Illustrated by Adam Rex

The people who made this book had to brave dangerous animals, an angry mob, unreasonable editorial demands, high-seas adventure, traffic, and a tense game of chance where EVERYTHING was on the line.

You might even call them American heroes. But they were just doing their jobs. It’s how this book was made.

 ★ BUY ★

"I loved it. Kids reading this book will be fascinated...and they’ll be reassured that it takes a lot of work and patience to make any piece of literature."
—New York Times

"Barnett and Rex, no strangers to metafiction, have outdone themselves."
—The Horn Book Magazine

The long-suffering writer waits and waits while his manuscript gets edited and rewritten; he waits while the illustrator gets around to drawing the pictures; he waits some more while it gets printed halfway around the world, and then finally…
—San Francisco Chronicle

"Its approach is lighthearted, but this picture book tells youngsters the basics about publishing — and can be used at home or in a classroom as a great way to explore storytelling and literature in general.” 
—Montreal Gazette

"Wildly comic."
—Booklist

"The mad geniuses behind Chloe and the Lion are back to push picture book metafiction to its hilarious limit."
—Huffington Post

"Mac Barnett and Adam Rex have a solid hit with How This Book Was Made.... The fun is in the hyperbolic storytelling and the creative illustrations." 
—The Booklist Reader

 ★ BUY ★