Little Books = Big Stories

Years ago I was lucky enough to sit in on some book-making workshops while still living in Chicago. The process was satisfying and the product prompted all sorts of ideas to use with children. Around that same time I became interested in using stamps/stamping to tell a story.  Always looking for ways to help children tell their stories and realizing that drawing could be frustrating or intimidating, I thought about cartooning, which led me to the use of stamps and stamping.

Here I combine the media for use with my four year old. She has officially entered the magical world of inventing and reciting stories and wanting us to make up our own. And in good timing, a friend recently gifted us with stamps her children no longer use (thank you Ann!).

Here is a three point binding:

Using a piece of ribbon or yarn, come up through the hole on one end and down through the hole on the opposite end.  Then come up through the center hole with each end of the yarn. You can tie a bow or knot with the ends of the yarn to finish off the binding.  A bead or other small object can be added here for additional decoration.

For an accordion book, simply fold a long, rectangle-shaped paper, in half, then half again and again, until you are satisfied with the number of frames you have.  I glued a second folded paper to my first to expand the pages I would have to work in.

Once we had our books prepared, I made a started sample to show my daughter the concept without giving her the whole story.

My daughter quickly got to work, silent at first then chatting away about what was happening on her pages.

And here is her finished book…

“Once upon a time there was a very lonely frog and he wanted a playmate and he stayed in the water all day long. He waited and he waited and he could not miss abong.” (couldn’t get to the bottom of what that last word means!)

“The hummingbird decided she would have the day off with no one.”

“Night came and the stars came out. The frog was still waiting for a friend. He yelled out to the darkness.”

“In the morning he noticed he had a new playmate and they had a big wedding and they kissed and kissed and had big cakes and pies. They had a BIG party. The End.” – the blue half circle with symbols are the “decorations”

What would be the next logical thing to do once you’ve finished making your own book? Share it!

THE END!!