The Book Making Book

 

By Stephanie Diane Pierce

 

 

I made a book making kit.

 

My name is Jim, short for Jimmy, which is short for JemmaDean, which is my name.

 

Early May when book orders came I saw a kit. A book making kit. Be an Author! It told me. Be an Illustrator! It said. That, by the way, is the big word for artist, the person who draws the pictures in the book, and paints them, and uses chalk and oil pastel, (and acrylics, a kind of paint.) I know, my Aunt is one.

 

 

I wanted that kit.

 

 

I read it over. And over. And a few more times for good measure. But books, in the book orders, cost less than three dollars. No matter how many pages. Unless they don't. Kits cost twenty-eight.

 

I was not going to have that book making kit. I had two dollars. Mom might offer three. That was that.

 

 

 

It was an awfully nice kit.

 

 

I sat in the stuffed chair. Quite ugly, quite comfortable, we kept the chair for just this sort of stuff. I had my legs over one arm. I had my back on the other. This is not the sort of way to sit in a chair, but in a stuffed chair it’s ok. I let my head fall back. Way back. I closed my eyes and thought.

 

My mom, who is brilliant and knows everything there is, figures out everything she doesn't know in just this way. It works. That's why I was doing it.

 

Cat curled on my stomach to help me figure it out.

 

Cats are good at that. I appreciated the help.

 

Could I get more dollars? No.

 

Should I ask for more book money? Maybe. Not yet.

 

Did I really want a book making kit? Yes.

 

Why? I want to be an Author.

 

And, I want to be an illustrator.

 

Could a book making kit make me an Author? Only if I wrote in it.

 

Could a book making kit make me an illustrator? Only if I drew in it.

 

What was it made of? What makes a book making kit a book making kit? I wondered. Could I find one somewhere else? Could I make one?

 

This was a very daring question. With a whoosh of breath, the idea hit me & Cat jumped down to let me go find out.  

 

 

I had to read that kit again.

 

 

Eight-inch wire-bound pages. That meant that the edges of the book making kit book are eight inches long. That meant that the pages are held together with a spiraling wire. I can get pages, I thought. I can cut them to eight inches by eight inches if that is important. But a wire might be tricky.

 

Five sheets of foam. Hmm. Maybe a book making kit is a complicated thing. I was disappointed, but I kept reading.

 

5 Sheets of shiny paper. Hmmm. I wondered what that was for.

 

One package of foam shapes. One package of googly eyes. Googly Eyes!? And a glue stick.

 

 

The book order and I looked at each other a moment.

 

 

This book order was a little silly, I thought. But I wanted that kit anyway.

 

Ok. Pages. No problem.

 

Cutting them. Not necessary?

 

But, no problem. My mom can cut a really straight line.

 

Five foam pages. Hmm.

 

Shiny paper.

 

Foam shapes.

 

Googly eyes.

 

These were for pictures!

 

The foam shapes and sheets and shiny papers were for making the illustrations. The googly eyes were for the characters. This was some fancy book making kit!

 

I can't get foam shapes. I can't get foam paper. I might be able to get shiny paper. But, probably not googly eyes.

 

I went back to stuffed chair. Cat came back to my stomach. I put my legs back over one arm. I put my back against the other. I put my head back again. I closed my eyes.

 

Can I buy foam paper? No.

 

Can I make foam paper? No.

 

Can I make a book making kit without foam paper?

 

Hmm.

 

The book order would say no. But then, it was a slightly silly book order.

 

Hmm.

 

Did I want the kit now? Yes.

 

Why?

 

To be an author.

 

To be an illustrator.

 

Could I be an author if my book making kit didn't have foam pages? Of course.

 

Could I be an illustrator if I had a book making kit with no foam pages? Yes! Yes!

 

What if I had no shiny paper? Yes! Yes!

 

What if I had no foam shapes? Yes! Yes!

 

 

No Googly Eyes?  And I laughed and laughed and laughed.  ...  ...  ...  

 

     

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