Title: I Hate Picture Books!

Author/Illustrator: Timothy Young

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing

Year: 2013

Word Count: Approx. 420

This is day eleven out of fourteen in Christie Wright Wild’s PB 14:14 blog challenge. I’m having a ball reading, studying, and sharing all of these wonderful picture books with PB 14:14 participants and Frog on a Blog followers.

When I first came across this book online, I knew I had to read it. I  mean, come on, look at that title: I Hate Picture Books! As a picture book lover, I needed to satisfy my curiosity about a book with such a, well, with such an extreme title. I couldn’t fathom how anyone could hate picture books. Well, my library didn’t own a copy, so I asked Miss Jenny, the children’s librarian, if she would please purchase a copy, and she did. Now that I’ve read it (and love it, by the way), I want to share it.

I’ve chosen the picture book element Conflict to share today.

Right away, one page one, the story opens with Conflict. Max, the young star of the book says, “I hate picture books!” He goes on to say that he is throwing them all away because, “All they do is get me in trouble.”

After his mother read him a book about a kid with a purple crayon, he got in trouble for drawing on the wall.

When he was sent to his room without dinner, he wished a forest would grow and a boat would come take him away, but he was disappointed when NOTHING happened.

Things got worse when he found some green ham in the refrigerator and he ate it, and then he threw up. “I’d like to see them put that in a picture book!” (I love that line!)

Then he tells us about a book that has a baby bird in it that can’t find its mother. It made him cry so, “It was the first one I threw away.”

Here we come to the turning point in the story where Max hesitates, “Wait…I do love that book.”

Then he rushes to find it in the box full of picture books that he was going to throw away. And of course, he pulls out one book after another. He can’t throw any of them away. He loves them all.

The story ends with Max lying on the floor reading, and he’s surrounded by all of his glorious picture books.

I love, love, love, this book! It has humor. It has tons of references to beloved picture books. It has illustrations of many, many well-known picture book covers. And best of all, it has Picture Book Love. Yay!

You’ve gotta read this book!