[Book Review] It's a Book by Lane Smith

Honestly, I wasn't expecting this to be what it is. It's not really a picture book for kids; more than anything, it seems to be mocking children for the way modern children are raised, which... A) that's got nothing to do with the children themselves and B) if kids really don't read books, then who is the intended audience for this?

I dunno, guys. I just really came away from this reading experience feeling like this was a book written for adults, wherein the entire premise is just to poke fun at children for supposed faults that aren't even any child's fault in the first place. It feels a little mean-spirited, and it just didn't sit well with me. Maybe that's just me, who knows.

That said, the final joke is a great, startling punchline (if viewed from the context of a picture book for adult readers; I don't know that I'd want my two- or three-year-old to know the word jackass for at least a couple more years!). I can't lie on that one; I genuinely laughed aloud, so A+! But it too heavily implies that this book was never in any way meant for children, which just helps add to the weirdly mean-spirited feel of it.

Anyway... Adult picture book fans, It's a Book is probably for you; parents of small children, this one is probably not for your little reader's eyes. Unless, you know, you're trying to encourage in them a sense of smug superiority over children who don't (or can't) read very many books...?

I just don't know.