Children's Book Review: The Incredible Book Eating Boy

The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Written and illustrated by:  Oliver Jeffers
Published by: Philomel Books, 2006

from goodreads.com:
Like many children, Henry loves books. But Henry doesn’t like to read books, he likes to eat them. Big books, picture books, reference books . . . if it has pages, Henry chews them up and swallows (but red ones are his favorite). And the more he eats, the smarter he gets—he’s on his way to being the smartest boy in the world! But one day he feels sick to his stomach. And the information is so jumbled up inside, he can’t digest it! Can Henry find a way to enjoy books without using his teeth? With a stunning new artistic style and a die-cut surprise, Oliver Jeffers celebrates the joys of reading in this charming and quirky picture book. It’s almost good enough to eat.

* We have previously read one of Jeffers others books, Lost and Found, so we were slightly familiar with his work.  I found this book to be different though, and honestly, in the beginning a little weird.  In this story, Henry loved books....eating them that is.  How one mistakenly eats a book, I don't know, but Henry did, and ended up loving it.  Then he discovered that the more books he ate, the smarter he became!  Only when he started getting ill from eating so many books did he realize that reading books was much more fun.  Like I mentioned, I thought that the concept was a little weird.  However, as an avid reader myself, I like the message that reading books is so much fun.  I am grateful that both of my children have developed a love of books and reading.  Like Henry at the end of the book, my daughter reads ALL the time. 
Family Rating: 1 thumb up.