FICTION

Don’t Open This Book!

by Elena Sturgess (text) & illus. by Katya Zolina
Taffy Tales. (Don’t Lift the Flaps!). Sept. 2025. 10p. Board $9.99. ISBN 9781998211722. K-Gr 2
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2–The Lost World, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, and Treasure Island are the titles that tempt “you,” as addressed by a bespectacled owl who narrates. But no matter the admonishments, you just keep reading the next book, represented by highly exaggerated and very condensed versions of what happens in each title (a house twirling through a tornado for Oz in cartoon-style illustrations). At the end, readers/you are told “You must really love reading,” and that’s it. It’s an artificial construct, not very carefully laid out; the book is more like an awkward movie trailer of titles children won’t encounter till middle grade.
VERDICT This may acclimatize children to the names of great books, if it holds their attention.
Reviewed by Kimberly Olson Fakih , Oct 01, 2025

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