Parents' Guide to How This Book Was Made

Book Mac Barnett Picture Book 2016
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Common Sense Media Review

Jan Carr By Jan Carr , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 4+

Hilarious look at writing a book -- with pirates and tigers!

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What's the Story?

HOW THIS BOOK WAS MADE breaks down the process of writing a book from initial idea to finished copies. The writer gets an idea, writes a first draft, and revises multiple times with the input of an editor who sends the finished manuscript to illustrator. The editor then sends the art and text overseas -- to Malaysia! -- to be printed, and the book is shipped back to the United States. And maybe, along the way, a tiger arm-wrestles the writer and pirates overrun the ship, searching for treasure. Alas, they find no booty, just books, and pirates don't read. But finally the book arrives in the hands of you -- the reader! And that's what makes it a book!

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

For kids curious about how a book is made, this sets the record straight, taking the reader from idea to finished book, delivering real information and serious laughs -- tigers! pirates! -- in equal measure. In How This Book Was Made, practiced comedy duo Barnett and Rex know when to let the art deliver the punch line. When the text says, "Ideas can come at funny times," we see Barnett arm-wrestling a tiger, who returns strategically throughout the story. And if comedy genius isn't enough, these two also hit their emotional mark, directly involving the reader at the end by making the point that a book isn't a book until it has a reader: "And then you came along." Awww.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how a book is really made vs. the process in How This Book Was Made. Which details are real, and which are included for humor? Which are both real and funny?

  • The book says, "Ideas can come at funny times." How and when do you get ideas?

  • The author says he wrote 21 drafts of this story. Do you ever work with someone who helps you refine and rewrite your ideas, the way an editor does? Are those ideas helpful to you or not?

Book Details

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