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Title:

Help! We need a title!

Alternate title:

Untitled

Author:

Tullet, Hervé, author, artist.

Summary:

Take a peek inside this book and you'll find some characters (though they're still a bit sketchy). They'll be perplexed to see you, so they'll quickly try to track down their author (who has a lot more work to do). What you won't find is a story, or a title, because, guess what? The book isn't finished yet! But surely the author must have a story to tell? In this charming "meta" picture book, children of all ages are encouraged to interact with a book still in the process of being invented. And that's a story in itself!

Audience:

004-008.

General Note:

Cover title.

"Originally published in France by Bayard Éditions S.A. under the title: Sans titre, 2013."

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

70 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 27 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Characters and characteristics in literature -- Juvenile fiction.

Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction.

Authorship -- Juvenile fiction.

Children's literature -- Stories, plots, etc. -- Juvenile fiction.

Plots (Drama, novel, etc.) -- Juvenile fiction.

Children's literature -- Authorship -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Candlewick Press,

Publication Date:

2014

2013

ISBN:

9780763670214

Publication Information:

Sommerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2014.

Call Number:

P TULLET

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002887506	Picture Books	TULLET	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

What if you picked out a book to read, but the characters weren't ready for you yet? A clever picture book from the creator of the New York Times bestseller Press Here.

Take a peek inside this book and you'll find some characters (though they're still a bit sketchy). They'll be perplexed to see you, so they'll quickly try to track down their author (who has a lot more work to do). What you won't find is a story, or a title, because -- guess what? The book isn't finished yet! But surely the author must have a story to tell? In this charming "meta" picture book, children of all ages are encouraged to interact with a book still in the process of being invented. And that's a story in itself!

Author Notes

Hervé Tullet was born in 1958. He studied Fine Art and worked as an Art Director before joining the advertising industry. In 1994 he published his first book for children and has since become one of the world¿s most innovative book makers. He is known in France as `The Prince of pre-school books' because he takes the concept of reading to a new level, teaching young minds to think imaginatively, independently and creatively.

Tullet's beautiful illustrations, interactive cut-outs, and magic lines make titles such as The Game of Light, The Game of Patterns, and The Game of Mix-Up Art, the perfect way to encourage seat-bound kids to think creatively and independently.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-Tullet breaks the fourth wall in this fantastic book. His characters look readers right in the eye and talk directly to them. A pig and a princess are busy playing when they notice they are being watched; they stop and call for other characters to come and take a look. They're all unpolished scribbles created with various media and mixed in with smudges, smears, doodles, and notes the author has written to himself. The chaos is great fun and gives the appearance of a book in progress. Tullet himself has a cameo, mugging for the camera in a series of entertaining head shots on top of a drawn torso. His cast of characters begs him for a story so readers won't get bored and go away, and he obliges them. But they're less than impressed with his effort. He feigns offense, and in a wonderful reference to his wildly successful Press Here (Chronicle, 2011), he asks readers to push the button on his desk lamp, leaving the characters in the dark, their bewildered eyes glowing. They ask readers to turn the light back on and express their gratitude with sweet farewells. The pig and princess resume their play. Kids will love the messiness of the pages and the casual, witty dialogue. With this book, Tullet adds to his repertoire of interactive creations unparalleled in their cleverness and merriment.-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

With plenty of self-referential good cheer, Tullet (Press Here) makes fun of picture books-and of himself, too. The fourth wall comes down immediately as a hastily scrawled cast of characters-fairy princess, pig, dog, snake, stick figure-look out of the page in faux shock ("Someone's watching us!"). "I think they would like a story," says the pig. They scramble to provide entertainment, holding up a cheesy ocean sunset backdrop, then recruiting a bad guy. "I don't know anything about stories," says the red monster, who's more sweet than scary. "You're going to need someone else... an author!" A door opens to reveal Tullet in his studio, a photo of his aggrieved face pasted onto a scribbled cartoon body. "Sorry," he says, in comic consternation, "but you can't stay here.... This book isn't finished yet!" After creating a hasty story for his characters, the author chases everybody out. Particularly effective is Tullet's use of varying visual vocabularies to signal the frame stories and the narratives inside them, while exuberant splashes and splotches read as the happy embrace of imperfection. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.