Breaking into Print : Before and After the Invention of the Printing Press

Provides an insightful look at life in society before the invention of the printing press and demonstrates how the ability to print books and documents greatly changed the modern world.

Grade 2-4?Brightly colored wood engravings; decorative borders; and clear, clean typography appropriately distinguish this well-designed book about the development of modern printing. Krensky begins with a brief description of early medieval life, when the Emperor Charlemagne could not write more than his name and peasant villagers had never seen a book. Brief sidebars on almost every page add interesting and useful details to the main narrative, while the richly colored panel-shaped wood engravings tell the story pictorially. A double-page spread in the center of the book contains pages from the Gutenberg Bible. Krensky and Christensen's talents blend to create a handsomely designed and highly successful introduction to one of the most important social and technological changes in Western history.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From an author who has written about this topic before, though fictionally (The Printer's Apprentice, 1995), a brief history of book-making (subtitled ``Before and After the Invention of the Printing Press''), from illuminated manuscripts created by monks and Chinese attempts at movable type, through Gutenberg's press and the subsequent explosion of the printed word. A grand design contributes to the handsome look of this book: The spreads are given ornate borders, in the manner of illuminated manuscripts, and one or two framed colored wood engravings. Simple, readable text appears in large black typeface, while snippets of related, slightly more difficult information appear in small colored type in the margins. It's a gorgeous format that does complete justice to the subject. (chronology) (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 2^-5. A book about printing should be handsome and well designed, and this certainly is. Krensky begins by telling readers about life before the invention of the printing press, describing how illuminated manuscripts were written and how the scarcity of books impacted civilization. It was not until Gutenberg invented the printing press that books became generally available, opening up the world of knowledge to scientists, explorers, and the literate citizenry. Krensky's straightforward text, supplemented by well-chosen bits of information in the margins, is set against clean white backgrounds and evocatively illustrated with Christensen's wood engravings and painted borders in the style of illumination. The title page verso gives information on the difference between engravings and wood cuts and describes how the book's engravings were accomplished. The book is weak, though, when describing how the first press worked. We learn how Gutenberg adapted a wine press for printing and created a rolling tray for sliding paper in and out, and how he made molds for his letters, but it is not easy to clearly visualize the printing process. Still, this works well as a history of printing, and children will be fascinated by the art. Ilene Cooper