Can You Read This Book?

A new collection by the author of previous British Library title Swallowed by a Whale: How to Survive the Writing Life, this book challenges readers with impossible tongue-twisters and word-mangles in an amazing reading adventure. With illustrations throughout by Joanna Lisowiec.For adventurous readers of all ages... a book of nonsense, old and new... a playful text, like a game to share, a challenge... an absurd-word wrangle-mangle, a story-stew...

This beautifully presented and fully illustrated new collection presents many English-language favorites, some old and some newly made, to try twisting your tongue to. Dip in and out, or attempt to read all the way to the end in one sitting. The word gatherings get harder as the book goes on, but each gets easier, of course, once you have a go.

Read these words carefully and out loud. Follow the book’s path as it turns and twists, as it stoops and stumbles. Keep up as it baffles your brain and shifts your senses. Try saying them as fast as you can. Delight in the confusion and test yourself. You’ll soon get the hang of it.Can you read this book? We look forward to finding out.

About the Author

Huw Lewis-Jones is an author, teacher, naturalist and polar expedition leader whose work has been published in many languages. His most recent edited collections are the acclaimed and bestselling The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands, Archipelago: An Atlas of Imagined Islands and Swallowed by a Whale: How to Survive the Writing Life. Huw lives in Cornwall.