-Our Adult Adoptee & Foster Alum Support Group is getting creative...
I am really looking forward to our new altered book project! We have been doing the book discussions awhile now, and those are so important, but I thought it might be nice to mix things up a bit- I wanted to offer something new and fun to do together, while still providing a space for us to learn about ourselves and support one another. These will alternate with our book discussions this year- same time, days, and place. No art experience is needed! This activity has a lot of collage elements and so is easy and lower stress than other art activities might be.
For the project we will each alter a children’s book of your choice- this could mean adding to, changing, covering, cutting out unliked portions/words/pictures &/or highlighting favorite portions, etc… To keep this as brief as possible, we will talk more about the project when we meet. But below is some information on choosing a book and some art supplies suggestions.
When Choosing a Book Consider:
The size of the pages you will be working on
The length of the book & if completion is important to you
Colors, shapes, elements of the pictures or words… if you like some of the items on the pages it can give you a starting off point when starting
Recommend (but not required)
Purchase 2 copies of whatever book you choose to alter- this gives you a way to reference what your changes were in the moment and over time, and might help you notice more from your alterations.
Buy used books- for cheaper prices and/or for symbolism
Another idea is to select a book to alter that is not a favorite, maybe one that creates mixed feelings, or a children’s poetry book, children’s fairytale, or book that has some appealing colors and/or illustrations. If you go this route you can bring a favorite book as well and portions of it can be copied and added to the altered book in various ways to continue with characters or a story line you feel connected to. This way favorite books can be used without changing, “destroying,” or covering them
Possible Books (these are just ideas- choose whatever you want)
Adoption (ish):
Horton Hatches an Egg
Are You my Mother
Stellaluna
The Chosen Baby
The Green Goose
I’ve Loved You Since Forever
God Found Us You/God Gave Us You
I Prayed For You/ I Wished For You
Others:
The Ugly Duckling - Belonging
Cordoroy - Being wanted
The Giving Tree - Giving & taking
The Velvatine Rabbit. - Becoming real
Maybe. - the endless potential of you
Petunia - Learning/gaining wisdom/words
The Birds that Flew to the End of Time - journey
Favorite/common fairy tale
Children’s poetry book
Possible Art Supplies to bring:
Old magazines (some provided)
Modge podge (or other collage medium), optional- glue, tape
Gesso (this is needed to help strengthen the pages when painting them)
Pencils, pens, markers, colored pencils, pastels
Paints- acrylic, watercolor
Scraps of paper, wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper, graph paper, tissue paper, old paper bags, stationery, thin cardboard
Coloring books
Old newspapers
Sheet music- old or new
Maps- old or new
Fabrics or material- possibly from some memorable item
Lace, Doilies
Thread, string
Clean food or candy packages/wrappings
Old cd or small record
More Personal/individualized art element options
Dried flowers, leaves, feathers, etc
Greeting cards saved or new
Other books- other children’s books, dictionary, book on country of origin Encyclopedia book on year you were born/relinquished/adopted (on ebay)
Old or new photographs of family, nature, vacations, etc (can be copied so originals are kept nice)
Copies of old letters, documents, copy of birth certificate, etc
Pictures of favorite or famous artworks
Old film, or negatives
Fliers or other papers from an important trip/ site seeing