Book a Book

There's more to a book than its cover. Open up the world of books in the following activities.

CONNECT:

·    Follow book history with this timeline: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/timeline-a-brief-history-of-publishing_b79150

·    Watch how books are made at http://vimeo.com/38681202

·    Get Free access to high-quality digital books from around the world at http://en.childrenslibrary.org/. Browse by age, genre, book length, character types, or even the color of a book's cover.

·    You can find out about your favorite author and illustrator here: http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/AuthorSite/index.html

·    Do you link comic books with chemistry? Well, the periodic table of comic books does: http://www.uky.edu/Projects/Chemcomics/

CREATE:

·    At http://storybird.com/ you can use your imagination (and your computer!) to create illustrated stories by yourself or with your family or friends. You can also read stories by other kids.

·    Continue the magic of Harry Potter at http://harrypotter.scholastic.com/ and http://www.kidsreads.com/kidsreads-gets-potter-fied-this-july

·    Is there a writer inside you? Here are directions for writing: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Children%27s-Book. And here are directions for making 8 types of books: http://www.makingbooks.com/freeprojects.shtml

·    Find out how children’s books are illustrated through this hands-on activity: http://www.wordplayhouse.com/2011/05/free-printable-for-kids-how-childrens-books-are-illustrated.html

CARE:

·    Books are special, so take good care of them. Here are some tips for teaching good book care: http://www.powerfulmothering.com/how-to-teach-kids-to-care-for-books/

·    Read Aloud (http://www.readaloud.org) is a campaign to get families to red aloud every day for 15 minutes. You can join the campaign – and you can read aloud to your friends and others as well.

·    There are many ways for you to donate books: to your library, to service clubs, and so on. The American Library Association lists groups that donate books internationally: http://www.ala.org/offices/iro/iroactivities/intlbookdonations

·    Become a book reviewer, and get your reviews published at http://www.spaghettibookclub.org/

CAREERS:

The video on making books illustrates just a few of the many jobs that are involved: from mechanic to distributor. There are also writers, illustrators, agents, editors, sales people, book store owners, plus all the behind-the-scenes people such as paper makers, ebook programmers, and so on. Read about some of those jobs at:

http://depts.washington.edu/engl/ugrad/publishjobs.php