[accessibleimage] Links,Booktouch and some information from RNIB

Hi,
Some links about tactile books/bags with text following.
Regards,
Lisa

http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/PublicWebsite/public_tactilebookschildt.txt
http://www.bookstart.co.uk 
http://www.bagbooks.org/

Booktouch is a project co-ordinated by Booktrust, an independent charity
dedicated to bringing books and people together. Booktouch is a new book
pack designed to introduce blind and partially sighted babies and toddlers
to books. It follows from Bookstart, the first national books for babies
programme in the world. Bookstart gives free book packs to over 90% of
children in the UK. A Booktouch pack contains at least two free books and
further information about reading with blind and partially sighted
children including sources of books and services. For further information
please contact Booktouch Booktrust 45 East Hill London SW18 2QZ Email:
Yvonne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Telephone: 020 8516 2995 Fax: 020 8516 2966
Website: www.bookstart.co.uk 

Tactile books: some guidelines for making tactile books for young children
The section below was compiled by Marion Ripley, based on contributions
from the ClearVision Trustees, Susan Sommerich (Tower Hamlets Support for
Learning Service) and others. Tactile books which illustrate a story
through a variety of touch features are popular with blind and partially
sighted children. They are an excellent way of encouraging early literacy
skills and introduce the concept of exploring by touch. There are not many
tactile books designed for blind and partially sighted children who are in
the early stages of literacy development. The best tactile books are
designed and produced as 'one-offs' for individual children or groups by
the people who work with them, but making these books can be labour
intensive and sometimes the books do not last very long with enthusiastic
use by young children. The following guidelines may be of use when
designing a tactile book: Design The books should be fun, visually
attractive (many visually impaired children have some sight) and robustly
constructed. Keep the text short and simple: 5-8 page openings with one or
two short sentences on each will be quite long enough. Rhymes and
repetition are very popular, as are humorous stories. The choice of
subject matter should bear in mind the child's limited experience of the
world. A toothbrush is more relevant than a giraffe! Many blind and
partially sighted children have additional needs; simple books with a
story appropriate to their experiences and stage of development are very
valuable for these children. Construction The pages of tactile books are
usually made from card. You might be able to get your local printer to
give you some unwanted samples of off-cuts, or you may be able to get some
from a local scrap project (schools will have details of these). Pages
should not have a glossy finish as reflected light may make it difficult
for some children with partial sight to focus on the page. Corrugated
paper can be used instead of card and it is possible to sew objects on to
it fairly easily with a darning needle and thread. Glue guns are also
useful for attaching objects to the page. Cut pages to the size you need,
making sure the book is not too big for a small child to hold comfortably.
The easiest way to bind the books is with a comb-binder (your local school
might have one you can use) or with a hole punch and treasury tags. For
variety, you may like to tie the pages together with metal rings, ribbons
or bootlaces. Once the tactile elements have been added the book will be
quite thick. Make sure the binding allows the pages to be opened out flat.
Fabric books are becoming increasingly popular. Books made out of material
with objects sewn on can sometimes be more durable and washable than ones
made from card. Embroidery can also provide excellent tactile contrast,
using different types of thread, wool, straw etc. Illustrations Raised
tactile images of real objects are easier to recognise than reproductions
of visual images. In the early stages especially, illustrations that build
on a child's real experiencies are preferable to detailed tactile versions
of pictures (eg a piece of real fur is more recognisable than a small felt
silhouette of a cat). Keep all tactile illustrations very simple and try
not to have pictures involving perspective. If you decide to have
removable objects as illustrations (stuck to the page with velcro, for
example) make sure all the objects can be removed as the reader will try
to remove them all anyway. Moving objects (eg a wheel) can be interesting:
these can be attached to the page with split pins - but cover the sharp
backs of the pins with tape (book binding tape is good for this). Craft
rubber (also known as fun foam, available from most craft shops) is very
easy to cut out and stick on and can sometimes be useful for raised shapes
and patterns. As you make a tactile illustration, keep feeling the page to
make sure you can interpret it by touch, sometimes textures which look
quite different can feel very similar (eg black suede and pink felt).
Health & Safety * Avoid tiny objects which could choke a child. * Avoid
anything sharp or pointed. * Use non-toxic glues. * State clearly on the
cover that the books should be used with adult supervision. Large
Print/Braille/Moon For partially sighted children, the font should be
large (at least 18 point) and clear (sans serif) and printed on a light
background to give good contrast (preferably not bright white). You may
like to add braille or moon labels which can be produced on sticky-backed
plastic sheets, cut out and stuck to the page. At this level it probably
makes sense to braille one key word rather than the whole text. These key
words will help to familiarise young children with the idea of touch
reading. General An interesting alternative to the tactile book is the
'story sack' of objects and props to accompany a print book. A story sack
for Goldilocks and the Three Bears might contain toy bears, chairs, bowls
and toy beds of different sizes. Look at lots of mainstream children's
books to get ideas. Additional useful information Booktouch is a project
co-ordinated by Booktrust, an independent charity dedicated to bringing
books and people together. Booktouch is a new book pack designed to
introduce blind and partially sighted babies and toddlers to books. It
follows from Bookstart, the first national books for babies programme in
the world. Bookstart gives free book packs to over 90% of children in the
UK. A Booktouch pack contains at least two free books and further
information about reading with blind and partially sighted children
including sources of books and services. For further information please
contact Booktouch Booktrust 45 East Hill London SW18 2QZ Email:
Yvonne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Telephone: 020 8516 2995 Fax: 020 8516 2966
Website: www.bookstart.co.uk Clearvision is a nationwide postal lending
library of over 12000 braille/print children's books which takes standard
children's picture books and adds the brailled text on clear plastic
sheets so that the pictures and print text are still visible. The
collection also includes novelty board books with added braille for young
children. A small but growing collection of books with Moon text is also
available. For more information please contact: Clearvision 61 Princes Way
London SW19 6JB. Telephone: 020 8789 9575 Email:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Website: www.clearvisionproject.org Two titles
from Clearvision: Choosy Charlie and The Giant's Boot have been designed
to help children with little or no sight develop tactile skills. They
contain a simple, entertaining printed story, a key word in large print
and braille (optional) on every page, bold black and white illustrations
and brightly coloured robust thermoforms of everyday objects (spoon, comb,
biscuits, etc) featured in the stories. Matching real objects - easily
found in most homes and schools - can be used alongside the thermoforms to
make the stories really come to life. Four more titles are currently in
production and will be available shortly. For details please contact
Clearvision. Choosy Charlie (code TC 20712) and The Giant's Boot (code TC
20711) can be loaned from Clearvision or cost £9.99 each to buy from RNIB
Customer Services telephone 0845 702 3153 or email cservices@xxxxxxxxxxx
They are available unlabelled or with grade 1 or grade 2 braille labels
for the key words. Living Pictures The Living Paintings Trust offers a
wide range of touch and sound packs explaining pictures for all ages
through its free library service. These have tactile illustrations and an
accompanying audio commentary (available on tape or CD) which helps the
child to interpret the illustrations and also describes in detail all the
pictures in the book. For more information please contact: The Living
Paintings Trust Queen Isabelle House Unit 8 Kingsclere Park Kingsclere
Newbury Berkshire RG20 4SW Telephone: 01635 299 771. Email:
lpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Website: www.livingpaintings.org Tactile Stories
Tactile stories for children with children with severe learning
difficulties and for young children with sight problems. Titles now
available from Bag Books. For more information please contact Bag Books 60
Walham Grove London SW6 1QR Telephone: 020 7385 4021 Email:
bagbooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Website: www.bagbooks.org 





Lisa Yayla
Huseby Kompetansesenter 
Oslo Norway
lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx

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