Review: Not Just a Book by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

9781541535695

$17.99

A book is not just a book. It can be so many things: a hat or a building block, a flower press or a fly-swatter! But books are so much more than that. They can make you feel and can take you anywhere; they can make you laugh and can teach you anything you want to know.

There are certain author/illustrator duos that are guaranteed good for some fun, and Willis and Ross are definitely one of them. 

In fun and silly rhyme, with equally fun and silly illustrations, Willis and Ross muse about the many things one can do with a physical book: make a tent for your cat, prop up your teddy, or use it as a funnel when you are milking a cow*.  Fess up, grown-ups: how many of us have actually used a book to "hide your face if you are shy"?

*do not actually use your book as a funnel.

Then we open up the book and let it make us laugh or weep, or make us really clever! This would be a brilliant book to use in a school library to start off your year (and I may start using it in field trips here!) You can cover book care*, types of books, and the fun and learning we can get from them. Heck, bring it out after Christmas break and use it to freshen enthusiasm (and maybe review some rules) when you start library times back up again!

*I repeat: do NOT use your book as a funnel.