I Don't Want to Read This Book

I Don't Want to Read

by Max Greenfield, Mike Lowery (Contributor)

"A tongue-in-cheek take on the challenges and pleasures of reading a book"--

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Fiction, Books About Books, Storytime, Juvenile

40 pages, ebook

First published November 9, 2021

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and adorable - I couldn’t not read this in Schmidt’s voice! 😂

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. The author is a pretty popular actor and I think that's why it has as high of rating that it does. I'm not even sure what age group this book was written for. There are some words that younger kids wouldn't know but it's too plain for the older ones. This is definitely one of those examples of just-because-it-entertains-your-child,-it-doesn't-mean-you-should-publish-it-for-everyone-to-read. Thank goodness I didn't waste my money on it but instead got it from the library!

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a hilarious read aloud. Perfect for fans of The Book With No Pictures

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious story about not wanting to read. For those who appreciated The Book with No Pictures and The Book No One Wants to Read, this will be welcomed.

[Xiomara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, had me rolling!!

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved I Don't Want to Read this Book, and I can just imagine a 2nd or 3rd grade class laughing out loud at it. Mike Lowery's illustrations are as always, fresh, funny, and perfect. The reluctant reader voice is spot-on. Teachers could use it as a read-aloud for a class of reluctant writers, too...especially those who complain about the transition from sentences to paragraphs.

Highly recommended for elementary library collections.

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fun. Few illustrations but the text is formatted differently across pages to make the reading engaging.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

With humor and cleverness, this book had me chuckling. There are some kids that just aren't as enamored of reading as other children; they have other interests. This book looks at the subject from their point of view. Not only is it fun to read but also introduces some challenging words such as circumstances, ridiculous and smushed. It starts off complaining about too many words, then goes onto sentences and even the dreaded paragraph! I had to laugh about the part saying how some paragraphs can be as long as an entire page. Heck, I've come across some in my reading that went longer than that. The segue from the grumbling about chapter books into "Chapter 2" was quite amusing. In fact I found the whole book entertaining.

[Nandiito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baca di Libby

Jenis bacaan sekali duduk yang unik bagi saya. Ada dua pilihan untuk menikmati buku ini : yang pertama dibaca dan yang kedua di dengar. Tentu saya memilih pilihan kedua untuk mendengarkan buku ini. Menikmati buku ini menjadi pengalaman mencengangkan bagi saya karena konsonan suara yang begitu komunikatif, awalnya kaget juga tapi audio yang dihasilkan dalam buku ini punya suara yang khas.

Btw, isi dari buku ini mencerminkan judul dalan buku ini. Jadi apa yang harus dilakukan oleh pembaca yang enggan membaca? Jawabannya, Ambil bukumu dan baca jika tidak mau di cemooh oleh empunya narator yang melihatmu hanya memakan 🍰

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Don’t Want to Read this Book

I Picked Up This Book Because: Curious about the author’s work.

Media Type: eBook
Source: H C Public Library
Dates Read: 2/3/25
Rating: 5 Stars


The Story:

What a fun way to present book structure and grammar concepts. I would have eaten this book up in elementary school. (I ate it up now). Very fun with great illustrations.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the most fun Peter has had reading a book to date. He made several jokes ("yuck/yucky") while reading it and had such a good time with the discontent in the book, which is something he often feels when struggling to read his books.

[Heather McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I obtained an advance copy, and I could see myself passing this book onto a reluctant reader who who just isn't in the mood to sit with a book. There's humor here and there, but I may have appreciated it more if I had a print copy in front of me.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, fun book dedicated to kids who don't like reading. They might learn a new word or two.

[Jenniffer Witherspoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I’m excited to use it with my younger students as a discussion topic about the importance of reading and what books do for the reader.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for emerging readers as it sneakily teaches sentence structure. I’m going to make my Junior High students read this when they don’t bring a book to class.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHEER JOY. I cannot wait to share this during storytime in our junior high library. And, YES. We still have storytime at a junior high.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I Don't Want to Read This Book" is a cute, light book about a character who lists ALL the reasons he doesn't want to read a book hoping that kids might read the book. It breaks the 4th wall and will have kids laughing. Books are filled with tons of words and paragraphs, so why read them?

I think the book works on many different levels; some very light and fun, but then some of it may open up a real conversation for reluctant readers and kids who might find reading to be difficult.

To listen to my interview with the author, go you my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/max...

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super cute and very funny picture book about not wanting to read books. The illustrations are mostly of the words, but they are vibrant and cheeky and funny. This would be a very fun book to read to a classroom if you are up for being very dramatic and emotional. I chuckled a lot!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Let me make myself very clear.
I don't want to read it."

The reader makes him/herself very clear: The reader does not want to read this book. The reader does not like words. The reader does not like sentences. The reader does not like paragraphs. The reader does not like chapters...

And yet, somehow, the reader is, indeed, reading this book.

A fun read.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny book in the vein of The Book With No Pictures that speaks directly to the reader. Good fun, although I think it works better as a read alone, rather than a read aloud.

I would have liked to see the reluctant narrator become a bit more positive by the end.

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a disappointment. It reads like a children's book written for adults, but only for adults. I don't think kids would like it much because it doesn't go anywhere. It just talks about words and sentences and paragraphs. And this type of book has been done before (by "celebrities" already too (eye roll)). If you want a book in this style, The Monster at the End of this Book is the one to reach for. Now that's a classic and kids love how it breaks the 4th wall!

[Shandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and funny, but sometimes the conceit of the narrator being a super reluctant reader didn't work for me. I was hoping for the reader to be won over by the end, but they maintained their dislike of reading the whole time, which left me a bit disappointed. Still, kids should find this an entertaining story.

[Becca S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was amusing as an adult. However, it’s lack of pictures and just whining about reading, seem like something any child in my life would be perfectly fine to not read. Ironically the title of the book.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: I don't want to read this book. I know it happens to be the title of this book, but let me make myself very clear. I really don't want to read it. I meany why would I read this book?

Premise/plot: The narrator--a reluctant reader--does NOT want to read this book. There are plenty of reasons WHY.

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved this book. I did. I thought it was so much fun and definitely relatable. I wouldn't ever classify myself as a reluctant reader--not really. But I was reluctant to read most things attached to school assignments. I remember one time writing in an actual assignment that I chose to read this book--I believe it was a biography of Sam Houston???--because it had LARGE PRINT and pictures.
But back to the book in hand, I loved this one because the narrative was GREAT.

I think my favorite quote was, "I don't want to read any book that has a paragraph in it. Paragraphs belong in chapter books, and chapter books are for people with nothing better to do."

[Thompson McLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and enjoyable!

Charming and silly, humorist Max Greenfield takes on reading and especially reluctant readers in I Don't Want To Read This Book. The unnamed narrator really doesn't want to read this book, or any books for that matter because BOOKS had WORDS and WORDS become SENTENCES and sentences turn into PARAGRAPHS!

And sometimes words are okay like "cake" and "YouTube." Other times words don't make sense like "doubt." No one pronounces the B, so why is it there? and long words are too hard to understand. Our silly narrator makes perfect sense, of course, and kid readers will be amused and some struggling readers will empathize and agree.

Before you know it, it's THE END and the reluctant reader has read a book. Even more exciting is the fact that reader ENJOYED READING a book!

Bold design and color by illustrator Mike Lowery keep readers turning the pages.

Highly, highly recommended for any young reader especially those who claim they don't like to read.

Ages 4-8.

[Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could make comparisons, I'd say Greenfield's book, I Dont Want to Read This Book, is to audiobooks what the Pet Rock was to useful gifts, e.g., an amusing name, but impractical.

My mistake was that I failed to recognize that the book was designed for reluctant young readers and perhaps to satirize why some children don't like to read. But if the idea was to amuse your child, and to actually help them overcome their reluctance to pick up a book, then give them the print edition, or read it aloud to them yourself.

Perhaps your child could find the content of the book amusing, but the audiobook is the wrong format. Luckily for me, the audiobook format only runs for 4 or 5 minutes, so the amount of time I felt I wasted was short.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

IDWtRTB is all about not wanting to read. It expresses everything an anti-reader has ever wanted to scream from the hilltops - too many words, chapters, paragraphs, length, boredom - in comical, vibrant pages. Before you know it, the book has ended, and voila: you've read a book.

I like the wit of this book. It isn't formal, and as mentioned above covers all the feelings of kids who don't like reading. The text is also in a handwritten/word art style, which has also appealed to me. The words do carry the illustrations, as there isn't much in the way of pictures, but it's done well.

I would read this book to struggling readers in center time and/or recommend it to stubborn readers as a step toward motivated literacy.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got an ARC on Edelweiss and I could tell this was Mike Lowery right away. He might be my favorite illustrator right now??

The book is cute and clearly a fun read-aloud. I can just picture the kids' delight if a parent or teacher read this to them. It's so taboo to say you don't want to read! But there the grown-ups go!!

There isn't much of a story other than this, and if I was asked to imagine a book with this premise, I'd probably come up with something really similar to this. So it's a little predictable and you can see the jokes from a mile away. But the illustrations are lovely, and the author bio is hysterical, so it's a very solid "liked it" for me.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun and cute, but reminded me a little too much of The Book With No Pictures, coincidentally also written by an actor. I think it works well as a read-aloud, but not so much for kids reading on their own (some words that young readers definitely won't understand, and not enough pictures to hold the attention of a solo reader).

I also thought by the end the narrator would have changed their opinion and liked reading, but they still seemed to be just as blah about it as they were at the beginning, which doesn't seem to send the best message for a book that's supposed to target reluctant readers.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another funny book that talks directly to the reader. Despite not wanting to read this book, the narrator does in fact read this book, which feels like the narrator wrote it themselves to fill the previously blank pages. For those reluctant readers. It could be a fun one to read when introducing the concept of sentences and paragraphs too. This one is perfect for fans of The Book With No Pictures and There's a BLANK in Your Book. I could imagine this being a hilarious read aloud for a K-2 summer reading book talk. I don't usually like children's books written by celebrities, but every once in a while, there's a good one, like this one.