From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World

Rumford frames this expressive introduction to Gutenberg and his revolutionary printing press as a riddle, describing a "mysterious" object that arrived in the city of Mainz, Germany, around 1450. "It was made of rags and bones, soot and seeds.... What was it?" Subsequent pages concisely describe the processes by which paper, leather, and ink were made. Like the books Gutenberg printed, the borders of Rumford's stately ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations are illuminated%E2%80%94initially by spirals of golden flowers, and later, nodding to the evolution of the book, by the crisp wires of circuit boards. Ages 4%E2%80%938. Agent: Jeff Dwyer, Dwyer & O'Grady. (Sept.)