Make a Picture Book

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.”
- Melody Beattie

There's a very sad trend going on now among parents of young children. In the desire of wanting the best for their child, parents are pushing their children away from picture books into the reading of text only chapter books, exclusively.

As a former English teacher, I would never discourage the reading of chapter books, if the child
is ready for them. But there is absolutely no reason to take away the joy of picture books by telling the child that “picture books are for babies”. On the contrary, picture books inspire children to learn and to enjoy reading. (For articles on this topic visit http://NationalPictureBookWeek.com.)

I have written numerous picture books for my arts enrichment classes to use as an inspirational jumping off point for the students. I would like to share the text from one of these books with you that you can use with your child to create his or her own picture book. The book title is I Say Thank You and the text is as follows:

I say thank you
for my favorite food.
I say thank you
because it makes me feel so good.

I say thank you
for my favorite toy.
I say thank you
because it fills me with joy.

I say thank you
for my beautiful family.
I say thank you, thank you, thank you -
thank you happily.

It's such a good thing
to say thank you,
that we have a special day
when that's what we do.

We eat turkey, potatoes and pumpkin pie
and say thank you for everything good
above and under the sky.

I say thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you for everything.
I say thank you because
it makes my happy heart sing.

You can use a notebook or scrapbook as the base for your picture book, but I think the most fun base to use is an actual blank board book. That way the finished product has the look and feel of a “real” book.
These blank board books can be found at www.orientaltrading.com. (The product code number currently is IN-65/55184 and is listed as “3 Scrap your own! Board books”)

Now for the images. Images of food can be found in newspaper circulars, magazines and on food coupons. For the toys, check out the gift catalogs that are prolific at this time of the year. (Finding the images from the sources can be a fun “scavenger” hunt your child can do.) Make color copies of family photos. The Oriental Trading site is also a good place to find Thanksgiving stickers. And don't forget to check out Google Images for useful pictures.

All of these images can be attached to the board book with your favorite adhesive. And of course, offer your child the opportunity to draw their own pictures for the book. One big tip, have them draw on a separate piece of paper which can then be glued into the book. That way you save the frustration of the child drawing onto the book and then not liking the drawing. Trust me. That happens.

Type out the book text, print it out and glue the appropriate pictures next to the words in the board book. I created my book on one of the previously mentioned board books from Oriental Trading. Space the text out so that you see one paragraph on each two page spread.

Have your child read his or her own picture book at your Thanksgiving dinner. If you are a family that says grace before dinner and/or bedtime prayers, offer your child the opportunity to share the book at that time also. (Don't reserve Thanksgiving Day as the only time you teach your child the importance of being grateful.)