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It's a Book

Smith, Lane. Book - 2010 Kids Book / Picture Books / General / Smith, Lane 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.4 out of 5

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Call Number: Kids Book / Picture Books / General / Smith, Lane
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Westgate Kids Books
4-week checkout
Kids Book / Picture Books / General / Smith, Lane 4-week checkout On Shelf

Playful and lighthearted with a subversive twist that is signature Lane Smith, IT{u2019}S A BOOK is a delightful manifesto on behalf of print in the digital age.

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School Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Surprised this is aimed at young readers submitted by beeniepie on July 9, 2014, 8:15pm My son and I love Lane Smith's "It's a Little Book" so I did not hesitate to let him check out "It's a Book."

But to my surprise, the last sentence on the last page is, "It's a book, Jackass."

While I understand the lighthearted intent, I am not a fan of introducing this type of twist on words to young kids. Especially when so many young kids (I'm not talking about tweens or teens) barely understand the technology the book is poking fun at to understand the point the book is trying to make.

This is very much a picture book for an adult, or a tween, not a young kid.

It's A Book submitted by SBNB on July 3, 2016, 6:12pm The last line made me laugh out loud. I was reading it to my infant, so I didn't hesitate to finish the sentence (see the other review for details). If my 3-year-old had been around, however, I probably would have substituted a different word simply because she repeats everything and I don't need her going around saying questionable words. That said, I don't think there's a problem reading this to little kids. If you have an issue with the word "jackass", substitute a different one. If you start the book from the very beginning, it shows all three animals and lists their names: mouse, jackass, and monkey I think. So it would be possible to to play it off as "this is just another word for donkey" without getting into the details. But maybe the details aren't such a big deal either. In at least certain dialects of Arabic, the word for "donkey" is synonymous with "stupid" or "idiot", and my older child has already yelled that Arabic word at other drivers while we were in the car (Nice role-modeling, Daddy). So maybe it's really not that big of a deal. And like I said, if you have a problem with it, use a different word. It's one word in an entire book, a book that is really quite cute.

And speaking of the rest of the entire book minus that one word, it's about books and how they are not computers or cell phones or tablets. I enjoyed the book, the entire book.

This Is a Book submitted by Meginator on June 17, 2018, 5:47pm I read this book with my young nephew and we both loved it. It has a particularly good sense of humor that will amuse readers of all ages, explaining how books differ from other media (be still my book-loving heart!). Do watch out for that final kicker, though.

Funny! submitted by amk08 on August 13, 2018, 2:06pm Probably more enjoyable for adults, as they will see the simple humor

It's a book submitted by VanCancue on August 24, 2021, 12:37am Didn't want my kid to think it was ok to use or leanr using the word jackass just yet.

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PUBLISHED
New York : Roaring Brook, 2010.
Year Published: 2010
Description: 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 27 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781596436060
1596436069

SUBJECTS
Books -- Fiction.