Activities | Art and Heritage | Graphic arts

Doctors of their favourite story books

This activity consists in carrying out simple repairs on books which, for some reason, the kids want to preserve and maintain.

The main aim of this activity is to:

• preserve the kid's first story book;
• preserve their favourite story;
• encourage them to properly handle books so as to protect them from misuse, which is common practice among small children;
• explain why they should not eat or drink next to their favourite books to avoid food, fat or water stains on the paper.
• not to put tape on any type of paper; this will be the biggest enemy of their favourite books;
• promote the preservation of books as cultural and recreational objects such as, for example, arranging them neatly on the bookshelves of their bedrooms;
• promote the culture of sharing their stories among siblings, cousins and close relatives with the basic thinking that books should always be cherished and properly handled/protected and that only this way they can be truly shared;
• promote the pleasure of reading, which is often passed from generation to generation.

To carry out this activity every kid should bring their own little story book to make simple repairs such as:

• spine repair;
• endpaper gluing;
• binding reinforcement;
• small tear repair, etc;

The books to be repaired shouldn't be too badly damaged. 

As it is a short-term activity parents must be advised that their children shouldn't bring very degraded books that would require complex restoration and prevent them from completing all the stages of the activity. 

The parents should therefore help their children to select the right book.
To carry out this activity the kids should bring a gown or plastic apron and sleeve protectors.

Activity instructor: Paula Pinto Pereira (UDADC)