30 May 2015

The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak

I've been following a few mom bloggers abroad. And if you are a regular reader of mine, you know that I love this amazing mom from New York City behind Mommy Shorts. Her name is Ilana Wiles. Remember her Evil Baby Glare Off last year? My daughter got in top 6! Anyway, her level of creativity makes me want to be her. As in, when I grow up I want to be Ilana, haha! Of course, I'm kidding. I'm just one of her league of fans. So Ilana posted a photo of this book on her Instagram (kudos to me for finding it amidst her 2,412 posts) and wrote about it on her spectacular site. This fanatic got curious, as always when she posts new stuff. I told myself I'd get one for my girl.


2014 ended just like that and I never got the book for my little bedtime reader. 

Fast forward to one serendipitous day that Amazon put it on a 4-dollar sale. Yay! I thought I can get it and use the remaining money on my PayPal. But then, just before I put it in my cart, I realized the shipping fee will kill my joy eventually. I still didn't give up, though. In the middle of what seemed to be a deep contemplation on how to get one, a message popped on my Facebook. It was from my Florida-based friend who got married this month. She was asking me about the gown as I was one of her secondary sponsors. My friend happened to be my daughter's godmom so I sweet-talked her in buying it for me her godchild. Tee-hee.

Problem solved. 

I got the book on my friend's wedding day. We, my husband and I, were not with Sophia that day so the book kinda served as a little token for being left home with my MIL. When I handed the book to her, she was no near excited. Obviously, a plain white book with office-style font won't be appealing to a girl who's been used to books such as Pinkalicious or with illustrations like The Berenstein Bears. She slid it back in my bag. I already read the book while I was being made up, so I know there's no way my fun-loving girl won't like it.

The husband left for work that night; this military family was back to just me and her. To make sure she'll sleep happily despite having to say goodbye to her pop the nth time, I read the book to her. 


Her reaction was expected. And priceless! Her laughter filled the room and my heart, oh my heart, it was melting out of pure joy. Just to hear her catch her breath from too much laughing was surely an accomplishment for the writer, my friend who bought it and most especially, me. I knew she's gonna have fun listening to me, or rather watching me make silly sounds. If you know the book and your kid has one, you'll know what I mean. And for those planning to buy, this book can practice you to do some real theatrical expressions! This isn't for parents who don't like to step out of their super monotonous tone of voice. Please give justice to the genius' work by reading it with emotions. Like when you say BONK, pretend you're a ball that hit the edge of the bleachers. And when the book tells you that you only have one friend named hippo, read it as if it was true. Trust me, the next few words can drive you nuts but it will definitely make your child exaggeratedly happy.


Sorry if this didn't seem like your usual book review. I have nothing else to say about it but THANK YOU, MR. NOVAK! I hope he writes more books. With or without pictures, I'm sure it'll be awesome. 

5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It is! Entertaining read even for non-parents. :)

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  2. I've been seeing this at bookstores and always got me curious about it.

    In Transit PH

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  3. nakacurious ako sa book 😊 sana may mahanap ako na eBook nyan. Thanks for sharing 😘

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