Pistes d'exploration

Read the quote by Groucho Marx on the first page. Discuss what it means. Do you agree or disagree?

As a class, discuss the characteristics of a good book and draw a mind map outlining them.

Which is your “good little book”? Prepare an exhibition or slideshow to promote stories that have the special qualities noted in the book. Complete information cards with the title, author, illustrator, a short synopsis and an explanation (This book carried me to ___).

As a class, discuss and draw a mind map that outlines what makes a good book.

At the page where something terrible is about to happen, stop reading and predict what will happen.

The boy finds that this book “carried him to the deep sea and steered him towards a faraway land . . . made him laugh and gasp.” What other books have this power over you? Prepare a book exhibition or slideshow to promote stories that have the special qualities listed in the book. Write didactic panels (index card with title, author, illustrator and explanation: This book carried me to ___) for each book.

It's a Book, This Book Just Ate My Dog!, TheJacket

Mots-clés

Picture book , books , differences , imagination , metafiction , preferences , reading

Commentaire descriptif

In this delightful tale, a non-bookish boy becomes a reader, and a “good little book” finds its own adventures, spreading its story. Stylish illustrations use rich colour to depict fantastic scenes and beings. First images feature a range of personified books, puffed with pride or sagging with dullness. One book lies splayed open, half-finished. The title reads, Shame on YOU bad writer. Humour flows through the language, as the boy stalks into a study “full of ancient stuff that didn’t do anything.” When he discovers a humble book on the study shelves, the love of a story gradually leads to a taste for reading in general. And although he loses the book, many other readers find and enjoy it. Final images show the battered little volume being read in a hammock, under an umbrella, on a swing and more. The power and longevity of a good story is highlighted by a spread showing the lounging boy as he recalls events in that favourite, lost book. “You see, a good little book never completely goes away.”