By Mariajo Ilustrajo (author) , Mariajo Ilustrajo (illustrator)
"A love story to books and reading, celebrating the untold adventures to be enjoyed between the pages of a good book."
Paperback In Stock £7.99 £7.19
Hardback In Stock £12.99 £11.69
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Imagine the injustice of having to read a WHOLE book over the summer holidays! That’s the horror one little girl is faced with in I Love Books , and she’s not happy about it. A trip to the library does little to quell her disgust at least not at first, but when the right book is put in her hands a world of imagination opens for her and maybe, just maybe, her hatred of books starts to change.
Mariajo is an award-winning illustrator, and these wonderful illustrations are a perfect example of her stunning talent. The girl’s initial discontent is hilariously demonstrated in the pictures, whilst the almost magical disconnect between a reader and their physical body when engrossed in a story, is later perfectly captured.
Glorious use of colour is made, starting with muted early pages that contain just an intriguing flash of neon orange. Then as the girl starts to enjoy her book, her life and our reading experience become wonderfully vibrant and colourful.
I particularly enjoyed that the book the girl is given is called The Big Adventure, that is of course what reading offers, one big adventure after another. There are similar small, imaginative details throughout, making this a joy to reread on repeat.
A sure to be favourite, this charming book expertly shows the magic that occurs when I Hate Books becomes I LOVE books.
From the award-winning creator of Flooded and Lost comes a third, colourful picture book about the joy that comes from discovering a connection with books for the very first time.
Read the full description
This magical ode to the power of a good book will enthral bookworms and reluctant readers.
It's the end of term, and a little girl is given the unreasonable task of reading a whole book over the holidays. A whole book? but she HATES books. Luckily her sister takes her to the library and recommends just the thing.
Slowly, the little girl is drawn into a world of adventure inside her own imagination, for the very first time. Even the greyscale world starts to fill with colour as she is carried away in the story.
A little fennec fox leads her to meet fairytale witches and creatures as they find ingredients to cast a special spell at the end of her book. The little girl is dismayed to learn that the spell seemingly hasn't changed a thing. However, the little fox points out that she is completely transformed: discovering the power of her imagination has transformed her forever.
Printed in bright Pantone inks throughout, this is a simple yet exciting book with minimalist drawings and stylistic callouts.
Designed for kids who claim to hate reading, this fun page-turner will delight and inspire kids to change their minds about books for good!
Discover adventure on every page and turn "I Hate Books" into "I Love Books!"
‘Enchanting [...] A charming & convincing message about the joy of getting lost in a good book.’ - The Bookseller Editor’s Choice!
'A gentle story of climate change and community, this is a visually stunning debut using a minimal text, richly detailed images and a limited palette of striking Pantone colours.' - The Bookseller, One to Watch
Mariajo Ilustrajo is a multi-award-winning author-illustrator based in the UK. Her debut Flooded published in 2022 to widespread global acclaim: it was sold into 22 languages, won a score of prestigious literary prizes and received glowing international reviews. Her second and third books Lost (2023) and I Hate Love Books (2024) were published to the same fanfare, both shortlisted for Carnegie Medals for Illustration, with her fourth book Oh, Carrots publishing in paperback in 2026, alongside new picture book Unexpected Guests .
Mariajo loves to cook and to draw, and fills dozens of sketchbooks with her daily scribbles.
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This book was a fun story about how reading can be an adventure and not something that is boring. There are also beautiful illustrations to show this. I really enjoyed it.
This book was fun to read. I love reading books and I think it shows how reading can be fun and does not have to be hard work. The pictures in the book were very nice and colourful and it made the book more fun to read. I think that children who don’t enjoy reading can see from the story that reading can be an adventure and that going to the library is fun.... Read Full Review
A brilliant look at how a child can get lost in a book and want to spend more and more time in that imaginary world once they have found the right book for them
I read this book to my 6-year-old sister and we both loved it. The illustrations are great fun and we especially enjoyed looking at all the little details on the inside of the back cover that showed how the reader got to be different characters in each of the books they were reading.
The little girl in the story starts off upset that she has been set homework to read a whole book over the school holidays.... Read Full Review
From the award-winning creator of Flooded and Lost comes a third, colourful picture book about the joy that comes from discovering a connection with books for the very first time. This magical ode to the power of a good book will enthral bookworms and reluctant readers.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed I Love Books and determined it is suitable for children aged 3-6 years old
I Love Books features in the following genres: Featured Books for 3+ readers, Featured Books for 5+ readers, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Bedtime Stories for Children, Picture storybooks, Children’s picture books, Children’s: picture books, activity books, early learning concepts, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Paperback, Hardback. £7.19, down from the £7.99 cover price. In Stock.
I Love Books was written by Mariajo Ilustrajo and published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books
I Love Books has 40 pages
£7.19, reduced from £7.99. In Stock.
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