Don't Read This Book!

When a King realises someone (‘YOU’) has started reading an unfinished story being written for him, he commands you to stop. But it’s already too late and the reader cannot help but follow the King and his disorganised story writer as they desperately search for the writer’s notes and the props for the story in a race through ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, to complete the tale of ‘The Princess and the Pea’ before they run out of pages.

The reader is an active participant in the creation of the fiction, which, from the outset has three distinct voices – the King’s story writer, the King himself shouting commands to the reader and the story writer (within the story) and the author as narrator from her standpoint outside the story; all potentially competing for attention but in fact, all working synergistically to create this multi-layered and hugely entertaining narrative.

The illustrations too are multi-layered and give the reader further insights into the art of story making. So, there are letters and writing paraphernalia scattered throughout, sketchy illustration ideas on graph paper backgrounds, scraps of paper carrying parts of the story in different fonts, and bit part characters from other traditional stories helping to bring the elements of this story together. All in all, a compelling, fascinating and hugely entertaining book for all ages once you are familiar with the traditional tales alluded to therein.