking up. The premise of the book is that you the adult, are being forced to say a bunch of silly words against your will. This book will force you to admit that you are a robot monkey, your best friend is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt, and the child you are reading to is the best kid ever. If my audience today was any indication this book is a winner. Part of the humor lies in how you read the book out loud. The more animated you can be the funnier the jokes will be. This book was highly enjoyed by both teacher and students.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary: it's a book with no pictures but the author tries to make the words so exciting that you don't need pictures.Personal Response: My first thought was that the book was just ok. After I spoke with my librarian about the book, he said that the primary students love it because of the silly words, like "Boo Boo Butt". It is a read aloud book and intended for someone who will do it justice by animating their voice.Curriculum connections: word choice, word arrangement
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hilarious! I read this to multiple groups of first graders - many begged me to read it again!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak delivers exactly what it promises. This book has no pictures but it's an excellent book to read aloud to kids. (You may recognize the name B.J. Novak and that's because he played Ryan on The Office.) This book is fantastic because it's full of silly words and sounds. It's set up so that it makes the grownup reading it look like a complete moron which is exactly what kids love to see. The hammier the reader is the more the kids listening will love it. I highly recommend you read it as long as you're willing to really commit to being over the top.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is like a kid's dream come true. It makes grown-ups say silly things. I also like that it doesn't have any pictures. This could help with the transition into chapter books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A wonderfully fun read, my friend's kids enjoyed it too, and I think it's a fun read regardless of age.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is silly and fun and would be appropriate for both preschool - 3rd grade or so. It may be a little long for some preschoolers, but ymmv. I hesitate to use it for story time because of the lack of pictures - most kids need that visual stimulation to stay involved in a group setting.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak Audio book is about how a book and one's imagination can make this the most interesting book you'll ever read.Like the rules that dictate how the words will be read and how, wicked funny and silly.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5i loved it so much its so awesome wow just wow people read this book and if you don't give it 5 stars your crazy
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So cool that it is narrated twice, by two different actors, and one is a woman. They tell the story differently, which is much like parents reading stories to their kids. Lover it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5LOL!!this book is so good that you are going to dance ???
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It’s really funny and a good idea that many kids would enjoy
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5i like it it is the book with NO pics
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you don't like the book, it's probably because it isn't for you. Wonderful book to read to kids aloud.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soooooooo cool and the best
and the best and cool - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Dumbest book I’ve ever read. Can’t believe this was actually published.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a laugh out loud book that must be read aloud to appreciate it. Very imaginative and fun1 Kids will enough you getting dramatic as you read it to them.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5(Fiction, Children’s ‘Picture’)I’m always overly dramatic in my readings of picture books to kids. So the idea of a ‘picture’ book with no pictures, that allowed kids to imagine, and adults to dramatize, appealed to me.Maybe I was in the wrong mood when I read it, but the narrative seemed overly wordy and over the top.Points for the concept and the basic plot.4 stars
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ok, I knew what I was in for when I chose this, but I played along - I read it to my family (husband and two grown sons) and we all laughed through the whole thing.
Now my husband is going to call his grand-daughter on the phone:
Sweetie, I want you to do something. Get your mom to take you to the library. Tell the librarian you want to check out "The book with no pictures." Don't let your mom look at it too closely. Then when you get home, make her read it to you and your little brother and sister."" - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5picture book (with text only). This went over really well when I read it aloud to a 4th-6th grade group, but I think it went better with the K-3rd graders (who seemed to be paying attention just a bit better, and I think were more open to it even though they were not at all sure about this book with no pictures). It does tend to rile up your audience just a little bit (in a good way), so if you are a teacher keep in mind that you'll have to calm them down again before moving onto other lesson material.
update: I read this to 2 or 3 new classes this year, and with the Kindergarteners it was laughs all the way; with 2nd/3rd graders it was silence until the "blueberry pizza" line, and chuckles afterward. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well, that was pretty darn cute.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow, they are starting kids on reading bleak, colorless, thought-control-based dystopias SUPER EARLY these days. I approve.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is as much fun for the reader as it is for the children hearing it during read aloud :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fun, and silly, and perfect. As soon as I read this, I knew I needed to buy it as a present for my niece, and couldn't wait to read it to her.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Okay so I actually listened to this book on audiobook, and I feel like that's how it's supposed to be read, so that was cool!
This book breaks the fourth wall in a really interesting way. It's silly, it's outright ridiculous, and kids would love it. I wanted to listen to it to see if it would be appropriate for a class if I finish my teaching degree. ... and I don't think it is, because I think the kids would laugh so loudly they'd probably disturb everyone in the street, let alone the next class.
I'm sure kids would absolutely adore it, though. The Book With No Pictures strokes their little tiny egos and calls them very, very clever for choosing a book with no pictures.
So go forth, and unleash a monster upon your children. Just know that they'll probably want you to read it to them over and over and over again.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It’s a simple book but it’s so good. I can imagine reading this to my nephew when he was a kid and hearing him laugh and laugh.
Now I want to read it to all the children I know! The audiobook is narrated first by the author and then by actress Busy Phillips. Novak does a great job but I really like the cadence of Busy’s voice.
I smiled the entire time and I think you will too. :) - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Had this read aloud to me, it was awesome. This book is hilarious! Kids (and grow ups) will love it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A friend of mine is an Awesome Super Librarian (can leap stacks of books in a single bound!). She happened to share a youtube video of BJ Novak reading this at some kind of kids assembly. I thought it was brilliant.I don't watch TV (on occasion I may catch Netflix) so I was unaware that the author was a famous actor. Knowing that now makes no difference to me. I still think this is an engaging and fun book for kids...for all ages, really.My favorite part about this book is the pictureless notion introduced to kids by encouraging them in a humorous and non-intimidating way to progress to chapter books. Books without pictures can be enjoyable, too...and a decidedly fun bonus to hear a grownup read aloud, "My only friend in the whole wide world is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt."
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Here's the deal with this book: it's a sort of weird genius. When I picked it up - having in mind to produce the same effect with my children that Mr. Novak had in his popular clip showing him reading the book to guffawing children - I already had in mind a review which would read simply: "Here's the problem with this book: it doesn't come with B.J. Novak." Scratch that, because I was wrong. Part of the reason I thought I'd be right is because I'm not the most talented or effusive children's book reader. I was wrong on that count too. My children are 9, 7, and 4, and they were falling all over themselves with laughter despite my poor stylings. There's something about the way this book is constructed - meaning, it's not just that it's missing pictures - that makes this book such a joy to experience. I'd love to figure out it's DNA and recreate the same magic. This is really some kind of wonderful.