ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 1st April 2016 - "This Is Not a Book" by Jean Jullien and Meagan Bennett (Phaidon Publishing)

Our second Book of the Week might fool you a bit. Well it is April the 1st and this is not a book!
It's unusual for us to nominate board books for younger children as "Book of the Week" winners. Normally Charlotte is incredibly sniffy about board books and instantly declares them "Babyish" but as soon as "This Is Not a Book" arrived, I could barely prise it out of her hands.

Playfully illustrated by genius artist Jean Jullien and designed by Meagan Bennett, "This Is Not a Book" is more like a toy that you can tuck into your bag and carry around with you, with a ton of opportunities for imaginative play.

So what makes this non-book such a brilliant book? Step inside the covers and you'll instantly see why...!

A big gaping mouth, perfect for pretending you're a big monster!

Jean's illustrations combined with Meagan's designs mean that the book unfolds into a plaything in its own right. One minute a big gaping monster maw, the next minute a great backdrop for playing with your minifigures...

Ready to play? What's today? It's FRIDAY!

Literally opening the door for play opportunities makes this wordless book very special. It's like a magic key for unlocking a child's imagination...

There's that cat again!

Each page spread unfolds and in one of our favourite cases, you can steeple the book to become a miniature tent! There was, er, one page spread that caused Mummy to throw up her hands in horror though! Eeeeeeek!

Ooh cheeky! What? It's just a curly black arrow against a pink background? What's the problem here?

"This Is Not a Book" is a work of genius and we can't wait to show it to Charlotte's little cousin who is going to love it to bits. That is, of course, if Charlotte feels like sharing!

Charlotte's favourite bit: The laptop (which does actually look eerily realistic!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Aw come on, there's nothing wrong with a pert bottom in a board book is there?

(Kindly sent to us for review by Phaidon Publishing)

"This Is Not a Book"

Illustrated by Jean Jullien

Designed by Meagan Bennett

Published by Phaidon Publishing

Publication date: 28th March 2016