This Is Not a Book
A playfully deceptive format that encourages young readers to see things differently. Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2016, Picture Books category.
This is not a book - it's a laptop, a pair of hands to clap, a toolbox! Each spread of this book is actually something else entirely, challenging young readers to see things quite differently!
Turning the page and finding a full-sized image of piano keys will invite children to swing the book on its side for imaginative play; turning the page again to find a monster with its mouth wide open will prompt children to use the book to chomp everything around them! The result stretches beyond the pages of this book, prompting readers to think creatively about other objects in their daily lives.
Ages 2-4 years
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
Jean Jullien is a prolific and beloved French graphic design artist. His creative output ranges from illustration, photography, and video to costumes, installations, books, posters, clothing -- even skateboards. Jullien has shown work around the world with museums and galleries in Paris, London, Brussels, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and more. His work appears in The New York Times, New Yorker, National Geographic, SZ Magazine, Telerama and more, and he has collaborated with Beams, RCA Records, The Connaught, Colette, Amnesty International, Le Coq Sportif, Jardin des Plantes (Nantes), Hotel Amour, Champion USA, Salomon, and Petit Bateau, among other global brands.
"When is a board book not a board book? When it's a laptop computer, tent, or butterfly with flapping wings. And thanks to Jullien's bold cartooning and clever rethinking of how the facing pages of each spread interact, this delightfully designed book transforms into those objects and many more."--Publishers Weekly - Best Books of the Year
"A witty board book that's perfect for inquisitive preliterate kids."--Financial Times
"A visual riot, glossy high quality pages with two-page spreads of vivid illustrations. No words! My boys used their own words, made up stories, acted out scenes, mimed the actions for the pictures. It fires up imaginations; it gives your children stories. An imaginary treat." --Guardian.com
"This wordless picture book is simply brilliant! This is a book (not a book!) that works on so many levels ? it will entertain the littlies... engage and inspire the slightly older kids, and perhaps remind any adults who might have forgotten that books can take us anywhere we want to go. Books really are so much more than 'just books'. Jean Jullien = creative genius." --Kids' Book Review
"a bright, innovative board book that will get children thinking... Perfect for developing kids' imaginations and cultivating a lifelong love of reading." --The Sun
"A fabulous board book designed to challenge younger readers to think creatively about objects in their everyday lives. Really unique." --Angels & Urchins
"This is Not A Book. It's not. It's a fridge full of food, a laptop, a piano. It's an attempt to get kids to play with the world around them, and it's created by Jean Jullien, the designer and satirist behind the 'Peace for Paris' symbol" --The Observer Magazine
"It can used as a pretend piano, and there's a monster lurking on one page. Look out for the twist at the end ? it folds out to become a house." --Evening Standard
"Every page brings a new surprise... won't fail to spark your child's imagination and inspire them to create artworks of their own. Especially when they discover this book's hidden secret, which will leave them wondering... Is it really a book at all?" --Smallish
