‘Tactile’ books add new dimension to reading
Workshop explores how ‘tactile books’ can take reading beyond Braille
Joshua Schramm is trying to decide how the sun should feel.
He has a lot of textures to choose from. There’s orange felt and cotton balls and fake fur strewn around the table, ready to be glued to the page. But his mother has her doubts. If he covers up the sun, no one will be able to see it.
“But he has to be warm,” Schramm insists.
Most kids here have trouble seeing the sun in this picture book, whether he’s covered up or not. Like Schramm, they ’re visually impaired. They ’ve come to the Regina Public Library to learn how to turn a story into a tactile experience.
“Tactile books are used to help children who are blind or partially sighted ... to experience more of the story than just hearing it,” says Ashley Nemeth of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which organized two hours of tactile bookmaking for its Family Fun Day on Sunday.
“They can be a part of it … feel the different textures.”
The CNIB offers tactile books to children. But today is the first time the local chapter has taught kids how to create their own. It partnered with local author Jean Freeman, whose Where Does Your Cat Nap? book seemed ideally suited for the day’s activity.
“It had lots of different elements that we could easily make tactile,” Nemeth said. “It was about a cat in different locations, so it made it easy.”
Along with felt, cotton and fur, the kids who came to the event could choose from feathers, Popsicle sticks, imitation leaves and other materials chosen by Nemeth and her family.
Freeman launched the event with a reading of her story, describing precisely what the cats were napping on (or in) in every picture of every page. The cats ended up in a cardboard bag, a kitchen pot and even “dad’s socks.”
Freeman was fascinated to see how the kids interpreted her writing through their sense of touch — with each one choosing different materials to bring the cats’ napping to life.
“To me that’s just an extension of the imagination process,” said Freeman.
As she worked through the pages, she asked the kids to think about how the cat should feel.
Then the kids got to work. While Schramm pondered the texture of sunlight, Emilie Lemoine explored Freeman’s writing with her fingers. She had a Braille transcription in front of her, which she worked through diligently before gluing down Popsicle sticks to build a wooden fence.
“She does like the tactile aspect of things,” said her mother, Rita. “That’s how she sees.”
Emilie is completely blind in one eye and can only see bright light or strong colours with the other. She grew up experiencing literature this way.
These days, she mostly reads chapter books using Braille. But her favourite tactile book still sits on her bookshelf at home.
Nemeth said a lot of families don’t know where to go to find tactile books for their children. “It’s not as easy as just going to the store and picking out your favourite book,” she points out. She hopes the event will show them they can make one out of simple objects lying around the house.