The Incredible Book Eating Boy

The trouble with things that are really, really good is that everyone else tends to think so too. So if you're rushing down to the Imagine Festival at London's South Bank this week you may be disappointed to find that Bootworks Theatre's extrordinary adaptation of Oliver Jeffers' The Incredible Book Eating Boy has sold out. Hardly surprising, since each five-minute show has an audience of just one person, who watches it from inside a small black box, with the puppeteers dancing round the outside. The show tells the story of Henry, a boy who loves books. But not in the conventional sense, he loves books as food! Henry gets smarter and smarter as he eats more books, but finds that it isn't the healthiest habit. Author Mal Peet caught the show when it premiered in Edinburgh last summer, writing that "it is utterly, sometimes alarmingly, consistently magically, wonderful... If I've ever experienced a more enjoyable five minutes, it would involve nothing I'm willing to confess to." But don't be disappointed. We've managed to find you your very own video performance: The Incredible Book Eating Boy is currently touring, so watch out for this five star gem at any upcoming literary festival.