A young girl relishes the thought of the upcoming school holidays – sleep ins, no spelling tests and no books!

But wait. What? They have to read a book in the holidays? A WHOLE book? What is her teacher thinking!? She HATES books!

Her friends aren’t fazed by the task ahead, but she shares the terrible news with her mother, who knows just the place to help. The library.

There are soooo many books. And they all look soooo boring. Her mum shows her a book she once enjoyed, and it is issued out for the school holidays.

With trepidation, the girl begins to read. But wait. Hang on a sec. Woooow!

Suddenly she meets a strange masked creature who leads her on a quest. There is quicksand and pirates. Enchanted forests and Houses of witches! They must gather special ingredients whilst swinging swords, dancing with frogs and distracting a witch!

Dinner comes too soon, but the young girl keeps the book close by, knowing there is more adventure to come. There is a special spell that must be cast, and soon she is right in the centre of it!

I purchased this wonderful book for my own collection as it portrays the astonishing moment of realising how incredible a story can be! 

When you open the front cover, there are several illustrations of the main character with a device in her hands, on her ears, or on her lap. By the end of the book, the devices have been replaced with all kinds of books.

Getting kids addicted to story is one of the best parts of my profession as a children’s author and bookseller. Seeing their faces light up as the latest in their favourite series arrives in store for them, or they chatter excitedly about their latest read at our Tweens Bookclub to other members – is magical.

Books and story take us anywhere and everywhere with no restrictions except the human imagination. This is turn feeds young reader’s imaginations, which can then take us all into amazing things in our future.

I Hate / Love Books captures this moment with humour, wonderful illustration and exciting adventure.

Brilliant!

Author – Mariajo Ilustrajo

Picture Book

Age – 4+

(2024, Allen & Unwin, Quarto Publishing, Books, Reading, Funny, Humour, Cat, Library, Story, Wonder, Adventure, Quest, Book lover, Storybook World, Magical, Witches, Spellcasting, Fantasy)