Printing Press Revolution

Hello, my name is Johannes. I love stories more than anything. I love reading about big castles and exciting adventures. But in my time, a long, long time ago, there were not many books. That’s because each book had to be written by hand, with a feather pen and a pot of ink. It took such a long time to write just one book. I had a big wish in my heart. I wished that everyone, not just a few people, could have their own wonderful book to read and hold.

So I got a big, clanky, inky idea. In my workshop, I started making little letters out of metal. I made an 'a' and a 'b' and a 'c', all shiny and new. It was so much fun to put them together. Clink, clank, clink. I lined them up to spell out words, and then whole sentences, just like building with blocks. Then came the messy part. I would take some gooey, black ink and roll it all over my metal letters. After that, I would take a big, clean sheet of paper and place it carefully on top. I built a special machine called a press, and with a big handle, I would push the paper down onto the inky letters with a big SQUISH.

Then, for the best part. I would lift the paper up very gently. And guess what. The whole page was there. All the words from my metal letters were printed perfectly on the paper. It was like magic. I could do it again and again, making so many pages so very fast. My dream was coming true. Now, I could make lots and lots of books for everyone. Stories and ideas could fly all over the world for children and grown-ups to share. My heart was full of joy knowing that books, my wonderful friends, could now belong to everyone.