The Book That Eats People

The Book That Eats People
By John Perry
Illustrated by Mark Fearling
E PER

The Book That Eats People opens with a dire warning: “CAUTION! This is a book that eats people.” The book has consumed many victims and is hungry for more. One fateful day little Sammy Ruskin forgot to wash the peanut butter off his fingers before reading his book. The book got a taste of the peanut butter, ate Sammy, and realized that people tasted better than anything else. His parents donated the book to the library, where it went on a rampage eating library books, disguised itself as a harmless book, and escaped.

The red cover’s menacing eyes, yellow caution tape, credits shaped as fangs stand out and draw the prospective reader’s curiosity. Fearling’s collage illustrations, reminiscent of Lane Smith’s work, capture the spirit of the narrative and are full of details for the reader to study. The ravenous book’s facial expressions are menacing without being too scary, giving the book personality.

Be on the alert while reading this book and have clean hands.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard