Teaching Writing: Children II

Lesson 3: Making Books and Publishing Student Work

Book Binding

Having students make a real bound book will give them a great sense of accomplishment. In my bookbinding program, each student had the opportunity to produce at least one bound book during the course of the year - some did many more. The selection of the story to use was important, as the students and I both wanted these books to reflect their very best work, so some students produced many drafts before deciding on one or two to take through the whole binding process.

In Chapter 11 of Invitations, Regie Routman takes a very detailed look at one way to produce bound books. Her methods are similar to those I used, but there are other ways to do it, and I invite you to use this resource along with others I'll provide at the end of this section and adapt the process for your own classroom. In Invitations, Routman describes a whole-school publishing process. I did mine in my classroom alone, and we didn't use any volunteers. I did most of the preparation myself and once the students had experience, they also helped with some of the basics. And I usually only had one or two students binding books on any given day, so it was easy to keep up with.

Once a student has decided to make a book, follow the book making steps described earlier for figuring out the number of pages, and text and picture placement. You will want students to have a complete "book" before attempting the binding process, unless you are binding blank books for students to use as journals.

Materials

These materials are needed for most any type of book binding procedure:

1. Rigid material for the book covers. I actually used the covers from old textbooks that were going to be discarded. With permission, I cut off the hard front and back covers of textbooks that were about the right size for the books we were producing. Heavy cardboard, chipboard, or packaging can also be cut to size and used. You'll need two for each book.

2. Cover material. Regie Routman suggests using wallpaper. In my classroom, we used contact paper in various colors. Another idea is to have students illustrate a cover on construction paper and use clear contact paper so that the cove shows through. I have also seen books bound with cloth covers, or with wrapping paper. Use your imagination for this part.

3. Stitching or stapling. My students produced stitched books similar to those described here: http://www.geocities.com/~jackiekoller/p... These illustrations come closest to the process we used. You will need a large tapestry type needle with a sharp point and sturdy string for this part. If you choose, you may use a long armed stapler instead of stitching.

4. Inside covers. Use a piece of construction paper (needs to be large enough to cover both the front and back) to glue to the inside of each cover to conceal the rough edges of the cover material.

5. Binding tape. Along the outside, I used heavy wide binding tape to secure the two covers together. This kind of tape comes in colors, so if your budget allows, have a selection of colors to complement the book covers.

6. Labels for the title if that is not already a part of the cover art.

Binding

To put the book together, begin with the piece of wide bias binding cloth (used for sewing) to reinforce the inside seam of the books. That goes first. On top of that place the sheet of construction paper for the inside cover, and on top of that, place all of the pages of the book. Stitch through the middle fold through all layers.

Next, cover two pieces of heavy cardboard with contact paper or wallpaper. Bend the edges over so that they overlap to the inside about 2". Use the piece of binding tape to attach the two pieces together. I found that leaving about 3/4" between the two covers worked well as it allowed to book to close easily. If the cover pieces are too close - the book won't close completely.

Lay the stitched section in along the sticky tape that is exposed down the center of the covers. Carefully glue each inside construction paper cover to the hardboard covers. I found that rubber cement worked well for this. Be sure the glue is goes right up to the edges so that the book stays glued together.

Close the book and let it dry. I usually piled several heavy dictionaries on top of the new book to put pressure on it while it dried.

When the book is dry - let the student share it with the class. Children love to read each other's books, so you might want to make a special section in your classroom library just for student made books.

Here are a few other book binding sites to take a look at:

Five-stitch Bookbinding: http://world.std.com/~deanb/zgg/book_5st...

The 4-Needle Book: http://www.green-heron-kits.com/refs.html

Bookbinding - A Tutorial: http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/book/

Denise Fleming's Handmade Paper Bookbinding: http://www.bcplonline.org/kidspage/kids_...

Binding the Pages: http://www.classroompublishing.com/Bindi...

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