Children’s Book Review: Two books by Oliver Jeffers

Today I’m going to be reviewing two of Oliver Jeffers books: The Way Back Home and The Incredible Book-Eating Boy, both of which I loved.

The Way Back Home is about a young boy who finds an airplane in his closet but as he takes off for distant stars, it runs out of gas and he is stranded on the moon. At the same time, an alien’s spaceship has some engine trouble and he also lands on the moon. It gets dark and they both picture the worst when they hear the other walking around. When the finally meet, they realize they can help one another. “Martian, Earthling – it’s all the same when you’re in need of a friend” (Goodreads description). How cute!

This is an adorable story of friendship and adventure. It’s all about how looking different doesn’t mean that you are different on the inside. You can make friends anywhere with anyone. The Way Back Home is definitely a feel good story. I thought it was unbelievably cute, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying a copy when I eventually have kids.

I actually liked a few of the illustrations so much that I could see myself getting one of them tattooed in the future. Wonderful illustrations.

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy is about…well, a boy who eats books. He eats all kinds of books – dictionaries, picture books, reference books. It doesn’t matter (though he does prefer red books). The more books he eats, the smarter he gets. But Henry eats too many books too quickly, and it starts to make him sick.

His head is too full, so Henry must figure out a way to keep enjoying books without his mouth.

Can you guess what he does? Of course you can. You’re on a book blog for a reason. As a bibliophile, I just loved this story. It was definitely one of the cutest children’s books I’ve ever read. It’s clever, funny, and completely charming. I completely adored the illustrations. I could actually relate to the one above quite well (I mean, you hasn’t ever felt like their head was completely full like that?).

I will most definitely be buying a copy of this book in the future. Like, for me. And maybe my future kids.

Also, look how clever the back of the book is!