3D Printing (21st Century Skills Innovation Library: Makers as Innovators)

As they become more common and more powerful, 3D printers are allowing makers everywhere to bring their ideas to life. Readers will discover new processes, integrate visual information with text, and learn technical word meanings as they discover how 3D printers work and how makers are using them today. They will also learn how to create their own inventions from 3D computer models.

Gr 3–5—These three titles provide interested readers with a brief background on these tech-related topics. Each volume features bright and enticing photographs with clear captions that closely match the text. The writing style is engrossing and straightforward, and each book includes sidebars with additional information on subjects such as construction safety or funny projects exhibited at Maker Faires. Readers interested in 3D printing, engineering, programming, robotics, or anything STEAM-related will find Makerspaces and 3D Printing particularly engrossing, as each offers intricate descriptions of software and hardware associated with both. 3D Printing covers the current state of the craft but disappointingly provides only one simple sentence on its history and evolution, instead focusing on one type of 3D printer made by MakerBot, a leading company in the world of 3D printing, crafting, and making. Maker Faires and Makerspaces themselves are also closely associated with MakerBot and Make magazine, and purchasers should know that both are noted throughout the texts of all three books. Because the three subjects are so intrinsically tied to the MakerBot company, it would be difficult to remove mention of MakerBot without leaving out key details about each subject. Solid additions for libraries serving populations with a keen interest in 3D printing and Maker culture.—Amy M. Laughlin, Darien Library, CT