YouTube antics don’t translate to print

Recently famous YouTuber Alfie Deyes of The Pointless Blog just released “The Pointless Book.” Immediately I grabbed at the opportunity to read it, as I spent my entire sixth grade year laughing at his videos. The book was, sadly, a slight letdown, but fun for entertaining an 8-year-old for 30 minutes.

The book was written in the similar style of “Wreck This Journal” by Keri Smith. Each page had a different activity for the reader to fulfill. The purpose was to inspire readers to create and use their imagination for each challenge. Everything that a person could easily find at home was included; writing, drawing, painting, ripping, etc.

In comparison to other books of the same genre, however, “The Pointless Book” lacked something. Maybe it was the repeated activities, or the fact that the book was seemingly stuck in 2011.

One of the positive aspects of the challenges was the #PointlessBook on certain pages. The reader would be able to tweet Alfie Deyes directly with the hashtag and gain access to the other Twitter users with the book.

The book also included a free app in the Apple Appstore with a personal welcome video from Alfie Deyes thanking the reader for purchasing the book and giving instructions on how to use the app with the book.

With the help of an iPhone camera and the helpful app, the reader is able to scan certain pages to unlock exclusive videos of Alfie and other YouTubers doing their own versions of the challenges mentioned in the book.

Upon giving this book and a pack of crayons to my sister, third-grader Jenna Krawlzik, a whole new mindset was used. Immediately she turned to the “Draw the hat!” page and started her piece of artwork (pictured at left). She was occupied with her imagination and the thought that she could create whatever she wanted.

The idea that books were meant to be creatively used was entirely new to Jenna. Applying the knowledge from the words and making the original goal of the challenge your own is the only objective; not what you do or how well you do it. It’s a break from being neat and orderly and following directions. It’s a chance to express one’s self and discover inner potential and creativity.