John Perry

The reader is warned to be careful around this book, which has already eaten several people and is always hungry.

The Book That Eats People

Sarah Sammis

I heard about The Book That Eats People by John Perry via the Cybils. It wasn't in my category but I made an effort this winter to read as many of the nominated picture books. This book with it's evil grinning cover was top of my list of books to check out since Sean is such a fan of monsters.

The Book That Eats People is metafiction at its best. Here is the story of a book that gets hungry for human flesh, its victims and how it is finally caught. As the story progresses, the monster book becomes more and more like the cover art.

The first time I checked out the book, Sean grabbed the book and read it for himself. Later Harriet pulled the book off the shelf and flipped through it to look at the wild illustrations. When she asked me to read it to her, I added some fun into it by making the book chew on her hands every so often. She squealed with joy.

I kept the book out as long as I could and I though the kids had tired of it. Harriet though out of the blue started asking for the book again. She even requested that I put a hold on the book (which I did). So the book is back and we're reading it again and giggling all the way through it again.

The Book That Eats People

Reviews