From the time he started gnawing on everything around him, my youngest Jed loved to munch on paper. This wasn’t just a teething thing, he genuinely loved the taste.
I’d often find him in a corner, cheeks stuffed with the pages of a magazine or even worse a favourite book. Going to the library was like treating him to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
He seems to be growing out of this phase although after I caught him nibbling on a slice of cardboard the other day, I can’t claim that he’s turned over a new leaf (bada boom).
So it was serendipitous that his older brother chose to borrow The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers on a school library visit today. I’d been wanting to read this book since a local mama recommended it after I explained Jed’s strange appetite.
The award-winning picture book tells the story of Henry, a little boy who develops a craving for books. But things go wrong when all the information he’s taking in gets jumbled up inside him.
I absolutely loved this book for its humour – including lots of small print titbits for big people, its clever illustrations, its pro-reading message and of course its hero who reminds me of my own little book muncher.
This would make an ideal Christmas gift for anyone, young or old, with a sense of fun and a love of literature.
Ezra was especially tickled when he discovered ‘teeth marks’ at the back of the book, apparently left by Henry himself.
‘We’d better make sure Jed doesn’t take a bite out of the front,’ said Ezra, ‘or the library will be cross.’
I wouldn’t blame Jed this time. The The Incredible Book Eating Boy is simply delicious!
