We love books at our house. All six of us. I took my youngest child, “I” of GAIN Academy, to the first-ever Hands-On Book Fest last week at the Central Library.
In a special homeschool section of kids, “I” had a workshop with a successful, working illustrator and a successful, working author. She also participated in other activities that increase appreciation for books.
Here, Paul Micich is commenting on her drawing — with comic books in her experience, she is able to add the element of extended time on one page. You can see the book covers for Sounder on the left and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry on the right. If you keep going right, you can also see a cover for Ben and Me. “I” loves art, and this guy was right up her alley.
Ah, language arts. This was pretty boring for “I,” but a couple kids were very into this exercise. Dori Hillestad Butler talked the kids through an exercise that will help their storywriting. Writing is definitely an art.
Other activities included “book appreciation.” How about the art of hand binding? “I” was fascinated with the bindings.
Someone from Dilley, a yearbook publisher, showed the kids how they make yearbooks, and talked about why a physical, paper paged book will always be in fashion.
The kids learned to bind their own books with a stick and a rubber band.
The other interesting activity (to me, at least) was about marketing and publishing your book. The kids played a game showing how the job as author works. “I” and her teammates won the game, collecting more money than any of the teams had gotten that entire day — $46,500 for one book.
TThere were other activities, and they were all great. If it’s possible, we love books even more now. What is your favorite book?