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!
Have you read either of these books? What did you think?
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Thanks for the rec! Reminds me of a PBS show I watched as a kid. It was called Books From Cover to Cover and the theme song was all about a monster that ate books until he learned to read. The host would draw his own illustration from a book while a narrator read a chapter. Man, I loved that show!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_to_Cover_%28PBS_program%29
What a cool idea for a TV show! I bet I can find episodes on YouTube! I’ll try later. 🙂
I just read The Incredible Book Eating Boy to my daughter. What a great book! The perfect little companion to the first few chapters of The Humans. 😀
I’m so glad you loved it! Is my it adorable?
Ahhhh! You’re reading The Humans??
Started this morning. 🙂 I had just read the part where the protagonist realizes humans have to READ books when my daughter crawled up in my lap with The Incredible Book Eating Boy.
Aww! So sweet.
I’m so excited that you’re reading it! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! 🙂