Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Touch and Feel Story Books

Here's a great idea for somebody to pick up and run with -
Touch and Feel Books for older kids.
I've written about the need for sturdy board books at
a higher reading level before, but I hadn't thought 
about this.
Lots of kids process information through 
texture, a teacher who works with kids with special needs
mentioned this texturephilia.
And we realized that touch and feel books
are only for little kids.
In a quick web search, I found some bible stories,
and that's it. And the bible stories book is
clearly for itty bitty kids too.
Think of reading The Pearl with a smooth rounded
texture in the appropriate place in the text, 
Old Yeller or Love that Dog with a furry patch
to pet. Kids who disengage from narrative
(like mine) might be pulled back in through
touch.
Touch and feel patches would also make 
great additions to braille books-an expert I
spoke with today mentioned the use of
a touch and feel Going on a Lion Hunt with 
a student with sight impairment.
But Boynton's wonderful Dinosaur's Binket
represents the most complex touch and feel
book I know.
I am happy to adapt a classic for this approach
(Treasure Island anyone?). 

2 comments:

  1. Lovely idea! Could this be your golden ticket? ;)

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  2. Great idea - it never even occurred to me that older kids might enjoy the textures. HMM - I think maybe The Call of the Wild??

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