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Lara Farina, West Virginia University
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to .
How are books made? Julia, age 10, Petoskey, Michigan
Books are material things – usually made of paper, ink, thread and glue – but a lot of work goes into making them before they get assembled into something you might find at a library or bookstore. Most of this work has to do with a book’s content, the writing and art on its pages.
Cooking up ideas
Book authors usually begin the writing process by brainstorming ideas. They write down a number of thoughts and make notes about things they’ve observed or read.
Authors writing a made-up story, called fiction, might imagine the possible characters’ personalities and habits. They might also outline a plot, or the sequence of events that will happen in the story.
An author who is writing nonfiction – like history or science – will research the topic and decide how to interpret what they find. The research may involve looking at archival documents, interviewing people or visiting locations where important events happened.
Once authors have ideas about what they want to write, they need to think about whom they’d like to read their book. If, for example, an author is writing about outer space for a general audience, it’s important to explain the science in way that everyone can understand. An author who is writing for other astronomers who already know a lot about the subject shouldn’t spend much time explaining the most basic things.
Revise, revise, revise
After authors have brainstormed, researched, plotted and outlined their projects, they draft and revise. Few authors write something down once and never change what they’ve written. Most write a first or rough draft and later change many things, from the order of topics to the particular words they use.
Lamaip/iStock via Getty Images Plus
When authors need to make these tough decisions about what to change, they may have the help of an editor. An editor’s job is to review drafts of a proposed book and help the writer make it as good as it can be, and to coordinate all the steps to publish the book.
Editors work for publishers, the companies that help create the final form of the book and then distribute, advertise and sell it. When writers want to work with an editor, and hope to turn their story into a real book, they send their revised draft to publishers in hopes that the company will purchase it. This way, authors get paid for their writing, but the publisher also profits from book sales.
Many other people work at a publishing company, too. Copy editors and proofreaders check for mistakes in an author’s writing. Designers and typesetters are responsible for the look of the book, including its cover. Publishers may also find illustrators for a book, although many authors want to illustrate their own.
Donna Ward/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
The final steps
When the content of a book is all ready, it will be sent to a printer to be inked onto paper, glued or sewn together as a collection of pages, and bound into hardback or paperback copies. Hardbacks are books with stiff cardboard bindings and paper dust jackets to protect the covers. Paperbacks have a cover of only thick paper and are cheaper to make.
The first printing of some kinds of books, like novels or histories, is often a hardback. If lots of people want to buy the book and the publisher prints another batch of books – called a print run – they will typically be paperbacks.
UB Heidelberg/Wikimedia Commons
So far, I have described the way that most books are made now. But book creation predates modern publication, printing and even paper. For many centuries, books were written by hand on vellum, which is made of animal skin.
Before the invention of the printing press around 1440, most writing was done by scribes, artisans who were trained to write in special scripts called calligraphy. Authors could recite their work aloud to scribes, and the scribes would write it down. Scribes also copied a lot of material from other books to make new books for patrons, readers who told scribes what they wanted in a book and paid for it.
In my work as an English professor, I study many of these medieval handwritten books, called manuscripts. Often, manuscripts can give modern readers an idea of what particular people in the past wanted to read. For example, a book written for a queen might contain the stories she liked, calendars of important dates, a history of her family or her country and prayers and poems she might recite. There’s a good chance that the queen’s book was unique, because it was written specifically for her.
Hildesheim Cathedral Library/Wikimedia Commons
You can look here at pages from a manuscript made for use by one particular woman: Christina of Markyate, a holy woman in 12th-century England. She ran away from home as a teenager to become a recluse and later became a spiritual adviser to the monks of St. Albans monastery. The monks made this very beautiful book of prayers for her.
You can make your own mini-book just by folding a single piece of paper. Think of some content, write a draft and then be your own scribe by writing and illustrating your book!
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to . Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
Lara Farina, Professor of English, West Virginia University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
var TRINITY_TTS_WP_CONFIG = {“cleanText”:”5 wintry books to read during longu00a0nights. Walden Pond was Thoreauu2019s sometimes chilly muse.rnLane Turner for The Boston Globe/via Getty ImagesrnLiz Rosenberg, Binghamton University, State University of New Yorkrnrn5 wintry books to read during long nights – Winter solstice brings the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Itu2019s a great night to spend reading.rnrnIu2019ve taught English and creative writing in snowy Binghamton, New York, for more than 40 years u2013 reading, writing, reviewing and judging books all the while u2013 so itu2019s never hard for me to find something to read. Only to choose.rnrnTo save you the same indecision, Iu2019ve picked five books for the darkest time of the year.rn1. Henry David Thoreau, u201cWalden Pondu201d (1854)rnThoreauu2019s u201cWalden Pondu201d is Americau2019s most celebrated nature book, filled with the authoru2019s observations of the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. u201cWaldenu201d begins in July, but Thoreau welcomes winter in some of the booku2019s most beautiful passages.rnThoreauu2019s cabin on the edge of Walden Pond cost US$28.12 in building materials when built in the early 1850s.rnCulture Club/via Getty Imagesrnu201cThe north wind had already begun to cool the pond,u201d Thoreau writes, when he u201cwent into winter quarters.u201d Not that he stayed indoors much.rnrnMost of us wonu2019t stretch out face down u201con ice only an inch thick,u201d as Thoreau reports doing, but we can read about him doing it while staying warm. Thoreau noticed frozen bubbles, stacked u201clike a string of beadsu201d or u201csilvery coins poured from a bag.u201d He catalogs u2013 how he loves cataloging! u2013 the colors of the pond, from u201ctransparentu201d to dark green to u201copaque and whitish or gray.u201d In winter he burned pine, decaying stumps, hickory, dry leaves and logs heu2019d dragged home while skating across the pond. Fuel provided him warmth, cooked food and company. u201cYou can always see a face in the fire,u201d Thoreau wrote.rnrnIn winter he welcomed rare humans, such as fellow writer Louisa May Alcottu2019s father, Bronson. But mostly he encountered foxes, squirrels, chickadees, jays and a barred owl that he described as the u201cwinged brother of the cat.u201d Thoreau delights in the sound of the ice booming in a thaw and describes moonlit rescues of hikers he escorted back to the edge of civilization.rnrnThe five chilly chapters of u201cWaldenu201d comprise a winter sampler for those who havenu2019t read this mighty book u2014 and for those returning to it.rn2. Robert Frost, u201cThe Poetry of Robert Frostu201drnNo poet sang of winter like poet laureate and New Englander Robert Frost. In his great u201cStopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningu201d he pays homage to winteru2019s solitude:rnrnu201cBetween the woods and frozen lake/The darkest evening of the year.u201drnrnu201cThe Poetry of Robert Frostu201d weighs in at more than 600 pages. u201cYou Come Too,u201d a beautifully curated edition of poems for the young, is less than 100.rnrnBoth books contain popular midwinter favorites. Even their titles suggest the poetu2019s strong connection to winter: u201cLooking for a Sunset Bird in Winteru201d; u201cA Hillside Thawu201d (u201cTen million silver lizards out of snow!u201d); u201cGood-by and Keep Coldu201d; u201cA Patch of Old Snow.u201drnrnIn u201cBirches,u201d Frost writes of branches that turn raindrops into ice crystals melted by sunlight.rnShattering and avalanching on the snow-crust u2013rnrnSuch heaps of broken glass to sweep awayrnrnYouu2019d think the inner dome of heaven has fallen.rnFrostu2019s poems are easily memorized and lovely to read aloud over any blustering gales.rn3. Dylan Thomas, u201cA Childu2019s Christmas in Walesu201d (1952)rnAs Frost wrote for all ages, so did Dylan Thomas in u201cA Childu2019s Christmas in Walesu201d u2013 available in its original Tiffany blue New Directions paperback edition, decorated exquisitely with illustrations by Ellen Raskin u2013 a winteru2019s poem made to be sung. We can even hear the poet chanting it aloud on his 1952 recording.rnrnOne need not be Welsh to love Thomasu2019 seaside childhood. One need not even celebrate Christmas.rnrnu201cOne Christmas was so much like another,u201d the poem opens, u201cthat I can never remember whether it snowed/for six days and six nights when I was 12/or whether it snowed for 12 days and/12 nights when I was six.u201drn4. Italo Calvino, u201cIf on a Winteru2019s Night a Traveleru201d (1979)rnItalo Calvino bundles magic, metafiction, philosophy, danger and love into u201cIf on a Winteru2019s Night a Traveler.u201d Itu2019s Calvinou2019s most mystifying work, challenging readersu2019 assumptions about reading and storytelling.rnrnNot exactly a novel, it comprises the first chapter of 10 invented novels by 10 imaginary authors. Is it still winter? a reader may wonder. Was it ever winter?rnrnAs Calvino admits, u201cThe only truth I can write is that of the instant I am living.u201drn5. James Fenton, u201cA Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seedsu201d (2002)rnSome gardeners spend all winter dreaming. Others spend it busily planning.rnrnu201cA Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seedsu201d proposes a radically old-fashioned approach u2013 to grow a garden simply sprung from seed. Author James Fenton explains, u201c[S]imple-mindedness was a part of what I was after: buy a packet of nasturtium seeds and plant them, grow some very tall sunflowers u2013 this is what gardening should be all about.u201drnrnA garden doesnu2019t need expensive starter plants or even a plan. The great question in life, as well as with gardens, is: What do I want to grow?rnrnrnrnWinter unearths simplicity u2013 the stark black-and-white vista it presents, the bare-boned landscape. It encourages readers to follow suit by ridding themselves of the extraneous and making room for life. As the celebrated saying goes, u201cIf you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.u201drnrnBesides, as December ends, we turn the corner toward light.rnGardeners spend winter nights dreaming of green growing things.rnBusybee-CR via Getty ImagesrnLiz Rosenberg, Professor of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkrnrnThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.rnHow are booksu00a0made?rnhttps://ardellesplace.com/turkey-and-beef-meatballs-with-whole-wheat-spaghetti/rnrnu00a0″,”pluginVersion”:”5.3.8″};
Share This () Walden Pond was Thoreau’s sometimes chilly muse.
Lane Turner for The Boston Globe/via Getty Images
Liz Rosenberg, Binghamton University, State University of New York
5 wintry books to read during long nights – Winter solstice brings the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a great night to spend reading.
I’ve taught English and creative writing in snowy Binghamton, New York, for more than 40 years – reading, writing, reviewing and judging books all the while – so it’s never hard for me to find something to read. Only to choose.
To save you the same indecision, I’ve picked five books for the darkest time of the year.
1. Henry David Thoreau, “Walden Pond” (1854)
Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” is America’s most celebrated nature book, filled with the author’s observations of the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. “Walden” begins in July, but Thoreau welcomes winter in some of the book’s most beautiful passages.
Thoreau’s cabin on the edge of Walden Pond cost US$28.12 in building materials when built in the early 1850s.
Culture Club/via Getty Images
“The north wind had already begun to cool the pond,” Thoreau writes, when he “went into winter quarters.” Not that he stayed indoors much.
Most of us won’t stretch out face down “on ice only an inch thick,” as Thoreau reports doing, but we can read about him doing it while staying warm. Thoreau noticed frozen bubbles, stacked “like a string of beads” or “silvery coins poured from a bag.” He catalogs – how he loves cataloging! – the colors of the pond, from “transparent” to dark green to “opaque and whitish or gray.” In winter he burned pine, decaying stumps, hickory, dry leaves and logs he’d dragged home while skating across the pond. Fuel provided him warmth, cooked food and company. “You can always see a face in the fire,” Thoreau wrote.
In winter he welcomed rare humans, such as fellow writer Louisa May Alcott’s father, Bronson. But mostly he encountered foxes, squirrels, chickadees, jays and a barred owl that he described as the “winged brother of the cat.” Thoreau delights in the sound of the ice booming in a thaw and describes moonlit rescues of hikers he escorted back to the edge of civilization.
The five chilly chapters of “Walden” comprise a winter sampler for those who haven’t read this mighty book — and for those returning to it.
2. Robert Frost, “The Poetry of Robert Frost”
No poet sang of winter like poet laureate and New Englander Robert Frost. In his great “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” he pays homage to winter’s solitude:
“Between the woods and frozen lake/The darkest evening of the year.”
“The Poetry of Robert Frost” weighs in at more than 600 pages. “You Come Too,” a beautifully curated edition of poems for the young, is less than 100.
Both books contain popular midwinter favorites. Even their titles suggest the poet’s strong connection to winter: “Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter”; “A Hillside Thaw” (“Ten million silver lizards out of snow!”); “Good-by and Keep Cold”; “A Patch of Old Snow.”
In “Birches,” Frost writes of branches that turn raindrops into ice crystals melted by sunlight.
Frost’s poems are easily memorized and lovely to read aloud over any blustering gales.
3. Dylan Thomas, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” (1952)
As Frost wrote for all ages, so did Dylan Thomas in “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” – available in its original Tiffany blue New Directions paperback edition, decorated exquisitely with illustrations by Ellen Raskin – a winter’s poem made to be sung. We can even hear the poet chanting it aloud on his 1952 recording.
One need not be Welsh to love Thomas’ seaside childhood. One need not even celebrate Christmas.
“One Christmas was so much like another,” the poem opens, “that I can never remember whether it snowed/for six days and six nights when I was 12/or whether it snowed for 12 days and/12 nights when I was six.”
4. Italo Calvino, “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler” (1979)
Italo Calvino bundles magic, metafiction, philosophy, danger and love into “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler.” It’s Calvino’s most mystifying work, challenging readers’ assumptions about reading and storytelling.
Not exactly a novel, it comprises the first chapter of 10 invented novels by 10 imaginary authors. Is it still winter? a reader may wonder. Was it ever winter?
As Calvino admits, “The only truth I can write is that of the instant I am living.”
5. James Fenton, “A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds” (2002)
Some gardeners spend all winter dreaming. Others spend it busily planning.
“A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds” proposes a radically old-fashioned approach – to grow a garden simply sprung from seed. Author James Fenton explains, “[S]imple-mindedness was a part of what I was after: buy a packet of nasturtium seeds and plant them, grow some very tall sunflowers – this is what gardening should be all about.”
A garden doesn’t need expensive starter plants or even a plan. The great question in life, as well as with gardens, is: What do I want to grow?
Winter unearths simplicity – the stark black-and-white vista it presents, the bare-boned landscape. It encourages readers to follow suit by ridding themselves of the extraneous and making room for life. As the celebrated saying goes, “If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.”
Besides, as December ends, we turn the corner toward light.
Gardeners spend winter nights dreaming of green growing things.
Busybee-CR via Getty Images
Liz Rosenberg, Professor of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, Binghamton University, State University of New York
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
How are books made?
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Tags: long nights, wintry, Herby David Thoreau, Dylan THomas, Italo Calivino, winter, James Fenton, books
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