Do Not Open This Book!

“Do Not Open This Book!” the cover exclaims in large, red letters. Michaela Muntean has written about the process of writing a book in this humorous story that is written not only with the reader in mind, but actually to the reader. The main character is a pig who is trying to write a book. However, upon opening the book, the reader disturbs the pig and makes it almost impossible for him to complete his task. Things like staring at him interfere with his ability to think. And turning the book pages disturbs the order of the words, changing a ferocious storm into a big, ferocious mouse, which comes after the pig. Throughout the book, the pig keeps telling the reader to go away, but still creates interest by writing a story in which the reader is the main character.

Michaela Muntean and Pascal Lemaitre combine to make a witty, interesting book that talks about the writing process. The illustrations show boxes of verbs, objects and animals and even a box of “dangerous words”. All the way through the book, the pig uses pieces of paper to “write” the story. When the reader turns the page, the words get moved around by the wind, and the result is funny while making the point that you have to be careful with words. When the pig finally writes his story, he leaves blanks for the name of the main character so that readers can put their own name in the story. All in all, the book is well-written and funny and a great read for anyone who is interested in becoming an author.

I would recommend this book for students in grades 2-5.

Keywords associated with this book: authorship, pig