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Tactile Book Advancement Group (TBAG ) |
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| Making Books |
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Tactile Book Advancement Group (TBAG ) |
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| Making Books |
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Welcome : Prizewinning tactile books : Publishers guidelines : Making books : Buying Books : |
information: topics and themes: materials Information about how to make tactile booksMaking tactile books for children is not as challenging as you may think, and to make it even easier we have collected lots of information and resources to help you in your task Useful tips from judges of tactile book competitions are available to help you plan your book Makers of some of the prizewinning books in 2008 competition tell how they made their books - look here
This 17 page booklet is designed as an introduction for people new to tactile book design, but will also be useful to reinforce the key principles to those who are more experienced.
APH Educational Research The Guide to Designing Tactile Illustrations for Children’s Books by Suzette Wright is available in multiple file formats (HTML, Print PDF or Braille brf files). The 35-page, illustrated guide offers a wealth of information to everyone embarking on making a tactile book. Tactile picture books for blind and visually impaired children How to make tactile pictures understandable to the blind reader - an article by Yvonne Eriksson. Publishers, Authors and Illustrators - information for industry professionals on how very small changes in the design and production can make the world of difference to blind and partially sighted children. Guidelines for the design, production and presentation of vacuum formed tactile images by Ann Gardiner and Chris Perkins (written for maps but equally useful for any tactile image) information: topics and themes: materialsTopics and ThemesThe Tactile Book Advancement Group is hoping to gather together some simple instructions for making specific tactile books and these will appear on this website soon. If you have made a successful tactile book perhaps you could share your ideas with us? Please contact dave.gunn@rnib.org.uk. If you prefer to design a tactile book from scratch, here are some suggestions to help you decide on a theme for your tactile book. What have I got already?
In many ways the easiest way to design a tactile book is to gather up lots of interesting bits and pieces and then see what ideas spring to mind. Pound shops are a great source of tactile bits and pieces - a plastic Christmas wreath when dismantled can provide lots of leaves, berries and spruce twigs; bubble wrap, clear gift bags for toiletries and nets for satsumas can all play a part. Find an item which has an interesting texture or shape. Could it be sewn or glued onto a page? Could it be part of a counting book? Or a book of opposites? Or a book of shapes? Or does it suggest a simple story? Here are a few examples of how an object can be a starting point for a book:
What topics are appropriate? The following have been suggested as appropriate topics for tactile books - but you may well have ideas of your own.
Marion Ripley at ClearVision is building up a collection of original storylines which can be used as the basis for tactile books made to your own design. Contact info@clearvisionproject.org to request, or to contribute, stories. The following ideas have been suggested for tactile books for older children and teenagers with learning difficulties. Any further suggestions would be welcomed:
Adapting an existing book - Which one shall I choose? This is much harder than making a book from scratch. There is a real danger of being over-influenced by the print illustrations and producing tactile illustrations which are much too ‘busy’ and complicated. And some books do not have any very obvious tactile elements. People who need to make a tactile version of a specific picture book, for example for a blind child in a mainstream class, have a real challenge on their hands. If you have the luxury of choosing a book to adapt, look for one which includes a number of objects in the story. Read each page of the text and try to ignore the pictures. For each page, think of a simple tactile image appropriate to the text. ‘Piglet picked up a leaf’ is quite easy to illustrate with just a leaf, for example, or with a simple piglet shape with four limbs and a curly tail + a leaf. ‘The children ran off down the street, singing and shouting’ is much more difficult. The options are to stick objects, textures or shapes into the printed book, or to make a completely separate tactile book. Whichever you choose you will need to completely rethink the illustrations. Marion Ripley info@clearvisionproject.org
Ideas for Different Letters of the Alphabet
When children are first learning to read it is important that they learn about letters and the sounds that letters make. They need to listen carefully to the way in which words start and notice similarities and differences. This is why alphabet books are always useful at home and at school. To avoid overloading the young tactile reader it is a good idea to make simple alphabet books concentrating on just one letter. Use real objects where possible, or miniature versions (a doll for a person). The starting point is a collection of objects and textures which are safe, robust and relatively flat, which can be sewn or stuck straight into a book. Toy shops and joke shops are a good source of small items, body parts, etc. Fake leaves and flowers can often be found at pound shops, and pet shops sell a variety of plastic foliage. Try to ensure that your objects feel very different to each other. Aim for a variety of materials - fabric, metal, wood, plastic, etc. Interactive items are always popular: a scarf which can be tied, a flap to lift, or a wheel to turn. Five or six illustrations is quite enough. Some letters of the alphabet are difficult to illustrate and some are impossible! When you have chosen a letter make sure that all the items chosen as illustrations start with the same sound; do not put a cat and a cherry in the same book, or a key and a knot! Here are some suggestions: A ambulance, anchor, animal, ant, apple, arrow B badge, badger, bag, ball, bandage, basket, bee, beard, beetle, bell, belt, bird, biscuit, blanket, book, bracelet, brooch, brush. C cape, camel, carpet, cat, caterpillar, clothes, collar, comb, cow, crab, cross, crown, curtain, cupboard. CH chain, cherry, chicken, chips, child, chestnut, chocolate. D daisy, dinosaur, dish, dog, doll, door, duck, duvet. F face, fairy, fan, feather, fence, finger, fish, five, flower, flag, fly, fork, four, fur. G gap, gate, girl, glasses, glove, goldfish, gorilla, grapes, grass H hair, half, handbag, hat, head, heart, hedgehog, hole, holly, hood, hook, house. K kangaroo, kennel, ketchup (sachet), key, king, kite. L lace, laces, ladder, ladybird, lamb, lavender, leaf, leather, leg, lemon, lid, lion, lips, lizard, loop, lump. M magnet, man, mane, mat, medal, mermaid, microphone, mint, mitten, monkey, mouse, moustache, mouth, mushroom. N nail, necklace, nest, net, nine, nose. P packet, paintbrush, pants, parrot, peg, pencil, perfume, pillow, plant, plaster, plastic, plate, puppet, purse. R rabbit, rattle, reindeer, ribbon, ring, rocket, robot, rope, rubber, ring. S sack, sausage, seven, six, snail, sock, spice, sponge, star, stick. SH shapes, shark, sheep, sheet, shell, shield, shoe, shorts. T tadpole, tail, tambourine, teddy, teeth, telephone, ten, tent, tie, tongue, toothbrush, tortoise, towel, twig, two. W wand, web, weeds, wheel, whiskers, wig, window, wings, wood, wool, worm. Marion Ripley and Amy Palmer info@clearvisionproject.org information: topics and themes: materials Materials for making booksIllustrated examples of materials for areas, lines, individual items and miscellaneous oddments that might be useful when making tactile books. On-line sources of materials (these websites have been selected to show examples of art and craft related internet resources, and should not be read as any type of endorsement whatsoever)
You can find more information via our links page Contact us with your ideas and any more sources of materials that you know about. |
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Welcome : Prizewinning tactile books : Publishers guidelines : Making books : Buying Books : |
