Multimodal Revision

For my multimodal interpretation of my new literacies paper, I decided to make a children’s book. My inspiration came in the form of a youtube video on book-binding techniques. I figured that my perspective on certain applications of new literacies theories could be translated pretty easily into an allegory, the likes of which I could illustrate in a children’s book.

I have uploaded my new literacies paper so that everyone can try and make the connection for themselves.

Here is how I made the book:

First, I decided that I wanted to make this book without any real monetary investment, the reasons being that a)  you can get professionally bound books online for super cheap, and b) I wanted to find a practical way for students to be involved in the actual creative process of making their book outside of creating the story itself.

I decided to make everything from scrap wood and paper.

Next, aside from the table saw, miter saw, and a drill, I would need to make a binding harness to help me bind the pages.

Here are the pieces I used….some scrap 1x2s and some scrap 1x4s.

Some hot glue, a few wire brads, and presto. Total time to build this was about 5-10 minutes.

Afterwards, I stapled on some nylon twine, folded my pages, and stitched accordingly. I don’t want to go through the process of explaining how this is done, but if you have a genuine interest in recreating this, there is a thorough video here. To be honest with you, there are actually better videos on how to do this easier on youtube.

After I had all the pages bound, I made the cover using scrap Luann plywood and leftover canvas. Finished with felt inserts, though I would use Tyvek if I ever did this again.

Finished product.

Honestly, I will do this again with students someday. My techniques need to be refined a bit, but it took me just a few hours from start to finish, and I really do think there are benefits to this. One, if you are going to have your kids create a narrative, it forces them to pair imagery with their words, it force them to think about the elements of a good story, structure, etc. Interestingly, I ended up changing some of the script for this after I drew the images because I felt that there were better words to describe the image. Second, this is a great project for students to create their own sketchbooks. The paper I used here is something I pulled out of the recycling bin in Rockefeller. It is called Reeves BFK, and it costs $5-$10/sheet, depending on where you go and how much you buy. It is the Cadillac of paper, and I have always tried to find a sketchbook made with it. They do not exist.

Now they do.

It makes for a very customizable thing for students….They can paint on the cover (since I used canvas instead of leather), they can choose their favorite paper. In fact, I would have my students make their own paper, which is another simple process. This way, start to finish, they are in control of their sketchbook. I predict that this would probably be a source of incentive for students to actually draw.