A Very Witty Book: Read Our Review of The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade, illustrated by Tor Freeman

A Very Witty Book: Read Our Review of The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade, illustrated by Tor Freeman

Richard Ayoade is an actor, writer and director best known for his BAFTA-winning role as Maurice Moss in the British comedy The IT Crowd, and for directing the 2010 comedy film Submarine. He’s also written books about film. The Book That No One Wanted to Read is his first book written for younger readers, and his trademark dry and irreverent humour shines through brilliantly.

Have you ever thought about how it feels to be a book? To be left under a whiffy pant pile or shelved, forever collecting dust? To have your pages bent backwards or your spine BROKEN? What if you don’t have a sparkly unicorn or dragon adorning your cover – who will pick you out of the bookshop then? This is the story of the sadly neglected Book That No One Wanted To Read – can its destiny change when it finally meets the right reader? Spoiler alert: yes.

This book is indeed narrated by… a book. In fact, it’s narrated by the very book which you hold in your hands. Ayoade dives head first into this very tangible character, and the result is not only hilarious and a bit bonkers, but actually rather meaningful. There’s a lot to be learnt from the act of reading! From judging a book by its cover, to the organisation of libraries, to the way people treat books as physical objects (go easy on the dog-ears), this book has a lot of feelings about being a book. It really just wants to fit in and find its perfect reader – which could be you.

Tor Freeman is an award-winning illustrator and comic-artist whose quirky illustrations perfectly pair with Ayoade’s words. The pages are filled with her signature drawings about not only the book, but important things like How to spot a tiger in your house and Loudness of different dropped items (in ascending order of loudness). I especially love her double page spread Map of the Library, a maze-like illustration of all the nooks and crannies to be found in the library. Inquisitive young readers will easily get lost in these pages!

This is perfect for kids 9+, and adults too, who love goofy yet thought-provoking humour. I absolutely loved this most bookish of books and can’t wait to see what Ayoade does next in children’s books.

Buy a copy of The Book That No One Wanted to Read here.

Publisher details

The Book That No One Wanted to Read
Author
Richard Ayoade
Publisher
Walker Books
Genre
Children’s Fiction
Released
05 October, 2022
ISBN
9781529500301

Synopsis

Ages 9+

“Laugh out loud funny and full of heart” Noel Fielding

Have you ever thought about how it feels to be a book? To be left under a whiffy pant pile or shelved, forever collecting dust? To have your pages bent backwards or your spine BROKEN? What if you don’t have a sparkly unicorn or dragon adorning your cover – who will pick you out of the bookshop then? This is the story of the sadly neglected Book That No One Wanted To Read – can its destiny change when it finally meets the right reader? Spoiler alert: yes.
Tor Freeman
About the author

Tor Freeman

Tor Freeman received a degree in Illustration from Kingston University in 1999 and went on to become a freelance illustrator. She has written and illustrated her own picture books for Walker, Rah! and Hooray, It’s My Birthday! as well as illustrating Sleepy Places written by Judy Hindley, Cool as a Cucumber by Michael Morpurgo and Sylvie’s Seahorse by Mara Bergman. She lives in London.
Richard Ayoade
About the author

Richard Ayoade

Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd, for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance.

Books by Richard Ayoade

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