We had a board book that I didn’t like too much. The illustrations were too wishy washy and there were too many words. We also had a board book that I loved, by Todd Parr, called This is My Hair. Bold illustrations and simple text. Plus funny. I decided I wanted the first book to be more like the second book. And I needed a Father’s Day gift for my husband.
So, I painted over the cover of the book, put stickers on it to make a new title, and pasted all sorts of stuff on the inside.
The main theme was “This is my dad”. I made a cartoon-like image of my husband’s head and copied enough of them for each page of the book. Then I pasted it over various environments that I cut out of magazines. I hand-wrote the captions. I did not worry about letting the original contents of the book show through. It was obviously handmade.
I think it looks really messy and amateurish, but visitors to our house seemed to be very impressed. So, I share this idea with you so that you can impress your own visitors. Feel free to copy my ideas exactly.
Apparently there is a whole art form called altered books, where people collage on the pages of regular books. They make some amazing stuff. My version is less than amazing, but it is a board book that my son and husband read together – and it’s made by me.
Since doing this project, I learned that you can also purchase blank board books. I also recommend using ModPodge as your paste. It dries clear and allows you to layer different cut-outs. (Affiliate links.)
