How to Craft Book in Minecraft

Book in Minecraft, drawn from the game's own item texture. Crafting bookshelves.

Bring 3 Papers and 1 Leather to a Crafting Table and you have a Book. One go makes 1 Book.

Book Item ID and Give Command

The item ID for Book is minecraft:book. In commands the namespace may be left off, so book works too. Checked against Minecraft Java 26.2.

Give yourself one: /give @p book
Give a full stack of 64: /give @p book 64
Give it to a named player: /give Steve book 1

Cheats have to be on for Book to appear this way, and the same command works on Bedrock Edition, where the name is written the same.

Overview

A Book is used in several crafting recipes including bookshelves and enchanting tables. Book uses a shapeless recipe, so the ingredients can go in any cells of the grid as long as all of them are present.

The book was already in the game in Minecraft Beta 1.0, the oldest release with an English language file to read, so this recipe is at least that old.

The materials come together from a few sources: you will be working with paper (craft from sugar cane) and leather (kill cows or horses).

The Stack Arithmetic

Bring 64 paper, leave with 21 books, after 21 rounds of 3 for 1. The recipe wants 21 leather beside it. You keep 1 paper for later.

Materials Needed

Item	Amount	Where to Find
PaperPaper	3x	Craft from sugar cane
LeatherLeather	1x	Kill cows or horses

Collect 3x Paper (craft from sugar cane) and Leather (kill cows or horses) first; the Crafting Table does the rest.

The Full Chain

3 Sugar Cane makes 3 Paper, the one part of this you craft rather than gather. All in: 1 Leather and 3 Sugar Cane.

1
Sugar Cane3Paper3Paper
2
BookBookthis page

Gather this first

Leather

3Sugar Cane

Step-by-Step Instructions

1
Paper3x PaperLeatherLeather
2
Book

Minecraft crafting recipe for Book: 3 x Paper, 1 x Leather in a crafting table, making 1 Book.

Tips & Notes

Because this one is shapeless, Paper and Leather can go in any cells you like. The grid only checks that they are all present.
Line up 3x Paper and 1x Leather before you open the Crafting Table. Paper: craft from sugar cane.

Uses for Book

Crafting bookshelves
Crafting enchanting tables
Crafting book and quill

What Book Goes Into

3 other recipes list Book as an ingredient.

BookshelfCrafting Table

Book and QuillCrafting Table Enchanting TableCrafting Table

View detailed item stats, durability and properties for Book on the Astroworld Items Database.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to craft a Book in Minecraft?

a Book asks for 3 Papers and 1 Leather, and the work happens at a Crafting Table. Any arrangement works as long as all of them are in the grid, and one craft produces one Book.

What can you make with Book?

Book is an ingredient in 3 other recipes on this site, including Bookshelf, Book and Quill and Enchanting Table. The section above links to each of them.

Where do you find the materials for a Book?

A Book draws its parts from several different places. Paper: craft from sugar cane. Leather: kill cows or horses.

How many Books do you get from one craft?

The Book recipe makes one Book per craft.

What is the item ID for Book in Minecraft?

The Book item ID is minecraft:book, and in a command you can drop the namespace and write book on its own. Checked against Java 26.2.

What is the give command for Book?

Use /give @p book to put a Book in your own inventory, or /give @p book 64 for a full stack of 64. Cheats have to be on.

Is the Book recipe the same in Java and Bedrock Edition?

Java and Bedrock agree on a Book: both want 3 Papers and 1 Leather at a Crafting Table in the layout above, and both give one at a time.

Does it matter where you put the ingredients for a Book?

No, a Book is a shapeless recipe, so 3 Papers and 1 Leather can go in any slots you like. Only the set of ingredients is checked, not their arrangement.

Which recipe uses the most Book?

Of everything on this site, a Bookshelf swallows the most Book: 3 Books in one craft. That is worth knowing before you decide how many to make.

What version of Minecraft added the Book?

The book was in Minecraft Beta 1.0 already, the earliest language file that exists to check, and no release we can read is without it. The current release still makes a Book exactly that way.

Sources

Grid, ingredients and yield: 3 Papers and 1 Leather in, 1 Book out, Crafting Table. Java 26.2, 17 August 2026.
That Bedrock agrees: Bedrock 1.26.40.05, same 2 ingredients.
How far back it goes: Present in Minecraft Java Beta 1.0, the oldest release that exists to check. From all 163 released Java clients, rd-132211 to 26.2.
That the ingredients come back: What drops, what villagers trade and what farms regrow in Minecraft Java, followed through the recipes to see what those ingredients can be turned into.
Stack size: The Astroworld Items Database, built from the same jar.
The recipe book unlock: What unlocks it in the recipe book. Java 26.2.
The stack sum: Counted, not played: 1 Book per craft against the stack size.

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