Your child can be author and illustrator -- and bookbinder!

Materials:

• Cardboard (from the backs of tablets or empty cereal boxes)
• Blunt-nosed scissors
• Paper for pages (heavier paper works best)
• Fabric
• Glue
• Paper Punch
• Yarn, shoelaces, heavy string, or notebook rings
• Old Magazines or catalogs
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Directions:

• Make front and back covers by cutting two pieces of cardboard a little larger than the paper pages you'll be using. Your child can glue fabric or wallpaper to make fancy covers.

• Put 5 or 6 pages between the covers, punch holes along one side, and let your child lace the pages together with yarn.

• Let your child cut and paste magazine pictures on the pages. Maybe your child wants to draw pictures or make up a poem or song for you to write in the book.

• You may want to suggest a theme for the book or for certain pages, like animal pictures, my favorite things, alphabet pictures, or families.

Imagine how exciting it can be for your child to "read" a book he or she has made. Even naming things in pictures can be an important step for reading readiness.

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