The Book No One Ever Read
by Cornelia Funke (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations)
2 out of 5 stars

One little book is tired of sitting on the shelf. He longs to find a reader. The other books are content to sit and wait, but this book is ready for an adventure. I liked the concept of books wishing to be read, and I thought the story was good. The books are caricatures of famous authors like Victor Hugo, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, and Alexander Dumas.

I found the artwork… unsettling in a strange way. The books look so weird and creepy! Their ghoulish little faces…. It was like some nightmare unreality of twisted forms and crooked illusions. I can’t put my finger on it, but I just hated the artwork. I could barely look at the page. I found it so disturbing that I just wanted to close the book and throw it away.

I also didn’t like that the other books are violent to the little book who wants to leave the bookshelf. They bully him and push him off his shelf! Add that behavior to the already creepy illustrations, and no wonder I found them disturbing.