"Kate and Mrs. ______ Race through Dragon Tower" (story by Kate)

Kate and I put together this gift for her teacher.  She wrote a story featuring herself and her teacher, and I made it into a book.



I was going to have Kate draw the picture on the cover and I would write the title, but she wrote it herself, in her own inimitable style.



I wrote the title again inside, on the off chance that anyone might find the cover a little hard to decipher. (You know, just in case.)




Kate recently came home with a little stuffed blue whale that she named Alex, so he had to have a part in the story.





Kate says this is an advertisement. I had to leave it in because it's just so Kate.



The sudden introduction of a new character. I asked, "The Queen of Flowers? Is she in the story?" and Kate said, "She's at the end of the story." Of course.

Kate wrote the story in her notebook originally, so we knew how many pages it was.  Then I put the book together and wrote the words, and had her draw the pictures again.



I cut the cover boards from some thin dense cardboard (I believe it came with a package of cardstock, originally).  I covered the boards with paper, glued with PVA and pressed under heavy books to keep them from warping.



I hinged the cover with purple duct tape. Quick and easy! 

When Kate saw the cover she wanted to keep it. I said we'd make her a copy too.



The pages were four sheets of paper stitched together.  (I still have a lot of bookbinding thread left from my class at BYU.)

Here's what it looked like on the back.

After Kate drew the pictures I glued the end papers into the covers and pressed the whole thing overnight, under three big heavy books. 

We wrapped up the book this morning so Kate could take it to her teacher.   Today was Kate's last day of school before Christmas break.  They had pajama day and early dismissal.  It was so cute to see all the kids running around the playground with their pajama pants sticking out under their winter coats.  (Kate and I have matching pajamas, but I figured that would be a bit much for me to walk her to school in my pajamas!)