Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

Beat this Book! Is an interactive book that made everyone smile. Not for bedtime, but a winner for sure

It’s a book alright and a sassy guy at that. Here I Quote, I want to beat YOU! Are you, reader, up for the challenge? First, you’ll have to complete the ridiculous, silly, and absolutely fun challenges.

Sample challenges:

Can you say the longest place name in the world? Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaunga horonukupokaiwhenuakitnatahu, I mean quicker than the book?

Can you point to your spine? Well that was easy but where is the book’s spine?

Can you make the tiniest whisper ever?

Can you make the noise an otter makes after falling off a slippery rock? Otters! They are so uninteresting and untrustworthy? Don’t you agree?

Can you make an impression of a goldfish by holding your breath? Yeah right but a goldfish can do it for five months. Please don’t try that, you are not a fish.

Bet you can’t find the small upside down warm firefighter! Well the book won’t offer any help whatsoever. Remember the Book already told you that.

This interactive picture book is engaging, fun, and so entertaining. It’s designed to be played with, packed with clever facts and comic brilliance. The expressive illustrations bring the challenges of the book to life. I felt like the book was speaking, teasing and at times making fun of me. Yet, I adored the Book.
This book is fresh, exciting and ideal for reluctant readers, as they become a key part of the book’s story.
There are so many ways to enjoy this book. I think it’d be fun as a read aloud to a small group.
Write more Howard Calvart! Please.

What a great concept for a book! I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started this book, but it was overall a fun time! I can see this being a fun story time book at the library!

I decided to read this one with my small human. We read it in one sitting and had lots of fun getting my partner to do the activities in it.

There are lots of fun challenges and facts within its pages to keep them and you entertained for hours. Our favourite was making a band out of book instruments. Full percussion sector going on in our living room!

It is beautifully illustrated with lots to focus on. No two pages are alike!

Thoughts from an 8 year: "It is really good to like learn and it's really really funny and I really like it because there are lots of activities. And the deep sea siphonophore is really long and l like how it just doesn't stop going!”


Note: it doesn’t quite work as an ebook, but we made it work and I think as a physical book it’s perfect. My godson will being getting on for his birthday!

Son loved the unexpected interaction and range of questions asked.

At age 7, my youngest is expecting chapter books and structure when I present him with a new read. So I think this took him both back and ABACK when I asked him to read this to me.

A book with a bit of an attitude challenges readers to beat him (or possibly her?), with puzzles and questions relating to the many scenes in his/her pages. Finding animals, making shadow puppets, guessing which creature is the longest, finding a fun word to say aloud, making your body into a shape.

It was all quite unexpected but enjoyable. Some we couldn't do - folding an iPad into shapes was a little hard (the paper version of the book might have been better for this!). But it stimulated conversation and word games/interaction between child and parent (in our case).

I liked finding the silliest sausage in the picture and saying possibly the hardest word in the universe to say (a place name in New Zealand). My son enjoyed hearing me wheeze through this too...

Reminds us all that reading should be fun.

For ages 5 and above, with or without parents' input depending on your child.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I read this book with my 8 year old son and we both absolutely enjoyed every giggle-filled page! Beat This Book is an interactive fourth wall busting story that encourages kiddos to participate with various prompts. The illustrations are bold and colorful and the activities are silly and entertaining as each page invites the reader/listener to engage with the story by completing tasks like touching, answering questions, solving small puzzles and moving! My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and has always struggled to sit still and listen while being read to. The interactive nature of Beat This Book! kept him interested and an active participant in the reading experience. Ideal for classrooms and libraries!

This is the perfect read aloud book for young to mid elementary age children, approximately 4-8 year olds, and fans of books like The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak, and more dynamic, interactive books like Press Here by Herve Tullet, and Do NOT Open This Book by Andy Lee. The hands on elements are perfect for young readers, incorporating listen and follow instructions and the humor is ideal for parents, and older kids.

I was provided with an electronic copy of Beat This Book! by Howard Calvert in return for an honest review. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this title and look forward to seeking out other titles by Howard Calvert with my kiddo in the near future!

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this eCopy to review

Like other reviewers have said this book is a little confusing as it is a mixture of everything, if it was just puzzles or activities, or an interactive book then it would have been much better. The drawings are cute and parts of it were fun or interesting but overall too mixed for our liking

I was really excited by the first couple of pages, thinking that this is going to be a book full of puzzles and riddles but then it kinda flip-flopped between being a puzzle book and a picture book. It got me very confused.

3.5 ⭐️
Interactive book for kids, I know my 8 y/o would enjoy it still so I’d say for ages 6-10 or so. I think it could be better, pages were super busy, but they would prompt doing something (drawing, looking for something hidden, etc.) and make a comment/feedback to that. It was okay, I think if you are going to instruct kids to fold pages in the book you would also encourage them to color in it (a section says to draw X but to do so on a sticky note then insert into book.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I was excited for this concept, but it missed the mark for me a bit. I was confused whether it’s an activity book or not… am I searching for things? Don’t draw in the book but fold the pages? Not bad, just a little confusing.

A colorful, creative and fun book with 40 activities for children 5-7 years. Some are a bit confusing at times and the wild illustrations might be distracting for sensitive readers. A treat nontheless.

This book has the potential to be very entertaining for kids. There are a series of activities and challenges the main character, "Book," gives out. Some of the challenges require the reader to set the book aside and do something else (i.e. make a shape with their body, finding a real-life banana, etc.), so certain challenges may be difficult to complete. Book also congratulates or admits defeat to the reader, often on the same page as the challenge. This could be confusing for kids, or otherwise devalue the excitement of completing the challenges, as the conclusion of the challenge is right next to the challenge itself (have the congratulations or the conclusion message on the following page may be more effective).
Overall, I think children can enjoy this book once they know what to expect of it.

Beat This Book! is a fun activity book that has all sorts of challenges for kiddos to complete as they work through it. I feel like it would be a great way for kids to be entertained during a car trip. I liked the personification of the book & felt like the illustrations were fun and engaging.

I found some of the activities confusing & wish there had been a section with answers so I could see that I was doing what they intended. (I read a review copy so that may be different in the final)

Overall though, it would be a fun way to keep the littles engaged and entertained. Thanks to NetGalley, Howard Calvert, and Quarto Publishing for the chance to read and review! My thoughts and opinions are my own

This is such a unique and fun idea! You have a wide array of fun options such as brain teasers, puzzles, activities and experiments and more. It's very interactive and engaging and I think kids would love it

Such a cute, unique activity book. Each activity seems like it would fit a wide age range, and would be fun for toddlers up to elementary school age children. The challenges keep children interested and give an incentive to stay engaged and keep reading.

In this book, Book talks directly to the reader, challenging them to complete tasks in order to try and beat him. There are various activities, including: drawing, finding things and using the book for other non-booky tasks, such as using it as a hat or a musical instrument.

While I did enjoy this book and I am sure it will appeal to children, I wasn't really sure what the purpose of it was. The finding things activities were either solved for you by the message congratulating you for finding it, right beside the thing you were looking for, or didn't seem to have a solution at all. There was only one thing to find so once done, there was little reread value. On one page, the reader is asked to draw something, not in the book, but on a post-it, which suggested to me that it was a book to return to and perhaps repeat the activities but then others required you to fold pages, which obviously can't be undone.

I did enjoy the character of Book and the text and I always love Gemma Correll's work, but as an activity/interactive book, I'm not sure it works.

This was a fun and interactive book picture book! The mix of challenges and facts was engaging and the illustrations were eye-catching. Children will love being able to look closely at the pictures to complete the challenges. I worry about the book's spine and pages after multiple readings due to the nature of some of the book's directions (clapping with the book, etc). The book would be a bit much for a preschool audience but K-3 children would get a kick out of trying to beat the book!

Fun book! I definitely think that kids will have a super fun time reading and interacting with this book. It is a rare occurrence that you see an interactive book such as this, that is wildly funny and interesting. All of the drawings were highly detailed and colorful, which was perfect for this book. On top of that, all of the pages were organized nicely, without being too overwhelming or hard to follow.
My only critique is about the interactive bits. I wanted to make sure that each activity was possible, and I found that there weren't answers for any of them, really. This can be a double-edged sword. I think that it increases the fun to not include the answers because then kids can believe that they got the answers, and even potentially compare those answers with others. However, it might become frustrating for kids to not ever know for sure if they got the right answer. I believe that this book is good as-is, I just wanted to make sure to note this.
Overall, awesome book! I know kids will love it.

This is a fun interactive book. It would make a great one on one book for a parent and child. Lots of fun puzzles to solve. Easy enough to do independently. The wording is good and flows well.

Beat This Book! is a fun book that I think kids will enjoy. I wish it was longer and had a bit more challenges and trivia. I really liked Gemma Correll’s illustrations.