The Bored Book

 
The Bored Book by David Michael Slater is a wordless wonder that children of all ages can understand and enjoy.  The book is purely illustrations that tell the story of two young children who are sitting in the grand library of their grandfather's home. Bored out of their minds, they start beating each other with sofa cushions and fighting. Their grandfather leads them to the dusty attic, that almost resembles an abandoned bookstore, where numerous books are stored.

The children come across a stack of books called The Bored Book and pull a dusty copy off the shelf. As soon as they open it up, a bright world of color emerges, with maps and pictures, that literally sucks them within.

The children experience a new world of exciting creatures and people, including an Abominable snowman, pirates, sharks, dragons, and more. The illustrations take the reader on the journey with them. The lack of words allow the reader to create his own version of the story - whether it is a short one or a long one.

At the end of the adventure, the children reemerge and begin at Grandpa's house and begin to explore the treasure trove of literature found on his shelves. And all was quiet again....

The book is like The Wizard of Oz or Pleasantville in that it opens with the world in black and white as long as the children are bored. When they discover the magical world found within books, suddenly the illustrations become colorful. The color stays with them, as does the magic of the books.

The Bored Book is appealing because it promotes literacy and quality literature as being a great escape. The advantage of being wordless is that children can enjoy it at any age or reading level. The illustrations by Doug Keith are highly detailed and tell their own story. It allows for open-ended interpretations of the story and allows children to write their own versions as often as they want.

Parents can enjoy some one-on-one conversation time with their children, as they talk about what is happening within the book. It can be a great segue into determining what other books the child may wish to read.

The Bored Book would be a welcome addition to any home or school library.

Purchase The Bored Book

Andrea Coventry received a PDF copy of this book for review purposes.

Andrea Coventry is a reviewer for BookPleasures.com.