Books Books Books
Mick Manning and Brita Granström
Candlewick Press, 2017
Book lovers appreciate the beauty, rarity, inventive design, and content of all types of books. Those in the vast collection of the British Library (more than 150 million literary artifacts on 15 floors and 400 miles of shelving) will help to make book lovers of the children in your life. The clever and revealing spreads in this book will hold the attention of budding book lovers, raising questions that will inspire reading the books and doing further research.
Who could resist seeing The Klencke Atlas which is 7 feet by 5 feet 10 inches when opened. It is “so heavy it takes 6 people to lift it.”
The smallest book in their collection is Lady Jane Grey’s prayer book. It is 2−3÷4″ x 3−3÷8″ inches. She was queen of England for 9 days before Mary had her “imprisoned and sentenced to death. She carried this little handwritten book to her execution.”
We learn that many of the rooms in the Library are bomb-proof.
Shakespeare’s First Folio is stored deep underground. On Shakespeare’s pages of Books Books Books, there are small, hand-drawn sketches with dialogue bubbles providing humor and informative tidbits.
The colorful collages include fragments of each book so there is a great deal to study and absorb, just the right amount of busy-ness. The design is fresh, colorful, layered, and inviting.
You’ll find information about Jane Eyre, the Brontes, Charles Dickens, science with da Vinci and Darwin, fantasy by Lewis Carrol, sheet music, Sherlock Holmes … The authors have created a tempting survey of the world’s most influential books with child-relevant facts, humor, and collectible tidbits.
This is a good book for opening discussions about books, museums, and what it means to preserve culture and history for present and future generations. Recommended for the classroom and home.