This is NOT a Book is a fabulous, fun example of metafiction, it takes us into the story to discover what elements make up a really good and compelling story. The main character repeatedly tries to convince us that she’s real and not a fictional character. But will she convince herself by the end of the story?
The Story: The main character is convinced that she’s not in a book. She’s not a character because she’s real! As we turn the pages she questions everything from who the main character is to exciting settings, action, problems and their solutions. She shows us how stories are structured and how they work in terms of plot and story arc. And she has so much fun that she doesn’t want us to stop reading when we get to the end…
As the action heats up This is NOT a Book takes our protagonist to different settings including under the ocean and into space. It introduces us to a range of characters including mermaids, pirates and lions and shows us how magical reading is and the adventures that we can go on whenever we open a book.
This is NOT a Book! has comic style illustrations with the main character talking directly to the reader. She’s very chatty and tries to convince herself that she’s real as much as she tries to convince us!
The bold, bright, colourful illustrations are full of amusing details. One of our favourite spreads is underwater, we love the shark security guards and mermaid playing her guitar.
This is NOT a Book! is a great introduction to how to tell a story. It would be a fun story to introduce story writing sessions in a primary classroom and can stimulate discussion to inspire children’s own story writing ideas.
Thank you to Exisle Publishing for sending a review copy of this fun story 🙂