The Story Factory by Jam Dong
Published by Candlewick Press ISBN: 1536230006
Genres: Science Fiction
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

“Once upon a time, all the books in the world were manufactured at one place–The Story Factory!” In this speculative world, stories are simply taken from the story factory, reused and recycled, and then made in a factory to be given out again. Everything was going normally, when all of a sudden the machine breaks. All the characters are wrong! The stories are out of order! The pieces of the stories explode into a million pieces. It’s up to the workers to collect the pieces and put them all into a big mixer. Another big BOOM and books with all new original material start falling from the sky. The villagers open the books and love the new stories. And now the Story Factory is used to create books with completely new and unique ideas.

This is a creative story written and illustrated by Jam Dong; her ode to using your imagination, especially in the age of AI. Her colorful illustrations and collage techniques are eye-catching. The font feels like the wrong choice. Ages 3-7.

Reviewed by Gia Charles, Patten Free Library, Bath