Mr. Bear's Song: The Art and Craft of Making a Book

The wheels on the press go round and round in this charming tribute to the making of a picture book. Writer, engraver, publisher, ink mixer and all around handy craftswoman Fiona Garrick takes viewers through the many stages of creating a book, from original inspiration to hand-binding each finished copy. The story--about a flute-playing bear and his two curious offspring--is unexceptional; the step-by-step low tech journey from idea to book, anything but. Watching Garrick mix inks for the colorful endpapers, hand feed each individual piece of paper into the press, stitch signatures and add the finishing touch of a bookmark is lovely. Budding bibliophiles will appreciate Mr. Bear's Song not for the tale it tells, but for the behind-the-scenes of how that tale was turned into a completed book. Recommended. Aud: E, I, J, P. (R. Pitman)