Winner of the Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration 2023
Shortlisted for Illustrator of the Year - British Book Awards 2025
From the award-winning creator of Flooded and Lost comes a magical story about discovering a connection with books for the very first time.
This brightly illustrated adventure story is perfect for kids who claim to hate reading, as the enchanting narrative opens their eyes to a fantasy world created by words on a page.
In this spellbinding story, we meet a little girl excited for the end of term. No more school! However, she’s given the very unreasonable task of reading a whole book over the holidays. A whole book? But she HATES books. But her sister takes her to the library – she says she has just the thing.
Slowly, the little girl is drawn into a world of adventure: a little fennec fox leads her to meet fairytale witches and creatures, as they find ingredients to cast a special spell at the end of her book. At first, the little girl is dismayed to learn that this spell seemingly hasn't changed a thing . . . however, the little fox points out that she HAS transformed: discovering the power of her imagination has changed her forever.
This charming, engaging picture book shows children how wonderful books can really be, to encourage a lifelong love of reading. Discover adventure on every page – and turn I Hate Books into I Love Books!
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Mariajo Ilustrajo is an award-winning Spanish illustrator based in the UK. She completed her MA in Children's Illustration from the prestigious Cambridge Anglia Ruskin course in April 2021. Her debut picture book, Flooded, won the Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration 2023.
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