Incredible Book Eating Boy [Hardcover]

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 3—Henry loves books. In fact, he literally devours them. And the more he eats, the smarter he gets. When he starts eating too many too fast, he can no longer digest them, and their contents get all mixed up. The simple cartoon illustrations twinkle with humor and feeling. Done in paint and pencil on smart backdrops—pages from old books—the pictures set the stage for the quirky story. When forced to give up eating his favorite volumes, Henry eventually learns to enjoy reading them. However, an actual bite taken out of the back cover suggests he still succumbs to the occasional indulgence. This well-done package will charm its audience. The snappy text works well for reading aloud, but older children will enjoy exploring the subtle details hidden in the illustrations and backgrounds.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Henry loves books--eating them, that is. The more books he eats, the smarter he becomes, prompting him to devour them at an alarming rate. Henry imagines that if he keeps eating at his current pace, he could eventually become the smartest person on earth. Unfortunately, he starts to get sick from eating so many books, and everything he has learned becomes all jumbled up. Eventually Henry gives up eating books and finds that it can also be satisfying to read them. The text is straightforward and minimal, but Jeffers' illustrations ("created with paint, pencil and Letraset on pages from old books that librarians were getting rid of, the artist found, or people were throwing out") cleverly convey why Henry might find books so enticing. The cover is a pleasing shade of chocolate, and many of the pages look good enough to eat, with print, lines, and texture from the recycled book pages cropping up in unlikely places (see the front cover of this issue). Children will enjoy sinking their teeth into these detail-rich, delectable pictures. Randall Enos
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Praise for 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' "mouth-wateringly irresistible" The Guardian "this is a book that children will devour." The Observer "The whole thing looks good enough to eat." Times Educational Supplement "a beautifully produced edition that really is good enough to eat." The Bookseller "with IBEB, Jeffers has produced his most appealing work yet, conjuring up a magical piece of fiction that is not only divinely illustrated and wittily told, but perfectly realised." Junior Praise for 'Lost and Found': 'An uplifting story!pictures of such spare beauty!suffused with a dreamlike quality.' Independent Online 'Oliver Jeffers makes impressive use of space in this affecting story of friendship!illustrations capture feelings of loss and loneliness through the most delicate nuances of facial expression!and body language.' Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian 'Beautifully illustrated, simple warm story!little children will love to share it.' Carousel 'Jeffers has a unique writing and illustrative style. It's a wonderful picture book.' Publishing News 'My picture book of the year, a joyful exploration of the power of friendship.' Irish Independent Praise for 'How to Catch a Star': 'The best recent picture book by light years! stylishly spellbinding.' Telegraph 'A story about possibilities and disappointments with a triumphant ending, all of which Jeffers captures through the beautifully expressive changing moods of his little boy.' The Guardian 'This is a magical, beautifully illustrated tale about reaching for dreams.' Mail on Sunday 'Hail to new talent! If only all picture books could be this good.' The Bookseller Praise for 'How to Catch a Star': ' "How To Catch A Star" is a beautiful debut picture book from an extremely talented and innovative illustrator. This is a fantastic story which teaches children that if you wish hard enough your dreams just may come true.' The Bookseller 'Adults tend to think of waiting as tedious, but the magic of this book is that it understands waiting as children wait -- alert, apprehensive and using their imaginations.' Mail on Sunday 'A stunning debut!' New Talent, Books for Keeps 'If the title sounds magical and optimistic to you, it's probably because that's exactly what this book is.' Book of the Month, Junior Praise for 'Lost and Found': Completely captivating and definitely one of my favourite picture books of the year.' Becky Stradwick, Children's Buyer -- Borders UK, Publishing News 'Deeply satisfying book.' Books For Keeps 'Wonderfully illustrated book.' The Bookseller 'Heart-warming, irresistible story.' Financial Times Magazine 'Exceptional picture book!The strong, graphic water colour illustrations are magical.' Bookfest

Henry loves books… but not like you and I. He loves to EAT books! This exciting new story follows the trials and tribulations of a boy with a voracious appetite for books. Henry discovers his unusual taste by mistake one day, and is soon swept up in his new-found passion – gorging on every delicious book in sight! And better still, he realises that the more books he eats, the smarter he gets. Henry dreams of becoming the Incredible Book Eating Boy – the smartest boy in the world! But a book-eating diet isn’t the healthiest of habits, as Henry soon finds out…

Oliver Jeffers was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1977 and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a teenager, he thoroughly enjoyed playing the spoons and travelled the land frequenting every pub he could find looking for a group of musicians to harmoniously add his percussive talents to. Unfortunately, no-one recognised his musical talent, so to force some other way of fitting in, Oliver painted them instead. It was when he came runner-up in The Irish News amateur art competition in 1995 that he seriously considered painting as a direction in which to take his life. It was a good decision, as since then Oliver has travelled the globe extensively, exhibiting his work in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Belfast and Glengormley. He made his name as a young contemporary artist with several small exhibitions in Belfast between 1995 and 1998. At this time, Oliver also began illustrating book jackets for local publishing houses. Whilst taking a break from university during 1999-2000, Oliver travelled across America and Australia, settling in Sydney for a period to work in freelance illustration and painting. In Australia, he illustrated for various magazines and got his first big break when Lavazza Coffee Company saw his offbeat coffee illustrations. They subsequently commissioned him to paint some pictures for their HQ and to illustrate their Christmas cards. They also featured him in a live exhibition during the Aroma coffee festival at The Rocks, Sydney, where he illustrated on site in front of thousands of people, using coffee rings and black ink. Oliver returned from his travels in 2000 to finish his degree at the University of Ulster. He graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Illustration and Visual Communication. During his final year, he had a prominent exhibition of portraiture in the John Hewitt Bar, Belfast. The exhibition was entitled 'Boys At The Bar', and depicted the afternoon (and morning!) drinking culture of Belfast. It attracted a great deal of media attention and all 16 pieces sold on the opening night. Oliver's eye-catching style of artwork has taken him in many directions, including poster illustration, painting 10 commissioned artworks for a London bar and designing album covers. He paints in an impressive range of styles and sizes with a wide variety of media, and is currently experimenting by pushing the creative boundaries of picture books. Oliver began writing and illustrating children's stories when he realised that people didn't believe what he did with his time. He has had a number of adventures that he has collected into his books for children; his debut picture book, 'How to Catch a Star', was inspired by a moment sitting on the end of a jetty in Sydney, looking at the stars. Not having an agent, Oliver sent his work unsolicited to HarperCollins Publishers. Its potential was immediately recognised, it was whisked off the slush pile and the publishing process began. In 2004, the book was published by HarperCollins Children's Books and was also short listed for the Booktrust Early Years Award for Best New Illustrator. In 2005, 'How to Catch a Star' won a Merit Award at the CBI/Bisto Book of Year Awards.

After the international success of 'How to Catch a Star', Oliver went on to produce the breathtakingly beautiful follow-up, 'Lost and Found', which garnered fantastic sales and critical acclaim on publication and went on to win the Gold Award at Nestle Children's Book Prize in 2005.

He continues to exhibit his art in major cities of the world and was recently commissioned to produce illustrations for Starbucks' nation-wide in-store displays in the UK Oliver loves plastic food, suitcase handles and Elvis, and has developed a bizarre habit of endlessly writing lists he never reads. He remains hell bent on travelling all over the world.