How to Define a Book

Definition:

For this week’s blog post, it is revolving around books, specifically, how ideas and information are spread and how these have changed over time. First, I needed to find a definition of “book” from a long list, and I chose one by writer, designer, and book artist Warren Lehrer. He defined a book as

“A book is a time-based medium made up of sequenced pages, bound together, composed to animate a reader with ideas, feelings, information, stories. An intimate and flexible medium, a book can take many forms, be large, small, physical, digital, produced as one-of-a-kind, in editions, and in hybrid platforms. It is usually portable, interactive and haptic. Most commonly, word-laden, a book’s contents can be composed of words, images, shapes, colors, symbols, pop-ups, cut-outs, sounds, smells, and any combination of these.”

Why I picked it and why I like this definition:

This definition stood out to me in comparison to the rest as it covered so many aspects of the wide variety of books that are in existence today. With many of the definitions, I felt as though I was unable to connect with them, they either felt too cut and dry or so abstract that I was struggling to pinpoint the meaning of said definitions. Lehrer described books as “time-based mediums” which means that they hold the ability to unfold to the viewers over time with each read or over a length of time. With most books, I find that I can reread them over and over during different years in my life and find new things each time, proving why this is a pleasant addition to his definition. Lehrer also pointed out the wide variety of the medium, books can be large or small, they can be physical, digital, or auditory, making the information being passed accessible for all. The content of a book can be depicted in a plethora of ways, either through words and images which are very standard, or through pop ups and cut outs or sounds and smells. This definition included ways information is passed in what are normally only seen in children’s books, which as an elementary educator in training, I found pleasing as many other definitions hadn’t. The main reason however that I really connected with this definition is because Lehrer says that “a book is composed to animate a reader with ideas, feelings, information, and/or stories.” Books come in all different genres, some have meanings and lessons, while others don’t, some transport you into a mystical world while others are trying to teach you about a different path of life from your own.

Did the definition miss anything:

I feel as though this definition of “book” is very all encompassing in terms of aspects that we mentioned in class and my own preconceived definition. In class we determined that at base level, a book is something you read, and it helps to share ideas and preserve words. There is a target audience, and each book has a cover and pages, there may be illustrations of some variety, and if the book if physical then there is a spine. Lastly, there is a large team working together to create a book. In Warren Lehrer’s definition, he expanded upon these ideas while leaving out some minute details like the presence of a cover and a spine. One thing that Lehrer didn’t include in his definition had been a target audience for a book, rather simply stating that there is “a reader”. While I do not know why he didn’t include this, I am wondering if it is because his type of writing falls onto pages that have large amounts of illustration which make it enjoyable for all ages. While just briefly looking at the books Lehrer has published, many had illustrations or eye-catching details that would bring any audience together.

Personal Experiences:

I find that this definition correlated well with what my class had been talking about in the past two weeks with how the sharing of ideas has changed over time. We first looked at cuneiform and tried it ourselves which may not be “made up of sequenced pages, bound together” it does have the ability to be made in any size, and they are all one of a kind as they had to be hand sculpted. This type of writing was composed of shapes and was portable. I included my attempt at cuneiform which will be labeled as Image 1, this proved to be a challenge to do but it makes sense for the time period it was created in. We also looked at a variety of books that were deemed to be nondigitizable. After that class period, I came to the conclusion that almost all books could be digitized in terms of taking a photograph of an already existing book and putting it on the internet, with the same function being provided. The only books that I believe could not be digitized in any way, are pop-up books, visual effect books and the different books that a baby would touch, specifically the black and white squishy ones, the ones with textures and the ones with holes. The books we looked at in class followed the last line of Lehrer’s definition to a tee, there were images and symbols, different colors and pop-ups while some had tables and words. I have included a few images of the different types of books we were able to look through in class down below, labeled as Image 2, Image 3 and Image 4. The last activity completed in class to help us understand books had been to bind our own books together. This activity goes along well with the beginning of Lehrer’s definition which said, “A book is made up of sequenced pages, bound together… a book can be small, physical… it is usually portable, interactive.” In class we binded small books using printer paper and wax thread with a French link stitch binding to hold the pages together. While we weren't writing in the booklets, understanding how they were created helped to solidify a definition of a book in my head and it was reiterated by the definition I picked out by Warren Lehrer. I included some images of the process and my finished book down below, labeled as Image 5 and Image 6.

Images: