Build-a-Book came about following discussion between a team of innovative educators, primary teachers and established children's authors. It is led by Rob Bowden who has written and produced over 100 children's non-fiction library and information books.
Build-a-Book is resourced by Lifeworlds working in close collaboration with your school and staff. It can be adapted to a wide range of topics, formats and styles to suit your interests.
Central to the programme is the development of core learning skills including:
- reading and writing
- speaking and listening
- critical thinking
- character and resilience
- media interpretation
- ICT and design
- teamwork and pupil voice
Build-a-Book has been used to kick-start a topic or as a way of learners synthesising their learning at the end of a piece of work. It has also been used for freestanding challenge days or whole-school events around a theme (water, Africa, India etc). Some schools have adapted it to create leavers books or as the focus for a community project on the local area. The only limit is imagination!
- Year 3 and 4 at Burnwood Community School used Build-a-Book to consolidate their topic learning on World War II with pupils sharing their learning through the production of the book.
- Stoke Minster pupils explored Fairtrade as part of their Eco-Schools work using the Build-a-Book process to bring their ideas to life in a format that they could share with the wider community.
- Forest Park used the process to explore the animals they had adopted as class names/emblems. Pupils researched their animal or plant and the finished books now helps all learners (and parents) connect to their class identity.
The details...
What is involved?
This is a full day workshop (or can be delivered over several sessions/days if a bigger project) that works with the children to introduce the processes involved in making a book, before supporting them to build their own book from scratch. They will decide the design and layout and create or source the content (writing, images, maps, charts etc) to turn their ideas into a finished book. There is the option to have the book printed at cost to make a permanent memory and as well as an addition to the school library of course!
Costs
Build-a-Book is a bespoke project and the exact cost will depend on the nature of your book, the number of pupils involved and the timescale over which you wish to deliver the project.
Typically, the costs for Build-a-Book ranges from £450 - £800. Where schools have opted to work with a printer, costs typically range from £1.50 - £3.00 per copy (dependant on numbers)