The Story Factory

What happens when the factory that makes books stops working? A whimsical celebration of creativity, bookmaking, and original storytelling.

Once upon a time, all the books in the world were manufactured at one place--the Story Factory!

The workers at the story factory know exactly what it takes to make a book: characters, a plot, vocabulary, and punctuation. All the same elements are used over and over again, and everything has a precise order. Nothing new or original is ever added to the stories--that is, until the day the factory suddenly stops producing books. The workers must locate and remove the clog in the machinery, and what they find may just change the way they make books forever. With fun and wonderfully intricate illustrations, Jam Dong’s charming story is a joyful ode to the imagination and to what it is that makes books so special.

Jam Dong was born in Shanghai, China. She studied animation in London and received her MFA in illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times and PLANSPONSOR magazine, and she illustrated I Ship by Kelly Rice Schmitt. A Bologna Children’s Book Fair selected illustrator in 2020-2021, Jam Dong lives in Boston.