A rocket book, a monster book, a flower book, a cat book; all these and many others have been created by kids over the past few years in Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian Michael Lines’ Bookbinding for Kids workshops.
Working with local elementary and secondary teachers, Michael developed the workshop to deepen kids’ literacy fundamentals by exploring the technology of the book, hands-on. Students creating their own books have the opportunity to learn the terms, techniques, and affordances of this enduring and efficient form.
Most of us know about spines and covers. But what about a book’s head, foot, and fore edge? Do you know the differences between a sheet, leaf, and page? Between sewn and perfect bindings? How do you count a book’s signatures? Do books always go left-to-right?
Exploring these questions in the process of making a book develops kids’ competence, encourages literacy, and offers a fun opportunity to make something unique and expressive. Students’ books often become a gift to a special grown up, with pride of place on the family bookshelf.
