THE STORY FACTORY

Old ideas are constantly recycled into new books—until an unexpected idea upends operations.

In this tall tale, all books originate at the Story Factory. Workers gather used books and feed them into a machine that spits out endless permutations of the same old concepts. But one day, the machine stops. Workers inspect each area to make repairs, from the character labeling room to the plot assembly line to the emotion monitor. Finally, they find a jam in the story mixer; as they unclog it, a confetti pile of new ideas spill out. When the workers attempt to override the machine’s programming to include these fresh ideas, the factory explodes in a flurry of new books that destroy the building. The workers replace it with a new, traveling Story Factory—one that playfully resembles a library, with its doors open to all people and ideas. The chunky mixed-media art is bold, bright, and fun. Book lovers will especially enjoy exploring the various factory departments and their machinery. Story Factory workers are depicted as pencil-yellow elfin creatures. When humans appear, they are rendered with a variety of skin tones.

A colorful, explosively entertaining parable about books and the power of imagination.