(2) K-3 In this inviting very-first look at Gutenberg's transformative invention and the intricate craft of early printing, Rumford vivifies the ways and means of medieval innovation with intriguing details, focusing on highlights. An epilogue elucidates and extends the occasionally too-truncated information, as does handsome watercolor and gouache art that recalls illuminated manuscripts while revealing additional tasks, hazards, and sources of inspiration.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2012

(4) YA Publishing Pioneers series. Stretching across the centuries, from the first printed volumes (1400s) to today's realm of bookselling in cyberspace, these biographies portray the lives of achievers who have shaped the world of books. The writing is bland but accessible; students will come away with an appreciation of the far-reaching social impact of each individual's innovations. Sidebars, period illustrations, photographs, and maps augment the texts. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Publishing Pioneers titles: Barnes & Noble, Jeff Bezos, Randolph Caldecott, Melvil Dewey, and Johannes Gutenberg.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA Inventors Who Changed the World series. Crowded with photographs, diagrams, drawings, and artifacts, this biography covers not only Gutenberg's life and career but also the times in which he lived and the history of printing. The writing, though wordy, is easy to understand and explains the printing press in detail. Some readers will appreciate the publisher's enhanced website when it comes time to do their school reports. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) YA A mute printer's apprentice steals a magical book and flees from a sinister scholar. Centuries later, Blake finds a blank book in an Oxford library and is drawn into a dangerous mystery, relentlessly pursued by a secret society intent on seizing his discovery. Pacing problems and only intermittent emotional engagement with the characters weaken an intriguing premise that bibliophiles will enjoy.

Reviewer: Amy Lee Bennett

(4) K-3 Presenting Gutenberg's contribution to printing, as well as considerable information about Chinese and Korean printing before his press, this account is packed with accurate details, such as how parchment is made and how type is poured. Informative captioned illustrations in watercolor strengthen the explanations, which are fairly complex and contrast with the breezy beginning and end of the volume.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Giants of Science series. Beginning with an embellished account of a determining moment in the subject's professional life, the books in this series then include short segments expounding on events before and after. Photos and archival illustrations, as well as sidebar quotations and a time line, extend each text. Not all the subjects are scientists, though, and Gutenberg is really a history of printing. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Giants of Science titles: Guglielmo Marconi, Louis Pasteur, Johann Gutenberg, James Watt.]

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian