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The Book That No One Wanted to Read
Last updated Sunday, May 25, 2025
Author: Richard Ayoade
Illustrator: Tor Freeman
Date of Publication: 2023
ISBN: 153622216X
Grade Level: 5th (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Jun. 2025
Synopsis:
The life of a book isn't easy, especially when people judge you by your cover (not every book can be adorned with sparkly unicorns!). And this narrator should know - it's the book itself, and it has a lot of opinions. It gets irritated when readers bend its pages back, and it finds authors quite annoying. But it does have a story to tell.
Through witty direct address and illustrations, readers meet a book that has never been read, with a cover the boring color of a school lunch table and pages so dry they give bookworms indigestion. But what happens when this book meets you, a curious reader?
| Discussion topics for before reading: |
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Do you like to read books? What kinds of books do you like to read? Sports, adventures, mysteries,
graphic novels? What books do you not like to read?
Vocabulary
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capybara: a tailless, semi-aquatic South and Central American rodent often exceeds 4 feet in length.
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unicorn: a mythical creature often depicted as a white horse with a long mane and a horn in the middle
of its forehead.
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best seller: a product, especially a book, whose sales are among the highest in its class.
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aroma: a distinctive, pervasive and pleasant smell
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illegible: not legible, not readable
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literature: writings in prose and poetry. A collection of writings on a specific topic, culture or country.
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telepathic: communication from one mind to another.
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| Discussion topics for during/after reading: |
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Pg. xii: Have you ever done any of these things to a book; especially to ones you own?
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Pg. 8: Just for fun … If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there, does it make a sound?
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For what reasons do you think a book might not be read?
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| Craft ideas: |
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Make your own book: Take several sheets of plain white paper. Stack together. Fold them in half together. Take a piece of construction paper and fold it in half the same way. SUGGESTION: Use a light-
colored sheet of construction paper. It is easier to read anything you write or draw on it. Place folded white sheets in the construction paper. Decorate the “cover” of your book and don’t forget your name. If there is a stapler in the room, staple it into a book form. Now you can use this as a journal or diary, a sketch book or for keeping a list of all the books you’ll read before school starts again.
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Father’s Day is Sunday, June 15, 2025. Make a greeting card for someone; father, grandfather, uncle,
etc.
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Draw a picture of something you are going to do this summer. Examples: Camping, go to the beach, take a
road trip.
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| Special activities: |
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Do the Word Search
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FINALLY, remember when there is a really hot day and you live in an apartment or house with no air
conditioning, the is a place you can go that does have AC … the LIBRARY and it's FREE.
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*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions.
You can use them, but you don't have to use them.
You can expand upon them, or add your own twist.
Remember, though, that the focus of your time should
not be on the development and execution of a craft;
the focus should be on the read-aloud and the
enjoyment of the book!
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