Hi there! Do you like reading books? I sure do! When I was a kid, I loved the smell of books too. Do you have a favorite book that smells nice? Today, we’re going to learn how books are made. Aaliyah has a question about this, so let’s find out!
Did you know there’s a book so tiny it can fit on the tip of a hair? It’s called “Teeny Ted from Turnip Town.” You need a special microscope to see it! But most books, like the ones you read at home or school, are made differently. Let’s see how!
Before a book is made, an author has to come up with an idea. Authors often start with a “what if” question. For example, “What if a caterpillar got really hungry?” or “What if a spider talked to a pig?” These questions help authors create exciting stories.
Once an author has an idea, they write the story down. They might use a notebook or a computer. They read it over and over to make sure it makes sense and that all the words are spelled correctly. It’s like writing a story at school!
Authors need help to turn their stories into books. That’s where a publisher comes in. A publisher is a company that chooses the best stories to make into books. They look for stories that are new, exciting, and creative.
Once a story is chosen, an editor helps make sure everything is perfect. They check the characters, sentences, and words. An illustrator and designers work on the book’s pictures and how it will look. They decide if the words will be big or small, and what the illustrations will look like.
After everything is ready, they create a practice book called a dummy. If it looks good, it’s sent to the printer. The printer is a big machine that prints all the pages. The pages are printed on huge pieces of paper and then folded and cut into the right order.
The last step is binding, which means putting the pages together with a cover. Paperback books have floppy covers and are glued together. Hardcover books are sewn together, making them last longer.
Once the book is bound, it’s sent to bookstores, libraries, and schools. Now, it’s ready for you to read! Isn’t it amazing how a book starts as an idea and becomes something you can hold and enjoy?
Thanks for learning about how books are made! There are so many mysteries around us. Keep asking questions and stay curious. See you next time!
Create Your Own Mini Book: Gather some paper, scissors, and crayons or markers. Fold a few sheets of paper in half to create a small booklet. Think of a simple story idea, just like an author does. It could be about your favorite animal or a fun adventure. Write your story in the booklet and draw pictures to go along with it. Share your mini book with your family or friends!
Book Cover Design Challenge: Imagine you are an illustrator. Choose your favorite book and design a new cover for it. Use colored pencils or paints to make it bright and colorful. Think about what pictures would show the story best and what colors would catch someone’s eye. Show your new cover to your class and explain why you chose those designs.
Story Detective: Next time you read a book, try to be a story detective. Look for clues about how the author came up with the idea. Can you find the “what if” question that might have started the story? Write down your thoughts and share them with your class. This will help you understand how authors think and create stories.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(Computer phone ringing) – Hi, it’s Doug. When I was a kid, I liked books. I enjoyed reading them, and I even had a few like this one where I loved the way it smells. It still smells good! Do you have some favorite books? What about one where you really liked the way it smells? You’d be surprised how many people do. Someone named Aaliyah has a question about books. Let’s give Aaliyah a call now. (Computer phone ringing) – Hi, Doug. – Hi, Aaliyah. – I have a question for you. How are books made? – Oh, that’s a great question! Take a look at this scientist. Can you guess what she’s holding? Let’s look closer. See the words? It says “turnips, turnips, turnips.” Believe it or not, you’re looking at “Teeny Ted from Turnip Town,” the tiniest book ever made. It’s so small that this book can fit on the tip of one of your hairs. The book is sitting on the gray microchip that she’s holding, but you can’t see it. You need a special microscope to do that. Now, “Teeny Ted” is a special book, and it was made in a laboratory with special equipment. But what about most books? Like the picture and chapter books you read at home and at school, how do they get made? Well, way before any book gets made, the idea for a book has to be created, and that’s the job of an author. It’s hard to answer exactly where those ideas come from, but most book ideas start when an author asks a question, often a “what if” question. Like, what if a caterpillar got really, really hungry? Or what if a girl and her dad run into some hair trouble? Or what if a spider started talking to a pig? Eventually, all of those “what if” questions turn into “what happens next” questions, like will the caterpillar get sick? Will the girl’s hair turn out okay? Will the spider and pig become friends? And pretty soon, the author has the perfect plan for a book. Before I go on, I’m curious, what are some “what if” questions you might like to write a story about? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready? Once an author has an idea for a story, they write the whole story down. Maybe they write it in a notebook, maybe they type it on a computer. It’s kind of like writing a story at school. When they’re done, they read it, and they don’t just read it once; they read it over and over again to make sure it’s just right. Does the story make sense? Are all the words spelled correctly? Is it long enough? They keep on making changes and more changes until the story feels just right, and that’s when it’s time to turn that story into a book. But there’s a problem. An author can’t really do that on their own. I mean, most authors don’t have bookmaking machines at their house. No, they’re going to need a little help, and that comes from someone called a publisher. A publisher is a company that turns the stories on an author’s computer into the books you read at home or at school. A team of people read all the stories authors send to them in search of great stories, but not all stories get turned into books. Publishers get thousands of stories from thousands of authors, and they can’t make them all into books, so they’re pretty selective about which stories they choose. They ask questions like, “Is the story new or has it been told before? Is the story really exciting or is it kind of slow? Are the sentences fun and creative, or are they just kind of blah?” Once they find the perfect story, one that’s new, exciting, and creative, they’ll tell the author, “We love your idea. It’s time to turn it into a book.” And that’s when the actual bookmaking begins. It all starts with the editor. She’s the person in charge. She reads and rereads the story to make sure that every character, every sentence, every word is just right. And when she finds a mistake, she gives it back to the author to fix. It’s a lot like when your teacher tells you to rewrite a story or a sentence at school. While the author and editor work on fixing things, an artist, called an illustrator, and a team of designers begin to work on how the book will look. They figure out things like will there be illustrations or pictures? What will they look like? And what about the words themselves? Will they be scribbly-looking like in this book, or bold and huge like in this one? They work on a lot of different sketches and ideas until eventually, pages like this will turn into pages like this. Once the book is edited and all the illustrations are done, they put everything together into a practice book called a dummy. That’s really what it’s called. The dummy lets everyone that worked on the book see what it’s going to look like when it’s finished. If everything looks just right, it’s ready to send to the printer. The printer is a place where the pages and pictures actually get made into the books you buy at bookstores or check out at the library. The printer has a giant machine that prints all the pages of the book. It’s kind of like the printer you might have at home or at school, only a lot bigger and a lot faster. Watch these pages being printed. You notice anything? The printer paper is huge. That’s because the pages of a book aren’t actually printed separately; they’re printed about 30 or 40 pages at a time on huge pieces of paper. The pages aren’t even in the right order yet until another machine folds and cuts the pages into perfectly ordered sections. But wait, there’s something missing still. Can you guess what it is? The cover. All of the sections of a book still need to be put together and attached to a cover. This part is called binding. Paperback books, the ones with floppy covers, are glued together to the cover. You might have noticed with some of your own books that glued books can fall apart after a while, but books with hard covers like this one aren’t glued at all. They’re sewn together. If you pick up a book and hold it up like this, you can actually see the strings where they sewed it. Hardcover books last a lot longer than paperbacks. Once a book is bound to the cover, it’s shipped to bookstores and libraries and schools all over the world, and you know what that means. Yep, it’s finally time to read. So now imagine a book you really like and think about it. That book went from a “what if” question in an author’s head, to a story on a computer, to a printer, to being the thing you can hold in your hands and enjoy over and over again. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Aaliyah, for asking it. Now we’ll be back with a new question in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here are some older questions from the question jar. You can vote on which one you think we should send out next week. You can choose from, “Why do we celebrate April Fool’s Day?” “How are toys invented?” or “Can animals laugh?” So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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