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This Book Will Not Be Fun

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A mouse who acts as a careful custodian of his book tries to guarantee his reader some peace and order in spite of escalating chaos.

A book is no place for tomfoolery, and this mouse assures us that his book is to be no exception. Just please ignore that Word-Eating Flying Whale, and--oh, no, the lights have gone out. Wait, what is THAT?! Nothing to fear. Everything is under control. . . .

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2017

7 people are currently reading
120 people want to read

About the author

Cirocco Dunlap

3 books6 followers

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5 stars
136 (16%)
4 stars
213 (26%)
3 stars
332 (40%)
2 stars
105 (12%)
1 star
27 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews
Profile Image for jennyreadit.
845 reviews71 followers
August 1, 2017
Aaaaaannnnddd. It wasn't.
I couldn't have picked a more fitting title for this book if you'd paid me.

This story-- or similar styles-- has been done many times. My "litmus" book per say, is The Monster at the End of This Book. In this version, a seriously nerdy mouse tries to convince the reader this book will not be fun, even if a Word-Eating Flying Whale appears. Then, the lights go out. Wait, what is THAT?! Nothing to fear. Everything is under control. Chaos ensues... but not even funny chaos. The most exciting page is, "Look at me! I'm "shaking my bottom" as it were." Young children will enjoy the illustrations, but the storyline is lacking suspense and earnestness of The Monster at the End of this Book.
Profile Image for Steve Holden.
477 reviews14 followers
July 10, 2017
This is in the mold of picture books where the narrator speaks to the audience and encourages reading along with surprises and interaction. It has a silly premise, and these stories don't hold much of a plot, but if pulled off (Pigeon series by Mo Willems) it can be a hilarious read aloud and book that children want to read over and over.

I don't know if this one was executed in the same fashion as others, notably the Pigeon series, but I did find myself wanting to figure out the fun that would be had inside the pages! Silly things happen throughout. It might even be described as fun for young readers! This is fun, and would make a good read aloud for a silly moment.
Profile Image for Kirsten.
2,137 reviews117 followers
October 5, 2017
Super funny. A staid mouse insists that the book will not be fun while ridiculous things occur behind him. After a while, he joins in. Pair this with "Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Agree to Be In This Book)."

Notes on representation: The characters are all animals.
Profile Image for Laura.
787 reviews86 followers
March 14, 2023
What a cute book. My daughter engaged immediately with it, and we had fun (GASP!!) reading it. Definitely similar to other books (The Monster at the End of this Book), but it is a style that grabs my kids, so we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Brian.
2,228 reviews21 followers
July 8, 2017
I wish my kids were still young enough for bedtime stories, because this would be perfect.
Profile Image for Angie.
2,849 reviews15 followers
August 24, 2017
Synopsis: "In which a persnickety mouse assures readers that they will not enjoy the book, while trying to distract from the fantastical antics of a word-eating flying whale, a funky break-dancing glow worm, and others."

My Review: Munchkin, being a typical boy about preschool/kindergarten age loves snarky and funny books. I figured this would be great, along the lines of Book with No Pictures. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat, maybe it will improve with addition re-reads but it just doesn't hold up to what I expected. Munchkin didn't laugh even once! The narrator is a mouse who is a little grumpy but things start happening in the background (and under the cover of darkness) so it really isn't at the forefront. I think it may work better for older kids who would make the connection with the drab character and lines with the chaos in the background but it just didn't work for us.
Profile Image for Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*.
6,048 reviews220 followers
September 4, 2017
Dunlap, Cirocco This Book Will Not Be Fun, illustrated by Olivier Tallec. PICTURE BOOK. Random House, 2017. $17.99. Content: G.

An uppity mouse is convinced that nothing interesting will happen in this particular book. Except...there is a flying whale. And what's this? A glow-in-the-dark worm that does kung fu? How strange... and rather fun. And, wow, what's that on the next page?

This Book Will Not Be Fun is most definitely a fun book. The illustrations are hilarious, and many children will enjoy the journey as this hard-to-impress mouse ends up enjoying the book after all. It's kid-approved, too: my seven-year-old, her friends, and I all found this one ESSENTIAL.

Pre-K, EL (K-3) -- ESSENTIAL. Reviewed by Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...
Profile Image for Becky B.
9,443 reviews191 followers
November 5, 2018
Mouse promises a nice, boring read. (You must read the inside front flap.) But then a flying whale shows up and a glow worm...and well, you didn't really believe that cover did you?

This reminds me a lot of Ryan T. Higgins Be Quiet! Both feature narrators who want a nice, calm read and get something decidedly different. But one of the narrators deals with the unplanned events better than the others. This was wild, imaginative, very random, and loads of fun. If you would rather have that nice, quiet, boring read you better try another book. Highly recommended for those who like sarcastic books and imaginative humor.
Profile Image for Melanie Hetrick.
4,702 reviews52 followers
July 18, 2017
A very serious mouse informs readers that this book will be very boring. Please ignore the flying whale.

But all of a sudden the whale brings a friend: a book worm, that glows! Then the lights go out! The mouse invites the reader to follow that worm's light-up footprints but don't have fun doing it. Eventually the mouse comes across a light switch. When mouse turns the lights on he encounters a whole bunch of silly imaginary creatures dancing to a funky song! He finds himself unable to resist the music and ends up shaking his booty!

Hilarious and has storytime hilarity written all over it!
Profile Image for Michelle.
265 reviews3 followers
July 24, 2017
This is a very silly book. I did not find it to be very funny, though. There is a lot of irony in what is happening in the illustrations and the text of the story. I really wanted a little more from the facial expressions of the main character. He didn't look like he meant what he was saying.

The author uses some higher level vocabulary which offer an opportunity to expand kids' word banks. These include: assure, unusual, taupe, and pleasant.

Curriculum connections: irony, prediction, vocabulary development
Audience: K-2
Profile Image for Erin.
1,775 reviews17 followers
September 7, 2017
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Obviously, it's supposed to be humorous. The mouse narrator of the book keeps saying that the book will not be fun. Then something unexpected would happen like a whale flying (yes, flying) by or a zero gravity dance party would happen. The mouse eventually has fun in the book, but he doesn't expect that the reader has. Well, this reader is uncertain about the fun had in the book, so maybe he was right?

Could be good for storytimes with the right take on it.
Profile Image for Nicola.
3,655 reviews
March 22, 2018
Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

A fun and silly interactive picture book. I'm not sure if Miss 3 quite understood the idea that the mouse wanted things to be really boring (and his book got invaded with crazy fun) but she liked tracing the loop-de-loop with her finger and getting up to dance.
Profile Image for Alice.
4,307 reviews36 followers
July 8, 2017
so........ this book grabbed me by the title and then bored me . I thought for sure the book would be fun, but it wasn't. And well, if you have read my other reviews, I am anti mice! So...you lost me there too! Rabbits, dogs, chinchillas etc no problem but mice!??? PUH lease! So thanks for the not fun because it was not fun!
Author 1 book92 followers
June 9, 2017
This book fits solidly into the group of books coming out now that break the 4th wall and speak directly to the reader. Books like "This is not a Picture Book" and others that are not traditional stories are fun and interactive for readers of all ages.
Profile Image for Lynn.
2,882 reviews16 followers
September 22, 2017
I look forward to trying out this book with some of my students as I think I've missed something. It starts out a bit interesting with a flying whale, but lost my attention after that.
Wide pages hold the action of bright colors and sparse text.
Profile Image for Am Y.
882 reviews38 followers
December 13, 2022
I can see what the author may have been going for, but this to me was more of a miss than a hit. It started out promising but rapidly fizzled out. Also, why is a single worm being repeatedly called "they"?
Profile Image for Kris.
3,599 reviews70 followers
January 27, 2022
Cute interactive picture book, but it just doesn't measure up to some of the best ones. If you are tired of reading Pigeon, or The Monster at the End of this Book, or the like, this one might be a fun change.
5,870 reviews146 followers
November 28, 2018
This Book Will Not Be Fun is a children's picture book written by Cirocco Dunlap and illustrated by Olivier Tallec. It is a mouse proclaiming that the book in your hands would not be fun, despite the amazing and fun things happening in the background.

Dunlap's text is simplistic and straightforward. The narrative is rather simple and a somewhat fun book about a mouse professing the book in hand is a boring book, by breaking the fourth wall. Tallec's illustrations are wonderfully depicted, a tad cartoonish, but it exemplifies and apropos to the text rather well.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is about mouse proclaiming the book on hand is boring and no fun, despite a fictional word-eating flying whale, a black out, and many more things that is the antithesis of the mouse’s proclamation.

All in all, This Book Will Not Be Fun is a somewhat well written children's book that is not as successful of proving the mouse’s antithesis as I would have liked.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews

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