The Book That No One Wanted to Read
Age 9+
Humorous Stories
"Laugh out loud funny and full of heart" Noel Fielding
"Funny, bonkers and brilliant" The Stylist
"Very funny, with brilliant illustrations. It should be called The Book That Everyone Wanted To Read." Nadia Shireen
"One book that I really think children should read is The Book That No One Wanted to Read." David Baddiel
Have you ever thought about how it feels to be a book? To be left under a whiffy pant pile or shelved, forever collecting dust? To have your pages bent backwards or your spine BROKEN? What if you don’t have a sparkly unicorn or dragon adorning your cover – who will pick you out of the bookshop then? This is the story of the sadly neglected Book That No One Wanted To Read – can its destiny change when it finally meets the right reader? Spoiler alert: yes.
Creators
Richard Ayoade is a highly-tolerated British comedian, BAFTA-winning actor (The IT Crowd), writer, director and TV presenter (the 2021 BAFTAS, Have I Got News For You?, Travel Man). He regularly appears on comedy panel shows such as 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year. He wrote and directed the film Submarine from the novel by Joe Dunthorne, and directed and co-wrote (with Avi Korine) The Double. He has written three books on film; this is his debut children’s book. He is married to Lydia, who is also his wife. They have two children, who also have names. They would rather not tell you where they live, but are happy to send you a drop pin via text.
Tor Freeman graduated from Kingston University with a BA in Illustration and has worked as an illustrator, author and comics-maker ever since. She is the illustrator and creator of many children's books and comic strips, including The Toucan Brothers, the Olive series and Welcome to Oddleigh. Tor is the holder of a Sendak Fellowship, and won the Observer/Cape/Comica graphic short story prize.
Reviews
packed in visual vim as well as ample wit.
Kitty Empire's Chapter Books of the Year, Observer
Everything Richard does turns to gold and this is an absolute treat! packed with ideas and so funny.
For imagination giving: The Book That No One Wanted To Read by Richard Ayoade An inspired way to get younger minds into the joy of books is Richard Ayoade’s funny, bonkers and brilliant new read that’s joyfully illustrated by Tor Freeman
'Christmas Gift Guide for Book Lovers', Stylist
this is a strange and entertaining story that has a lot of fun exploring some of our ideas about reading and what we expect from a book. The funny illustrations by Tor Freeman are the perfect match for the clever, brilliantly silly story.
The Week Junior
Splendidly illustrated by Tor Freeman , The Book… combines snarky silliness with a paean to the limitless possibilities of the blank page.
'Chapter Books of the Month', The Observer
