Kid’s Corner: The Book Machine by Laurie Duersch

#FamiliusBooks #NetGalley

The illustrations are absolutely adorable. I love the main character in his bright red glasses. He needs more to read and wants to figure out how to make books. He gets busy! The machine is created but will it work? (There is a message here about books not coming from machines.) What will this book loving child do next?

Anyone who wants kids to read books that have been thoughtfully produced (and AI free) will, might want to share this book with a child they know.

Note that at the end of the story, there are also suggestions for writing a story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Familius for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 21 July 2026

From the publisher (who notes that this could change)

A boy’s innovative genius proves that machines can never replace writers in this picture book about creativity, imagination, and the writing process

I need more books. I just can’t get enough. But how does one make a book? I’ve seen books at the school and the library. How do they get their books? They must use a book-making machine.

What happens when a book-loving child can’t get books fast enough? He’ll build a machine that will produce an entire library, of course! With a doohickey here and a whatchamacallit there, he puts his book machine together and waits for the books to pop out . . . and waits . . . and waits. After checking to make sure there wasn’t a dragon inside the machine gobbling up all his books, he deduces that he must write his own story.

Combining science with art and writing, The Book Machine introduces kids to creativity and critical thinking, teaching them to solve problems and utilize all their talents in order to reach their goals. With adorable illustrations that spark the imagination, every page will have kids falling in love with making ideas come to life. And a list of helpful, easy-to-follow steps at the end will walk kids through the writing process, encouraging them to begin writing their own stories with the book machines built right inside of them.