NONFICTION

Special Delivery: A Book’s Journey Around the World

by Polly Faber (text) & illus. by Klas Fahlén
Candlewick. Apr. 2023. 32p. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781536229851.
COPY ISBN
Gr 2-5–For a book to arrive into readers’ hands, it must first undertake a very long journey. Here, the sojourn begins where it ends, with a boy named Jay anticipating his birthday 40 days away. Starting in a printing press in China, a book is printed and readers follow its journey from there to shipping container, to train, to bookstore, on through postal delivery, and into the hands of the young boy. Along the way workers are named, personalizing the trip and giving human characters a role in the industrial complexities of the modern world. The illustrations are dynamic; anyone interested in transportation in all its modes will be fascinated by the path of one book as it travels the globe.
VERDICT A compelling glimpse into the ways of modern industry, and very engaging.
Reviewed by John Scott , Jun 23, 2023

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