HERE IS A BOOK

A book’s journey from a thought to a home.

It’s been decades since Aliki’s How a Book Is Made (1986) was published, and clearly the process is worth revisiting in the 21st century. We begin with a tan-skinned artist, living an idyllic country lifestyle. She brings her work into town via bike, then presents it to her publisher. In a somewhat sped-up series of events, editors, designers, and others look at the layouts before they’re sent to the printer. The resulting books go to a large metropolis, and one finds its way into a school library and the arms of a child. Depicting covers from many classic picture books, Cooper drives home the point that each book has undergone this process and, like the one in readers’ hands, is “made with love.” His watercolor illustrations alternate between sweeping urban and rural vistas, while his human figures, varied in skin tone, are often little more than thin ink outlines, yet still capable of conveying deep emotion. This beauty is echoed in the text’s poetic lyricism, as when Cooper writes that the artist is “carrying her art across a field swirling with wind, wildflowers, bees, swallows, and color.” The printer in the book is American rather than in a country overseas, a not-unheard-of situation but not the experience of the average U.S. book, either.

A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the origins of our most beloved titles.