Bookmaking With Kids

About Us
Bookmaking with Kids is a collaborative effort of individual book-arts teachers to introduce bookmaking to children, teachers, families and community organizations in the Bay Area.

We believe kids and the book arts are a magical combination. A book made by hand is the perfect meeting place for artistic expression and emerging literacy. Bookmaking unlocks something amazing in kids—creativity, enthusiasm, a zest for learning, concentration, patience, imagination and lots of talent. It lets kids forge a personal connection to reading, to writing, to making art. And it’s endless fun.

Please keep reading to find out who we are and what this blog can offer you.

About Cathy Miranker
I discovered bookmaking about a dozen years ago and since then I’ve been both a voracious student and a busy teacher. That stick figure is me(!), drawn by a 1st grader in one of my classes.

Having pioneered the Youth Programs for the San Francisco Center for the Book, I am now an independent instructor. I also take great pleasure in writing this blog. When not working with kids and teachers, I experiment with historical bindings and contemporary book forms, and make boxes and protective enclosures to house antiquarian books and ephemera.

You can email me by clicking here.

About Susie Peyton
My artistic journey started with furniture-making—my specialty was nontraditional folding screens!—and included one fabulous book-arts class in 1990. But it wasn’t until my kids came along that I got hooked.

After an incredible Family Bookmaking Day in 2004, I decided to add bookmaking to the volunteer work I was doing my kids’ schools. I tied the book arts to my work as a docent for Art in Action, introduced bookmaking activities to the Redwood City Education Foundation during my tenure on the board of directors and began teaching with Cathy.

I especially love adapting or inventing book structures that let teachers integrate any topic—language arts, science, math, social studies—with both 2D and 3D art. You can email me by clicking here.

About This Blog
Part scrapbook, part notebook, this blog is a place to jot down our adventures in bookmaking with kids. We use it to think out loud about kids and books, arts, curriculum; to note my experiences, challenges and brainstorms; and to invite others to join in. Teachers, librarians, principals, reading specialists, arts educators and parents are welcome.

Here’s a quick intro to the blog’s various components:

The Calendar
Most of the highlighted days on the calendar are birthdays of children’s authors and illus-
trators. Birthdays are great opportunities for you to spotlight particular writers, to invite students to write them letters, to give kids the fun of planning a party, presenting dramatic readings or staging re-enactments of story-
books. Other highlighted days offer reminders of local events that feature book-related activities for kids.

Categories & Archives
My posts, and the comments they receive, are saved both in a monthly archive and in various categories. You can browse your way through the posts in each of these sections. Or use the Search button to zero in on a particular topic.

Ah ha! Moments
The entries collected under Ah ha! Moments recount those instances when kids suddenly “get” something you’ve been teaching, when their new understanding stands out in their handmade books, and best, of all, when making a book sparks that leap.

Art Ideas
My bookmaking projects incorporate lots of artwork, and the entries in this category focus on the “art” part of book arts.

Book Reviews
Good KidLit blogs abound, but every so often I weigh in, too, especially about Not So New, But Still Notable books.

Book Structures
This is the place to browse when you want ideas for making books that look special, intriguing, different. Beside photos, the posts in this section often have PDFs with templates or instructions that you can download.

Bright-Idea Lists
Every so often this section offers a new list of ideas for using and re-using a particular book structure with kids. I think it’s a good idea for students to make the same kind of book more than once, and making it three or four or more times is better still. That way, kids really get the hang of it. Not only is mastering the technique a great source of pride but it also frees both you and your students to get creative with topics to fill the book.

D¡#!†!*@#!?¡¥ø!#?¡ English!
English is a rich but fiendishly idiosyncratic language that’s tricky for English speakers and language-learners alike. The posts in this section recount the lighter moments of teaching language-arts.

Grade-Level Categories
These categories make it easy to find book projects that are right for the grade you teach. Click on any grade, and you’ll find two things: first, a list of book structures that fit well with the California curriculum for that year, and second, entries about each of those books.

Houghton-Mifflin
Together with my teaching friends, I’ve developed a series of teacher workshops called Getting Creative with Houghton-Mifflin. I believe there are plenty of opportunities for inventive, artistic projects in the H-M Teacher Guides. And the posts here share some of those bookmaking ideas, plus feedback from classrooms.

Links I Like
Here you’ll find posts about web sites that have great ideas or pictures about kids and bookmaking, integrating the arts across the curriculum, and more.

Poetry
Handmade books are a perfect showcase for poetry. The entries in this category offer bookmaking ideas that encourage kids to write poetry and that showcase their work.

Q&A
In these posts, I sometimes throw out a question in hopes getting answers from you or share an intriguing question that’s come my way.

Resources
Where can you get the best deals on old calendars, reams of paper, stickers, and other art and bookmaking supplies? Find out in the listings in this category.

Posting Comments
I hope that, over time, visiting this blog will be like having a short conversation with a friend, saying a quick hello, swapping a story or two, mentioning some-
thing that’s on your mind. My posts are intended to start the conversations. But it takes Comments to keep them going.

Posting a comment is easy. Start by clicking the word Comment (in blue) under an entry. That takes you to a new page, like the one pictured above. Enter your first name, your email and a comment. Then click Send and you’re done.