A Book A Week 2014: Made, Altered, or Repaired. Week 9.

Week of 3 March 2014

What we made in my Japanese book binding class.

 I took a Readers Digest book and cut off the covers in front of my students. Several of them gasped and were upset that I could just "ruin" a book like that. One of them asked me if they could keep the text block and read it so it wouldn't go to waste!

Inside I used graph paper. See kitty's paws at the top. He likes to step on whatever I'm working on.

 Back of the book. We used a hole punch and hammer to make big holes. It was kind of loud in the library.

 I used the covers off a discarded novel for this one, and some washi tape for decoration.

 Inside I used a marbled paper from Florence, and a printed kozo paper for the fly leaf.

A Book A Week 2014: Made, Altered, or Repaired. Week 8.

Week of 24 Feb 2014

About a book. I scanned some more photos from one of the books I love in the St. Olaf College Vault, The Romaunt Version of The Gospel According to St. John, 1848.

The text is printed, but also contains many pages of hand scripted letters
So beautiful!

A Book A Week 2014: Made, Altered, Repaired or Reviewed. Week 7.

Week of 17 Feb 2014
This week is an Artist Review

Author/Artist Blexbolex
Blexbolex (born Bernard Granger) is a French graphic artist and illustrator. [Enchanted Lion Books] I first learned of him at the library, when I was shelving some childrens books, and I spotted his book Seasons. It stood out on my cart because of the shape, the binding, the color palette, and how it had a 1960s look to it.

 It's this amazing, sturdy, sewn binding with thick boards, when I read it, was surprised and pleased by the simple text and the choices the author made for what pages were side by side.

Then another day when I was sorting a childrens cart, my eye was drawn to another book called People.

This book caught my eye for the same reasons as Seasons. And again, I was delighted by the choices the author made in words and pictures.

Today, I was shelving reserves and picked up this AMAZING book:

I had to read it immediately. It tells a whole story mostly in pictures. It's gorgeous and imaginative and I'm going to go buy it so I can own it and touch it. The typeface is beautiful, the palette is amazing. The neon orange really makes the images pop.

I love what Brain Pickings has to say about it.

Blexbelox is my favorite new childrens book illustrator. See my other favorites on Pinterest.