A Book Is Just Like You!: All About the Parts of a Book

by Kathleen Fox, John Wallace (Illustrations)

Do you know that a book is just like you? It's true! Think about On the day you were born, you were given a name. A book is given a name, too -- it's called a title. You have a spine that helps to keep your body together. A book also has a spine, which keeps the book's body of pages together. You don't go to school naked -- you wear clothes to keep warm, protect your skin, show off your fashion sense and, of course, to keep out of the principal's office! Books wear clothes, too. A book's clothes are called a cover, or jacket, and like clothes, they keep the inside of a book protected from things like kids with sticky ice cream fingers and little baby brothers. With vibrant illustrations and hilarious comparisons, A Book is Just Like You is the perfect teaching tool for helping students understand their books -- inside and out.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Books About Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Allison]

I had high hopes for this book but this didn't meet my expectations for someone who actually works in a library because this would be impossible to read aloud. Way too much words on a page.

[J.D. Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I interlibrary loaned this book to read for the first storytimes of the school year, and it's perfect for what I have in mind. In the past, I've taught my students some of this - you have a spine to hold your upright, and so does a book - but this really nails it. I might have to get a copy for myself!


One note on illustrations: The call number for baseball is 796.35, not 769.35 (which would be collections of engravings).

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are not many picture books that discuss parts of a book in a fun way. This book compares parts of a book to a child's life which would help young children to understand the concepts. It is a bit wordy so for younger students I would likely not read the whole thing or summarize some pages (or not read every single word bubble). K-5th

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years, I have used several different analogies to describe the parts of a book, but this picture book may make these lessons (and review) much more fun for all concerned. I like that it not only describes Table of Contents, a Glossary and an Index, but also INCLUDES one of each. I wish I had thought to tie "index finger" to "index". When I share this with my older classes, I will mention of how, just like people have differences, so too do books, e.g., not all books have all of the parts that are listed here and that, sometimes, the parts have different names (recently had a discussion of how Trueflix books do include a Glossary, but call it Important Words).

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's book that compares components of a book to a child.

Very creative. Imaginative. Very Disney-esque. Fun.
"Yep. I saw it on the Internet. www.turnyourbrain2mush.tv"
"Oh, I have my sources" (Bibliography)

I recently read Evie Walters Takes the Wheel (Kathleen Fox's recently published novel) and thought I would check out her prior children's books (as maybe they might be fun for my brother's kids). They will have to get them the way I did; through my local library. I hope they enjoy A Book Is Just Like You! as much as I did.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun way to review the parts of a book! For years I have explained the spine of a book by comparing it to our own spine, but this book compares every part of a book to a part of a person....great for lessons!

[Cari White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This colorful review of the parts of a book will be useful for my library lessons with elementary students!

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story for students to learn parts of a book. Wish some pages weren't so wordy for a better read aloud.

[Kellie Cabico]

Teaches about the parts of a book.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a very clever premise. The author uses the parts of a reader as the metaphor for explaining the parts of a book. For example, the reader has a name, the book has a name too. It's called the title. The reader has an address, the book in the library has an address too. It's called the call number. Ms. Fox explores thirteen different parts of a book and compares them to aspects the reader possesses in a fun, easy-to-relate-to way. John Wallace's illustrations are winsome.

My only criticism of the text is that 'acknowledgements' are not listed as a part of the book. The description of an 'acknowledgements' section is lumped in with 'dedication.' Still, the cleverness of the whole premise is greater than this one small error.

The back of the picture book summarizes the thirteen different parts of the reader and the corresponding parts a book in a chart. There is also a glossary with sixteen terms.

I read this to ESL first graders. It was too hard for them to take in with one complaining ''his brain was getting confused.'' Second graders did much better, with one second grader reading it to me. If I use this with older classes later, I shall come back and edit this review to share how well they did understanding the text and the metaphors and/if they found it as engaging.

I think every school librarian should have this book in their collection.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

School Library Journal (March 1, 2013)

K-Gr 3-Fox compares the life of a book to the life of a child. The copyright date is compared to a child's birthday, the place of publication to the birthplace, text is represented by language, etc. Children have addresses; books have call numbers. Large print and simple sentences introduce the various parts of a book, and clever, colorful illustrations provide visual clues to process the information. This is a wonderful source for a word wall, crossword, or word search on library skills. The book ends with a chart that summarizes the text, listing the child's information on one side and the book's parts on the other. The glossary is large and easy to digest. A solid source for introducing youngsters to the parts of a book.-Janene Corbin, Rosebank Elementary School, Nashville, TN (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

[Kathy Gunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to introduce parts of a book. It begins with a book's birth (publication) and continues with each of its parts from the outside and from cover to cover relating them to parts of the body that young children can relate to. For example, a book has a spine that holds it together just like people have spines that hold us upright and strong.

Themes: Non-fiction, parts of a book, compare people to books

Ideas: I read this book to K-2. We loved it! For the younger grades the first half of the book is sufficient to introduce the parts of a book. The older grades can learn more about text features and more in depth comparisons with the whole book. Introduce copyright information for citations and where to find the information needed for citing sources with older elementary.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it is a little wordy in parts, this book is a great way to introduce terms such as cover, title, spine, call number, index, etc... It is simple to understand because it relates it to something kids are familiar with such as their names, their families, their address, etc... Interested to use this in lessons or give this to classroom teachers when talking about nonfiction text features.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ingenius book that introduces the terminology with which we refer to books by making comparisons to ourselves (i.e people have names, books have titles).

The text breaks terms down into easy to explain comparisons and cartoon-y illustrations support text and help explain concepts.

There were two comparisons that were a little iffy to me: index and tables of contents, but though they were stretches they do still technically work and the book on the whole is a fabulous resource for teachers, parents, and librarians.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! I can't wait to read it to my students, too! IT has everything needed to explain the basic parts of a book to students. It's definitely geared toward elementary students, but I may even use it for my middle school students. Comparing parts of a book to what a student knows in their own personal life is a great visual connection in the book and hopefully they can keep the visual in their mind's eye for future reference as we review each week.

[Jnase1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for introducing the parts of a book. This book would be perfect to use with second graders, maybe third graders. You could use parts of it with Kindergarten and first grade students.

I love how the author relates the different parts of a book to something relevent to a person. Creative and fun.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the parts of a book, particularly for K-1. By comparing a book to a person, kids can easily understand the parts of a book and their various purposes. I like that they use the analogy of a family for the various people involved in publishing a book, including the author, illustrator, editor, publisher....

[Tracy Hora · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a creative idea! It compares all of the parts of a book to our own body. It is a great way to talk about the parts of a book too, even if you don't actually read it (maybe for the younger ones).

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect! I am ordering a copy for my early elementary classes.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book to explain the parts of a book. However, it's a little long for the kids who need to learn the parts of the book.

[Laura Salisbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to parts of the book...read with 1st grade.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn about each part of a book and how it compares to the things a person has.

Great introduction that is a must for all teachers and librarians!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! It's a perfect way to teach kids about the parts of a book. My four year old loved it!

[Robin Cocheu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book with colorful illustrations that should appeal to a wide range of primary age students. It compares the parts of books to the parts of people.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this will be a great addition to K-2 lessons about parts of a book.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the concept for this book, but it goes off the rails after a few spreads.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was considering using this book in the library to introduce all the parts of a book, that is until the author mistook the dedication for the acknowledgements.