Anna the Bookbinder

by Andrea Cheng, Ted Rand (Illustrator)

Anna loves to sit in the corner of her father's workshop watching his skillful hands as they lovingly repair books. She understands what other people do Though the new large binderies that are stealing her father's business can bind books faster, their work will not endure as long. To many customers though, speed matters more than skill. Her father's most important client threatens to pull his business unless his latest order of books is rebound in three days. Anna's father works long hours struggling to complete the order, but all seems lost when Anna's pregnant mother goes into labor the night before the order is due. Determined not to let her father fail, Anna decides to take the fate of the family business into her own hands.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Books About Books, Historical Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Andrea Cheng is a Hungarian-American children's author and illustrator. The child of Hungarian immigrants, she was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio in an extended family with three generations under one roof. Her family spoke Hungarian and English at home. After graduating with a BA in English from Cornell University, she went to Switzerland, where she apprenticed to a bookbinder, attended a school of bookbinding called The Centro del Bel Libro, and learned French. Upon her return, she returned to Cornell to study Chinese and earned an MS in linguistics. Now she teaches English as a Second Language at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Her children’s books include Grandfather Counts, Marika, The Key Collection, Honeysuckle House, Where the Steps Were, The Bear Makers, and Brushing Mom’s Hair. With her husband, Jim Cheng, she has three children: Nicholas, Jane, and Ann.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet story about Anna helping her father fill a bookbinding order while her mother is delivering her younger brother. Would have appreciated more detail about the bookbinding process, as stitching and pressing are the only parts that get much detail.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story of both a family and the lost art of bookbinding by hand. I recommend this one highly.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated by book making! This is a sweet story about the father daughter relationship and the love of a sister!

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, this is a story of family love and cohesiveness. Anna's father is a book binder. She watches and learns every chance she can. When her pregnant mother goes into labor the day before a major contract needs to be fulfilled, Anna knows how to bind the books after intently watching her father, and she fulfilled the contract.

In doing so, she saved her father's business. This is such a lovely story! I highly recommend this book both for the illustrations and the special family story.

[Willow]

I'm working on entering all the books I've ever read. This book was one of them. I read this book when I was 10 years old. I remember that I liked it a lot.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna is a young Chinese girl living with mom and dad in a bookshop where dad fixes book bindings to the best of his limited ability, but customers still threaten to end their business with him. To make things more complicated, mom is pregnant and the birth is taking a while, so the unborn child is called The Tortoise, in honor of their favorite storyteller Aesop. Anna decides to wait until everyone is asleep, then uses what she learned from seeing dad work by fixing some books herself, not out of angry defiance, but out of a loving kindness and a need to do what's right. Andrea Cheng crosses different boundaries and shows that anyone can use their talent to "bind" people together and repair what once was broken, even the human heart. And even in healing, to quote Aesop himself, slow and steady wins the war.
Four stars
A stitch in time saves the binds...just for you.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR 3.5

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the nod to Aesop! You can tell the art of book binding was so laborious. I want to watch some videos of how it’s done now!

[Charlotte Helgeson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through Anna's love of books and her family, the reader learns a traditional way to bind a book. Those who love the feel of a good book, will enjoy this story. Gorgeous illustrations add to the presence of the book itself.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna helps her father in his bookbinding business, but business isn't going so well because customers are going to the big houses where they take shortcuts. However, one day Anna helps out more than usual when her mama has a baby. Great look at home-based businesses and bookbinding.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story about a girl who's picked up some bookbinding techniques from her bookbinder father. I enjoyed watching this story unfold; the illustrations were very nice too.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I took a rare books class during graduate school, it explained a lot when i was reading this story.

[Carol Royce Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peaceful, warm book of a young girl who helps her father finish a contract while he attends to the birth of a new child. Lovely.

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elegant and charming tale which leaves you with a whiff of book glue after you've closed it.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who loves books, babies and family should treat themselves to a few lovely minutes with this book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book about bookbinding--you don't see many of those. And the watercolor illustrations are fun. It's a nice little story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute story about how Anna helps her father when he is away with her mother who is giving birth to a little brother. Familial love and the desire to help shines through here.