BOOK RELEASE | By Patricia A McGoldrick

Written and illustrated by American author Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord, Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet contributes to celebrations marking Earth Week 2010 (April 19 – 23).  The book is a great resource for upcycling or, as Gaylord notes, in Wikipedian terms it is “the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.”

For many of us, reduce / reuse / recycle has become part of our lives, a way of living. Now, Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet provides guidelines for going a step further to upcycle many objects and materials into handmade books. While crediting the originators of the term “upcycle”, Gaylord, a talented artist / educator, introduces hands-on activities to promote the practice of upcycling. 

In Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet, upcycling is encouraged through user-friendly instructions to make, design and create individualized books starting with the use of everyday objects: empty cereal boxes, paper shopping bags—brown and other colors—ribbons, yarn, buttons and beads.  The list is up to you.  For novice bookmakers of all ages, Gaylord provides “The Basics” at the beginning of the book—from folding patterns to gluing tips and binding instructions for knots.

With Gaylord’s simple outlines, people off all ages (including young children with some assistance) will be able to set out on the adventure of bookmaking. Style choices come from far and wide, representing historical and geographical themes such as wish and name scrolls from Africa, comic books from the United States (in Canada, we most certainly can draw on our historical inspirations) and Haiku books from Japan. These are only a few of the 16 possible books for which Susan provides black and white photos in the book itself while colour photos are posted on the Making Books website.

If you’re looking for a creative way to reuse items rather than discard or even compost them, Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet will certainly be inspiring. You’ll find that it is possible to practice creativity and sustainability as you upcycle random objects and materials in your home, office, classroom, and all around you. My recommendation: Earth Week or any week, book it!

Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet, by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord.

ISBN 978-0-9842319-0-4 / 130 pages / $19.95 | Published: April 2010 | makingbooks.com | Distributed by Itasca Books.

Patricia Anne McGoldrick is a Canadian poet, writer, and reviewer.