Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. A strong first showing for Novak that’s sure to deliver big laughs. No matter what.” Cue sound effects (“BLUURF”) and nonsense statements (“I am a monkey who taught myself to read”) designed to make a laughingstock of the adult reader while keeping children howling, even as the reader’s “voice” lodges its protests (“Wait a second-is this whole book a trick?”). Everything the words say, the person reading the book has to say. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how. Then the kicker: “Here is how books work. “It might seem like no fun to have someone read you a book with no pictures,” Novak writes early in the book, his words set in a black serif font that all but demands a serious, James Earl Jones–style voice-over. Different font types, sizes, and colors signal important changes in tone and voice to whomever is reading the story aloud (and the book’s jokes rely on a readaloud setting). A 1 New York Times bestseller, this innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Actor Novak’s expert sense of comic timing is on full display in his first picture book, which, true to its title, only contains words on a white background.
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