# Quick Start Chart
TBB Page Types and Tactile Illustrations

TBB Page Types
Real Object Illustrations
Collaged Illustrations
Raised Line Illustrations
Pocket Pages
Insert objects in open pockets
Ziploc® Pages
Enclose objects in Ziploc®
Needlepoint Canvas Pages
Attach objects with zip ties, “twisties”
Lace yarn, string, pipe cleaners through the canvas to form lines & raised shapes
Polyblend Pages
Attach objects with zip ties, hook/loop, magnetic attachments, or glue
Glue or attach textured shapes using hook/loop or magnetic attachments
Glue string, yarn, or Wikki Stix®; apply puff paint to form lines & raised shapes
Board Stock Pages
Attach objects with zip ties, hook/loop, magnetic attachments, or glue
Glue or attach textured shapes using hook/loop or magnetic attachments
Glue string, yarn, or Wikki Stix®; apply puff paint to form lines & raised shapes
Fabric Pages
Attach objects with hook/loop attachments
Use hook attachments to back textured shapes to apply to page
Use hook attachments to back raised and outline shapes to apply to page
Magnetic Pages
Attach objects with magnetic attachments
Use magnetic strips or sheeting to back textured shapes to apply to page
Use magnetic attachments to back raised and outline shapes to apply to page
Card Stock Pages
Attach objects with hook/loop, magnetic attachments, or glue
Glue or attach textured shapes using hook/loop or magnetic attachments
Emboss; glue string, yarn, or Wikki Stix®; apply puff paint to form lines & raised shapes

Project Leader/Author
Suzette Wright

Research Assistant
Monica Vaught-Compton

Manufacturing Specialist
Andrew Moulton

Model/Pattern Maker
Katherine Corcoran

Graphic Designer
Anthony Jones

Louisville, KY

Tactile Book Builder: Guide To Designing Tactile Books
Catalog Number 7-08826-00

For use in the Tactile Book Builder Kit
Catalog Number 1-08826-00

Copyright © 2017 by the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America

This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, unless where noted on specific pages. For information regarding permission, contact the publisher at the following address:

American Printing House for the Blind
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206 – 3148
(800) 223-1839
www.aph.org
info@aph.org

For accessible files of the Tactile Book Builder: Guide to Designing Tactile Books (HTML, BRF) visit: www.aph.org/manuals/
The files are available as a free download (part number 61-424-017).

# Table of Contents

- Quick Start Chart: TBB Page Types and Tactile Illustrations
- Tactile Book Builder (TBB): Products from APH
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- How to Use This Guide
- Introduction to Tactile Books
  - Books, Emergent Literacy and Beyond
  - Role of Visual Illustrations in Books for a Young Child
  - Role of Tactile Illustrations and Multisensory Components in Books
  - Special Role of Custom-Made Tactile Books
- Overview: Basic Types of Tactile Illustrations in Books for a Young Child
- Section I: Designing Tactile Illustrations
  - Learning Through Touch
  - Principles of Good Tactile Design
  - Sequence of Use for Types of Tactile Illustrations
    - Number and Relative Strength of Tactile Clues
    - Child’s Skills and Experiences
    - Early Fine Motor Capabilities
    - Grasp Types and Exploratory Actions
    - Finger Use and Increased Bimanual Coordination
  - Real Object Illustrations: First and Familiar
    - Guidelines to Consider When Creating Real Object Illustrations
  - Collage Illustrations: Texture, Shape, Size, and Sequence
    - Guidelines to Consider When Creating Collage Illustration
  - Raised-Line Illustrations: Later and Lacking Clues
    - Guidelines to Consider When Creating Raised-Line Illustrations
  - Fitting the Tactile Illustration to the Child
    1. Begin with the Child
    2. Consider the Story/Text
    3. Design the Tactile Illustration
    4. Evaluate the Tactile Illustration
- Section II: How To Make a Custom Tactile Book Using the TBB Kit Materials
  - Adding Text to TBB Books
    - Braille Text
    - Print Text
  - Adding a Title & Identifiers to TBB Book Covers
  - Adding Tactile Illustrations to TBB Books
    - Using the TBB Kit to Make a Book of Simple Textures
    - Using the TBB Kit to Make Real Object Books
    - Using the TBB Kit to Make Collaged Books
    - Using the TBB Kit to Make Raised-Line Books
  - Adding Multisensory & Interactive Items to TBB Books
- Section III: Tactile Book Examples and Starter Ideas
  - Simple Texture Books
  - Tactile Books Based on Early Routines & Common Objects
  - Tactile Books Based on Firsthand Experiences
  - Tactile Books Based on Children’s Rhymes & Songs
  - Tactile Concept Books
  - Informational Tactile Books
  - Tactile Alphabet Books
  - Tactile Books Based on “Made-up” Stories (Original Fiction)
  - Tactile Books Based on Print Children’s Picture Books
- References
- Appendix A: Common & Commercially Available Materials for Tactile Books
- Appendix B: Other APH Materials for Custom-making Tactile Books
- Appendix C: Fundamental Skills for Exploring and Interpreting Tactile Books
- CAUTION

# Tactile Book Builder (TBB)
Products from APH

## TBB Kit Materials
Tactile Book Builder: Guide to Designing Tactile Books

### TBB Safety-ring Binders

- Large (8” x 9” x 2.5”) – (4)
- Small (8” x 9” x 1”) – (3)

### TBB Ring-punched Pages

- Board Stock Pages (16)
  black (8), orange (2), yellow (1), blue (1), green (2), lavender (2)
- Braille Paper Folded Pages (20)
- Card Stock Pages – white (16)
- Fabric Pages for hook and loop attachments (4)
  black/black (2), yellow/yellow (2)
- Magnetic Pages (4)
- Needlepoint Canvas Pages (10)
  black (4), white (2), red (2), green (2)
- Page Protectors (20)
- Polyblend Pages (24)
  black (8), white (5), yellow (4), red (4), blue (3)
- Pocket Pages (6)
- SoundPage for TBB binders (1) includes 3 recording devices
- Ziploc® Pages (5)

### Other

- Braillable clear plastic label material
  7.75” x 5.5” (40 labels)
  3.875” x 1.75” (100 labels)
- Braille templates in clear plastic
  7.75” x 5.5” (1)
  3.875” x 1.75” (1)
  8.5” x 7.625” (1)
- Magnetic vinyl-faced sheeting, 8.5” x 11”, white, adhesive-backed sheets (4)
- Magnetic strips, 8.5” x 5/8”, adhesive-backed (20)
- Plastic zip ties
  short (50), long (50)

### Hook and Loop Material

- Low Profile 3/8” transparent hook and loop adhesive-backed “coins” (50)
- Low Profile white/transparent hook and loop adhesive-backed strips (1.5 yds)
- Regular Profile 5/8” black hook and loop adhesive-backed “coin” sets (50)
- Regular Profile 5/8” white hook and loop adhesive-backed dots “coin” sets (50)

## Refill Pages & Replacement Binders

APH’s Book Builder products make it possible for users to create individualized books for children with visual impairments.

Two sets of materials are available: Tactile Book Builder and CVI Book Builder. Binders and pages in each set are interchangeable, and it is possible to separately order binders and refill packs for pages.

Tactile Book Builder includes binders and a variety of page types, provided in black and a range of colors. The materials in the kit permit inclusion of objects and creation of different types of tactile illustrations, accompanied by print/braille text. The Tactile Book Builder manual guides teachers and parents in designing individualized books that are meaningful and appropriate for young tactual learners and dual visual/tactual learners.

CVI Book Builder is targeted at children diagnosed with Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI). Because they frequently have difficulty in understanding objects, pictures, and letters presented against a complex background, CVI Book Builder uses black pages and black binders as low complexity backgrounds against which to present familiar items, photos, and eventually words. The CVI Book Builder manual guides parents and teachers in creating individualized books specifically for their reader with CVI.

Additional TBB binders and refill packs for many of the kit items, including the various page types, are available for purchase separately from APH. This allows you to replenish the contents of the kits as needed.

To order Page Refill Packets, additional binders, the SoundPage, label material, and other APH products included in the Kit, call 1-800-223-1839 or visit the APH shopping site.

shop.aph.org

### Safety-ring Binders

- Large (8” x 9” x 2.5”) (pack of 4) 61-424-012
- Small (8” x 9” x 1”) (pack of 3) 61-424-013

### Ring-punched Pages

- Board Stock Pages (pack of 16) 61-424-002
  black (8), orange (2), yellow (1), blue (1), green (2), lavender (2)
- Braille Paper Folded Pages (pack of 20) 61-424-003
- Card Stock Pages, White (pack of 16) 61-424-001
- Fabric Pages for hook and loop attachments (pack of 4) 61-424-004
  black/black (2), yellow/yellow (2)
- Magnetic Pages (pack of 4) 61-424-005
- Needlepoint Canvas Pages (pack of 10) 61-424-006
  black (4), white (2), red (2); green (2)
- Page Protectors (pack of 20) 61-424-014
- Polyblend Pages, Black (pack of 8) 61-424-010
- Polyblend Pages, Assorted Colors (pack of 16) 61-424-011
  white (5), yellow (4), red (4), blue (3)
- Pocket Pages (pack of 6) 61-424-015
- SoundPage for TBB binders (1 page, 3 recording devices) 61-424-007
- Ziploc® Pages (pack of 5) 61-424-016

### Other TBB items

- Braillable clear plastic label material
  7.75” x 5.5” (40 labels) 61-424-008
  3.875” x 1.75” (100 labels) 1-08873-00
- Braille Templates (pack of 3 sizes) 61-424-009
- Tactile Book Builder: Guide to Designing Tactile Books, Print 7-08826-00
- Tactile Book Builder: Guide to Designing Tactile Books, Braille free download 61-424-017

# Preface and Acknowledgments

It was a pleasure to work on the Tactile Book Builder (TBB) Kit, a product designed to make it easier for individuals to custom-make tactile books designed for young tactual learners. Thanks are due to many individuals.

Survey respondents and focus groups were first to express a need for a book-making kit. A number of professionals and parents participate in these and other ongoing efforts by the American Printing House for the Blind to identify materials needed by children with visual impairments.

Dana Fox, former preschool teacher at the Governor Morehead Preschool (Raleigh, North Carolina), and Dr. Wendy Sapp (consultant, Visual Impairment Education) reviewed input from the field and identified the multiple needs that a tactile book-making kit could meet. Thanks are also due to Dana and to Jane Barabash (Governor Morehead Preschool) for their formative review of the first draft of the TBB Guide and proposed list of materials.

Christine Moe, a TVI/COMS and doctoral student at the University of Northern Colorado, contributed to the final stages of the TBB guidebook before field evaluation, updating references and adding key points about the importance of texture. She shares her expertise and creativity in tactile book-making at www.makingtactilebooks.com.

In addition, the following individuals shared their own tactile book designs as examples to lead others in creating custom tactile books to meet the needs of a particular student or child:

- Jane Barabash, (COMS) Governor Morehead Preschool, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Sandy Bryant, (TVI) Governor Morehead Preschool, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Pauletta Feldman, formerly Special Projects Coordinator, Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Louisville, Kentucky
- Carol Boquet, volunteer, Dijon, France
- Carla Robertson, (TVI) Rockingham County Schools, Rockingham, Virginia
- Lori Gellhaus, South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Aberdeen, South Dakota

An acknowledgment would not be complete without noting insights into the nature of tactile illustrations and books provided by staff at Les Doigts Qui Rêvent (LDQR), a French nonprofit organization producing tactile books for children with visual impairments; their work encourages us to confront our visual biases whenever we attempt to design “pictures” for a child without vision, and highlights the value of participative design, an approach in which the child—the user of the tactile illustration—is actively involved in the design process. Thanks are accorded to LDQR for their consent to use photos of some of the tactile books they have produced over 20 years of service to children with visual impairments.

Other books, pictured and identified in the text, were submissions to the International Typhlo & Tactus tactile book competition. The biennial competition, organized by LDQR, has sparked interest in tactile books in more than 16 participating countries. APH is the sponsor for the United States competition. For more information, watch for announcements about the competition in the APH News or visit the Typhlo & Tactus website: www.tactus.org.

Although not pictured in this manual, readers are also directed to a growing number of creative book ideas being shared through the Paths to Literacy website, a joint project between the Perkins School for the Blind and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Many of these can be recreated using materials in the Tactile Book Builder Kit. www.pathstoliteracy.org

Finally, thanks are due to the teachers who reviewed each component in the kit and the accompanying guidebook, directing APH in determining the final product’s appearance and functioning.

- Amanda Daniels, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Andrea Dunn, Fairfax County Public Schools, Reston, VA
- Elizabeth Pieters, Green Hills AEA, Iowa Braille School, Glenwood, IA
- Gayla Dunn, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Hillary Joy-Sims, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Jaime Cissell, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Jan Moseley, Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Louisville, KY
- Johanna Anand, Livonia Public School, Livonia, MI
- Kaylyn Wright, Iowa Braille School, Glenwood, IA
- Kim Lotscher, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Lisa Fulmer, Maryland School for the Blind, Baltimore, MD
- Molly Taylor, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Paige Maynard, Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Louisville, KY
- Pauletta Feldman, Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Louisville, KY
- Rachel Schles, Fairfax County Public Schools, Reston, VA
- Rebecca Davis, Fairfax County Public Schools, Reston, VA
- Sarah Azibo, Anchor Center for Blind Children, Denver, CO
- Sarah Fields, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO
- Sarah Smith, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City, MO

I strongly believe that through sharing and collaboration among many contributors— teachers, parents, researchers, writers, artists, and children with visual impairments, we can continue to “grow” our understanding of and approaches to designing tactile books.

As for custom-made books, experience is the best persuader. I became convinced of their special power after helping my daughter create a book based on an experience we shared. It was her favorite book for many months, and it was the first she learned to read. Twenty years later she still recalls it. I wish everyone—children and adults—the pleasure, sense of accomplishment, and motivation to read that comes from making and sharing the books you create together.

Suzette Wright
Emergent Literacy Project Leader
American Printing House for the Blind
Louisville, Kentucky

# How to Use This Guide

Whether you are a teacher, volunteer, or other professional working with a child with a visual impairment, this guidebook is intended to help you design a variety of books with tactile illustrations and multisensory features appropriate for a given student.

The Introduction acquaints readers with the role of tactile illustrations in books for a young child with a visual impairment, discusses the advantages of custom-made tactile books, and provides an overview of types of tactile illustrations. The remainder of the guidebook is organized into three major sections.

Readers with different degrees of experience in designing tactile books are encouraged to begin with the section that best meets their needs.

## Section I

If you are not familiar with the principles of good tactile design or design guidelines for specific types of tactile illustrations, or if you have questions about how to select the most appropriate type of tactile illustration for a particular child, begin with Section I: Designing Tactile Illustrations. In this section you will learn about

- learning through touch, as opposed to sight
- opportunities and challenges of tactile illustrations
- principles of good tactile design
- a sequence of difficulty for various types of tactile illustrations
- some of many considerations that must be balanced as you plan and design a tactile book appropriate for a given child

For a chart linking a child’s skills to the types of tactile books most likely to be interesting and appropriate for him, refer to Appendix C: Fundamental Skills for Exploring and Interpreting Tactile Books.

## Section II

In Section II: How to Make a Custom Tactile Book Using the TBB Kit, you can explore

- various ways to use the TBB materials to assemble custom-made tactile books
- options for adding braille as well as print to books you make, including planning placement of text on TBB pages and label material
- suitability of each TBB page type and kit item for producing different types of tactile illustrations

For a quick launch into book-making, refer to the Quick Start Chart on the inside front cover of this guidebook.

## Section III

In Section III: Tactile Book Examples and Starter Ideas you can view

- simple texture books, tactile experience books, concept books, and alphabet books
- examples of custom-made tactile books used with other young children with visual impairments
- obtain “story-starter” ideas to help you create a variety of tactile, multisensory books for your own child or student
- see how some creative designers have overcome the challenge of providing tactile illustrations that combine tactually pleasing elements, visual interest, and meaningful tactile designs

## Appendices

Appendix A lists materials and craft items from commercial vendors that can be used with the TBB Kit to make tactile books.

Appendix B lists products available from APH that can be used to make tactile books.

Appendix C: Fundamental Skills for Exploring and Interpreting Tactile Books provides an overview chart listing fine motor, exploratory, and cognitive skills and the types of tactile illustrations and books suited to children developing these skills.

# Introduction to Tactile Books

## Books, Emergent Literacy and Beyond

Emergent literacy is the perspective that literacy develops, from birth, as a young child builds a broad foundation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that underlie and lead to the ability to read and write conventionally (7, 26, 22, 29).

For sighted children, much of this learning occurs incidentally. Surrounded each day by a print-rich environment, they are continually exposed to print letters and words—in books, on signs, and labels—used for a variety of purposes. Given adult guidance, children

- begin to recognize particular letter patterns and link them to meaning—their names, familiar signs, and brand-name logos
- become familiar with different uses for written language
- learn to listen for the sounds within oral language and make connections between oral and written language
- begin to recognize letters and understand that each represents specific sounds

Experimentation with scribbling and writing furthers this knowledge; over time, guided by adults, the young child’s reading and writing more and more nearly approximates conventional reading and writing (6, 7, 22).

When a child has a visual impairment, opportunities for him to experience written language in his environment are much more limited. Because he is unable to observe adults around him as they use written language, including reading for pleasure, the value and purpose of literacy may not be obvious; the skills, tools, and materials involved remain unknown.

Although there are a variety of ways to help a child with a visual impairment build emergent literacy skills and gain experience with written language, one of the most important is to read aloud regularly sharing appropriate, interesting books that provide enjoyment and exposure to written language—whether print or braille. In fact, the value of sharing books may be even greater when a child has a visual impairment. Sharing books is considered key to building a number of emergent literacy skills.

- Handling books gives a child experience with conventions of written language—we read from left to right, top to bottom, and turn pages in order (13, 19, 22, 20).
- Exposure to a book’s written words paves the way for learning that braille or print symbols have meaning and are connected to spoken words. The adult reader is able to call attention to features of the text, such as, “Where do I start reading on this page?” “This word says brush.” “Can you find a letter S?” Print referencing during read-alouds increases a young print reader’s knowledge of print (33). Braille referencing may do the same for a young potential braille reader.
- With time and adult help, patterns and consistencies in the text are noted and the child reaches the understanding that specific letters denote specific sounds (alphabetic principle).
- The richer vocabulary used in books provides opportunities to learn new words not heard in daily conversation (5, 13, 20).
- When rhyming or alliteration are present in the text, listening to and playing with the language of the book builds phonological skills—proven to be correlated with later success in reading (20, 22).
- In addition, as a young child listens to books read aloud and interacts with the adult reader about the book, he learns other skills critical to reading, such as how to relate the text to his own experience, sequence a story’s events, and use context to learn unfamiliar words. Later, he will use these “meaning-making” or comprehension skills, to read independently (26, 32, 12, 13, 10).
- Reading aloud provides an introduction to the pleasure of reading, especially if the adult enjoys reading and is enthusiastic.

Sharing books with a young child is both a source of enjoyment and an important part of launching a child as a reader in his own right.

## Role of Visual Illustrations in Books for a Young Child

Although an age-appropriate text is an essential part of early books, illustrations also play a central and important role. A quick glance at children’s books on library and bookstore shelves reveals an almost limitless selection of storybooks and informational books filled with colorful, interesting pictures. Visual illustrations attract a young child’s attention, add information, and support his understanding of the book’s text.

- Visual illustrations can stimulate imagination, introduce humor, demonstrate creativity, and provide beauty.
- Visual illustrations help the child build concepts of familiar things as well as ones that he may not have experienced firsthand.
- Visual illustrations provide additional information not found in the text: setting of the story and information about characters, their actions, and feelings.
- Illustrations act as conversation-starters as adults read aloud: Who is playing together? Is this thing round like the other things in the picture? Conversations such as these help the child build language skills, learn new words, and model comprehension strategies used in reading.
- Books with visual illustrations encourage development of book-handling skills as the child independently handles the book, turning pages to view its pictures.
- Using clues in the illustration, the child can “pretend read” using his own words or remembered words. Pretend reading shows the child is beginning to think of himself as a reader, and adult encouragement of this can further motivate a child on his way to literacy.
- At a later stage, when a child truly begins to read, pictures continue to support his efforts to read by providing clues that help him “fill in the gaps” between what he is able to read and words he does not yet know how to decode.

For a typically sighted child who is not yet a reader, visual illustrations offer an important bridge to “making meaning” out of the story, helping him take a more active role—first, as listener and later, as a beginning reader.

## Role of Tactile Illustrations and Multisensory Components in Books

Recognizing the key role visual illustrations play in books for typically sighted children, parents and educators of young children with visual impairments have searched for ways to add interest, pleasure, and meaning to books for a child who cannot view pictures. One approach has been to create tactile books—placing things on the page, related to the text, that can be touched or experienced using other senses (2, 15, 19, 28, 30, 32). These may be objects, textures, raised lines and shapes, and may also include sounds, smells, and other multisensory, interactive components.

In tactile illustrations, texture functions much as color does in visual illustrations. It is preeminent in attracting a young child’s attention. Until the age of 5 or 6, both children with visual impairments and with sight pay more attention to texture than to shape. Texture also acts to set apart elements of the picture (9). And perhaps most important for a child with a visual impairment, texture may provide a powerful clue to help him identify what is being represented on the page.

Tactile illustrations—if they are well-designed and matched to the young child’s abilities—serve some, though not all, of the functions of visual illustrations:

- They invite the child to explore the book and as he does so, learn book-handling skills and encounter the braille text.
- Use of varied textures and shapes that are interesting to touch links tactual exploration to pleasure; this leads to more tactual exploration, further developing important exploratory and discrimination skills (1, 4, 19, 22).
- Tactile illustrations offer the child opportunities to touch and think purposefully about what he discovers in the illustration and relate it to the words of the text. In doing so, he tests and expands his understanding of the text, building skill for getting meaning from texts and from tactile displays (15, 24, 25).
- Like visual pictures, tactile illustrations act as conversation-starters. They allow the adult and child to touch and comment on the illustration; these conversations build language and comprehension skills (6, 10, 13, 22).
- Some children, once they are familiar with a book and its tactile illustrations, use them to pretend read—similar to a sighted child’s use of visual illustrations.

Storybooks with tactile illustrations are like a two-way street: The meaning of the story leads a child in understanding the tactile illustration, and the tactile illustration adds meaning to the story (24).

However, as explored next, tactile illustrations can be challenging to examine and to interpret. Unlike a visual illustration, whose meaning is instantly obvious to a typically sighted child, interpretation of a tactile illustration takes time and is not automatic. It depends upon exposure, training, and adult support. Many abilities—fine motor skills, tactual exploration skills, tactual memory and cognitive skills—develop over time and combine to help a child explore and interpret tactile illustrations and displays.

Research supports the effectiveness of explicitly teaching exploratory strategies as a means to help students interpret tactile displays (1, 4, 14, 22). Books with tactile illustrations offer critically important opportunities to develop these skills, with adult guidance, in a context that is fun and relaxed. These will be essential later, when the child encounters tactile maps, diagrams, charts, and graphs in school textbooks and academic tests.

Exposure to tactile books can help a young child with a visual impairment on his way to literacy, numeracy, and graphicacy.

## Special Role of Custom-Made Tactile Books

As educators and parents have become aware of the importance of tactile books, sources and types of tactile books have expanded over the past 20 years. However, their number is still very limited and their cost, high. Both factors restrict availability of tactile books in the homes of young tactual learners.

Only a few braille producers publish tactile books specially designed for children with visual impairments. These typically include both print and braille text. Most often, the tactile illustrations attempt to represent highly familiar objects, preserving as many of the tactile features of the “real-life” object as possible. An overview of the types of Illustrations most commonly used is provided in the next section.

Tactile books designed and produced at the American Printing House for the Blind are evaluated by teachers of young children with visual impairments. Evaluators report that a majority show greater than usual interest in them (30).

In addition, commercial print publishers of books for very young sighted children sometimes include tactile and multisensory features—texture swatches, pop-ups, and sounds. However, these are designed for a sighted child who can view the surrounding visual picture; their ability to be understood by a child with a visual impairment may be limited.

COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BOOK SHOWS A BASKET OF EGGS WITH RAISED OUTLINES THAT OVERLAP.

Palmer noted in her observations of seven children with visual impairments, ages 6 to 13, that these commercially available books resulted in less tactile exploration, required more explanation, and caused children to adopt a more passive role as books were shared. In contrast, she noted that “…all the books which were specifically designed for children with visual impairments and which gave them the opportunity to explore the whole picture independently were obviously sources of great delight.” (21)

But there is another source for tactile, multisensory books. Some of the most successful tactile books are those that are custom-made for a particular child (15, 19, 25, 32). Custom-made tactile books offer significant advantages over books massproduced for a wider audience.

Creators of custom books are freer to use a wide range of materials and can produce illustrations using hand construction techniques that are cost prohibitive for most book publishers. The book can be about daily routines or personal experiences that have meaning for the child. Illustrations can use objects from his own environment or be designed and created by the child, so he is involved in choosing what has meaning for him and what he prefers to touch.

### Children create a tactile book

The value of giving children the central role in designing tactile books is beginning to be more realized. The Country Down the Sea (La pays d’en bas la mer), published by Les Doigts Qui Rêvent in ©2015, is the result of children with visual impairments acting as designers for a book of their own choosing and creation. Philippe Claudet, director of Les Doigts Qui Rêvent, suggested to Valerie Sarlard, occupational therapist at the Institut Regional des Sourds, la Ressource in La Reunion, that her students should be encouraged to design their own tactile book. The text of the book, written by Collette Gillieaux, was a favorite of Ms. Salard’s students because its characters were familiar animals in the sea around their island home. The children decided how they would represent each of the animals, choosing materials and objects that were available to them. Their representations were replicated, as closely as possible, in the published version of the book.

La pays d’en bas la mer (The Country Down the Sea), C. Gillieaux and students with visual and multiple disabilities, Les Doigts Qui Rêvent, ©2015

A custom book offers advantages that increase the likelihood a young child will be engaged by the book and find it meaningful. This, in turn, has the power to encourage a life-long love of books and reading.

# Overview: Basic Types of Tactile Illustrations in Books for a Young Child

The following is a summary of approaches and materials that are commonly used to create tactile illustrations in books for a young child. Section I: Designing Tactile Illustrations discusses special design considerations for each type and a possible order of use.

There are diverse approaches to creating tactile illustrations. The approach used most often is to attempt to reproduce the physical characteristics of the real object in the illustration. This is done most easily by using the real object as the “illustration.” Other types of illustration retain as many features of the 3-dimensional object as possible but are largely 2-dimensional—for example, a collage illustration of an apple featuring an “apple shape,” cut from a smooth material in the size of an actual apple, with a small thin stick to show the apple stem.

Another very different approach is to represent objects, characters, or events in the story in a symbolic way—using raised marks, shapes, or textures consistently throughout the book, perhaps identified in a key. The symbol may be abstract, sharing none of the physical features of its real counterpart, or it may share some attribute—a small felt circle like the soft cloth of Red Riding Hood’s cloak to stand for the character of Red Riding Hood.

Symbolic displays require the child to have a good understanding of how a symbol functions; these are more often reserved for books for an older child. It is likely there are intermediate steps that lead from highly realistic illustrations toward purely symbolic tactile displays—perhaps using part of a real object as a symbol for the whole object.

Whole objects can be attached to the page, enclosed in a pocket on the page, or placed in a plastic bag or envelope fixed to the page. When the object can be removed from the page, it offers the child a chance to feel its 3-dimensional shape. He can note size, weight, and texture, and explore function, such as detaching a comb and using it to comb his hair. Function can be an important clue to identity.

THINGAMAJIG
APH ©1996

Highly realistic thermoforms of some objects can be molded in a thin plastic sheet (clear or opaque) by heating the plastic in a special machine. This process, called thermoforming, can create an almost 3-dimensional image of the full-size object. Although textures of real objects are not usually well represented using this method, objects that are hard and have a texture like the plastic substrate can be well represented. These are most realistic when the object itself is used as the mold. However, if a poor model of the object is used to make the thermoform or is of a different size than the object in life, much more difficulty is introduced. (Since most makers of custom books do not have good thermoforming materials and equipment available to them, further discussion of thermoformed illustrations is not addressed in this guidebook.)

Interactive components of many types engage the child in a movement or action that may trigger a connection to the story or his experience. These can include a wide variety of items: flaps and things to pull, push, spin, thread through holes, and so on.

HOLY MOLY
(PROTOTYPE)
APH ©2015

A LA CHASSE A L’OURS (GOING ON A BEAR HUNT), M. ROSEN
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2015

Multisensory elements add a great deal of interest and meaning to custom-made books. Scented materials or items that make noise or provide a recorded sound can be used to illustrate the events in the text. The significance of this type of “illustration” and its appeal for all children should not be underestimated.

TOUCHER C’EST JOUER (TO TOUCH IS TO PLAY), I. HOLSTEIN & M. KATELA
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT ©2013

I LIKE MY CLASSROOM, J. BARABASH & S. BRYANT, GOVERNOR MOREHEAD PRESCHOOL

Parts of objects that represent the whole object can be attached to the page or enclosed in a pocket, plastic bag, and so forth. Although whole objects are more likely to be recognized, if an object is too large to fit on the page a part can still provide important information. Examples include a piece of a blanket, the lid of a yogurt container, or a juice box straw.

Representative textures can be attached to a page to represent a whole item. For instance, a bedtime routine book could include a washcloth, a square of blanket material, a swatch of pajama fabric, and a swatch of fur to represent the child’s teddy bear. In order for the texture to be identifiable, the texture must be as close as possible to the real objects the child handles each night during the bedtime routine, and the text of the story should support identification.

Collaged shapes can be cut from textured fabric, paper, foam paper, and a wide variety of other textured materials, and then applied to the page. These usually depict the outer contours of an object. (A contour is the 2-dimensional shape of a section through the object.) Most illustrations show the contours of a side view, although side views may differ; overhead views are also used, for example to show a plate on a placemat. The texture chosen most often imitates as closely as possible the texture of the real object.

THAT’S NOT MY BEAR
APH ©1993

TUTT’ ALTRO, (CHAMELEON), A. SELLIG
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT ©2012

Miniature models, such as a small toy car used to represent a real car, are used in some tactile books but can be difficult for a young child to identify. He may not understand the relationship between a small-scaled model of an object and its real-life counterpart and seldom can these duplicate the real-life texture of the object since they are usually formed of plastic. Texture and size are often the most important clues enabling identification for a young child. However, in some instances, with adult explanation, miniatures may have a use—a toy shovel can be used to pretend to dig, imitating an action that takes place in the story. In this case, the model, because it can be used, may have more meaning.

Raised lines can be made many different ways and are most often used to show the contours of an object. Because a raised-line drawing shows a 2-dimensional contour that lacks textural clues, a young child needs experience and guidance to interpret this type of illustration. These may be created in numerous ways: embossing a paper page, using special paper that swells when heated (swell paper), drawing with a sharpened stylus on thin plastic or foil, using a stylus or tracing wheel to make raised dotted lines, gluing string or yarn on a page, or drawing with thick fabric paints. Because raised lines mainly provide an outline of the object, the outline is often “filled”—either by raising the entire shape or by filling it with a pattern of raised marks called an areal pattern. The areal pattern does not attempt to simulate the texture of the real object.

THE CATERPILLAR
APH ©1991

Symbols can also be used to represent objects, characters, and story events. A symbol may consist of a swatch of texture (large or small), a collaged or raised shape, or raised “point symbol” such as those used in tactile maps. Parts of objects can also serve as symbols. Some tactile symbols, somewhat like visual icons for software applications, incorporate an aspect of the real object that reminds the child of what it represents—a small swatch of fuzzy fabric to stand for a puppy, soft felt for Little Red Riding Hood, or a small raised shape with “rabbit ears” to represent a rabbit.

LE PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE (RED RIDING HOOD), W. LAVATER
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT ©2008

TURTLE AND
RABBIT
APH ©2009

GOING ON A
BEAR HUNT
APH ©2002

The settings and events of the story can also be depicted in a highly symbolic manner. Spatial relationships may be shown using the conventions of 2-dimensional maps—a reduced scale and aerial “views.” Collaged textures or areal patterns can be used to denote water, a forest, or other landscape features. Raised lines may indicate paths followed by the story’s characters.

# Section I: Designing Tactile Illustrations

A LA CHASSE A L’OURS (GOING ON A BEAR HUNT), M. ROSEN
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2015

Before beginning to design a tactile book, it is essential to:

- understand touch as a means of gathering information
- be aware of principles of good tactile design
- know how to design the most appropriate tactile illustration for a particular child, suited to his skills, interests, and background knowledge

A tactile illustration should not be an attempt to reproduce a visual picture in a tactile form. Unlike visual illustrations that use color, shape, and distance perspective to provide information to the viewer, tactile illustrations that rely on texture, size, and sequence provide the most meaningful information for a young tactual learner.

A young tactual learner experiences and conceptualizes the world differently than a child who is sighted. To the extent an illustration—even if it can be experienced through touch—represents a sighted experience, it cannot convey the same meaning as it would to a sighted child.

## Learning Through Touch

To begin, let’s consider the ways that tactual learning differs from visual learning, affecting both how real objects are perceived and how tactile illustrations are examined and interpreted by a child who has never had usable vision.

- Tactual learners typically have fewer opportunities to gain experience with objects. A tactual learner experiences an object when he is in contact with it, but this may be far less often than a sighted child sees the same object in his environment. Incidental learning through observing others is unavailable. Objects that are too large, too small, or too faraway to examine by touch will remain largely unknown. This relative lack of experience and related concepts can make it more difficult for the child to recognize these objects when they are depicted in a tactile illustration.
- Touch gives sequential, partial information. Vision provides instantaneous, global information. With touch, however, the “viewing area” is limited to what is beneath the fingertips (16). Objects are not understood as a whole until the child feels each part and then relates these to one another in his mind. Similarly, a tactile illustration is not understood until each part is examined and related to the other parts. Cognitively, this requires much more from a young tactual learner than a visual glance requires from a sighted viewer (11).
- Gathering tactual information depends upon movement. To examine objects or tactile illustrations fully, the child must be active—able to move both hands and fingers in an efficient, strategic manner. Furthermore, many types of tactual sensations fade unless “refreshed” by repeated contact (17).
- Touch provides different types of sensations that overlap. Moving and stretching muscles in the fingers and hands provides feedback about the overall shape and expanse of an object or tactile illustration. This information is received at the same time as sensations received through receptors in the skin give critical information about texture and detail (18).
- Touch is a sense of proximity. Every time the child touches the same object, it “looks” the same to his fingers regardless of how he “approaches” the object. There are no “viewing angles” or differences between distant and close-up appearances. Illustrations that show a particular view of an object or different views of the same object, and close-up or “cut away” illustrations in which a part appears without the whole (e.g., a person’s head without the rest of the body) do not make sense to a tactual learner without explanation and training.
- The child’s experience of how an object feels cannot be duplicated in a tactile illustration; there are no tactile “photos.” This makes it harder for him to connect the tactile illustration to the object it is intended to show. For example, he may recognize his own hairbrush by the particular texture and stiffness of its bristles. Even when the tactile illustration uses a real hairbrush, if it has a different type of bristle or shape, a young child may not recognize it as “hairbrush.”
- An object’s 3-dimensional shape feels very different from a 2-dimensional representation of its contours. A 2-dimensional illustration of a cat’s shape shown in a side view does not feel at all like the living, moving, and furry cat the child has held. Sighted viewers frequently see the contours of objects in a side view or overhead view and recognize these almost immediately when they are depicted in a visual illustration. A tactual learner does not have these “views” and the associated contours in mind.
- The same 2-dimensional shape (contour) can be interpreted in many different ways, so shape alone is seldom a sufficient clue to an object’s identity. A circle can be a ball, the sun or moon, a wheel, a plate, or the rim of a cup. Tactile illustrations must be given a context—either provided in the book’s text, through verbal explanations, or both.
- Like shape, texture provides the child with clues but still may not give enough information to identify a thing. A cat is furry, with a scratchy tongue and claws. Some of these textures can be imitated—a patch of fake fur, scratchy sandpaper—but these could be confused with many other things that have a similar texture.
- Spatial relationships between objects or between parts of the same object are difficult to show and to interpret in a tactile illustration. Showing where elements are in relation to one another on a page is quite different from how the child has experienced positions such as above, under, behind in his tactual explorations of objects in the everyday, 3-dimensional world. A child may tactually recognize the kitchen table by its height and how long it takes to feel along its edge as he turns each corner, feeling each leg in sequence. A tactile representation of the table on a flat page is very unlike this experience.
- Tactile illustrations that show very large objects at reduced size can be confusing. A house, for example, has parts he has probably never had the opportunity to touch, such as the roof or chimney; so depiction of these as a triangle with a small rectangle on top would not be familiar at all. He may also have only a vague notion of how all these parts relate to one another. Your explanations and firsthand experience with the object or a 3-dimensional model may be needed beforehand.
- Tactual learners may not be provided with sufficiently rich verbal descriptions that reflect tactual experience. Sighted adults often tend to describe features that are significant for a visual learner, making it more difficult for the tactual learner to build vocabulary he needs to describe and recall his own experience. Language can support memory, so it is possible this may impact his ability to build concepts needed to interpret a tactile illustration.
- Tactual learners may lack scaffolded opportunities to learn exploratory skills from an adult who understands learning through touch. Adults guide sighted children, almost from birth, to use their vision to explore objects in their environment, pictures, and the connections between the two. This learning is usually informal and embedded in daily activities. Adults who have vision may be less capable of introducing a tactual learner to needed skills and knowledge.

## Principles of Good Tactile Design

CROKATO (CROKATO), C. KRAEMER
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2000

In addition to factors just mentioned, a child’s ability to interpret a tactile illustration can also be affected if the designer has not followed key principles of good tactile design. To make a usable tactile illustration, it is critical to become familiar with these principles.

LE PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE (RED RIDING HOOD), W. LAVATER
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2008

- Use textures, shapes, lines, and symbols or items that feel distinctly different from one another. Differences between textures help the tactual learner organize and understand information. Neighboring textures should be distinctly different in order for a child to discriminate between them.
- Use more obvious or “loud” textures for the most important part of a picture — unless this is a representation of an object that has a different associated texture that should be respected, such as the soft petals of a flower. Loud textures, such as corrugated cardboard, carpet, fur, sandpaper, and raised lines made from pipe cleaners and Wikki Stix® attract attention more quickly and indicate that this is the most important information on the page. Be aware, too, that some children do not like these; so you must take into account the child’s willingness to touch whatever you use.
- Be consistent in the way you represent a particular thing throughout the book, or it may not be recognized. Ideally the size, texture, and contour you choose to show should always be the same.
- Simplify and avoid clutter — many lines or elements in an illustration make it confusing to examine by touch. Leave out unnecessary details and lines. A good tactile illustration shows only a few of an object’s most important, identifying tactile details, such as the stem on an apple to distinguish it from an orange.
- Use elements that are large enough to be discriminated one from another. Raised shapes should be at least ½ inch wide, no smaller, to be identified. Textures may require more area in order to be identified.
- Add height to illustrations. This helps the tactual learner locate important information on a page more quickly. Collage illustrations allow the designer to use different thicknesses—a 3-dimensional illustration is not created but some modeling can be effected. Layering can be used to show different parts of an object and their relationship to one another, such as a “knob” glued on top of a rectangle to represent a door.
- “Fill” large outlined shapes or areas with a “fill pattern” (areal pattern) to help the child tell what is inside and what is outside the shape.
- Leave sufficient space between elements. Place lines or shapes no closer than ¼ inch apart; lines closer than 1/8 inch apart are not felt as being separate.
- Avoid intersecting lines as much as possible. Lines that do meet and cross over one another should be tactually distinct from one another (e.g., a dotted line versus solid line).
- Break up the illustration into two or more illustrations if there are many objects or elements. For a young child, a tactile illustration should show only one to a few objects per illustration. To show a complex illustration, “build” the illustration gradually by first providing only the most basic elements; in the next illustration, add to this. Continue to add until all elements of the illustration are presented.

## Sequence of Use for Types of Tactile Illustrations

We recognize that learning through touch is different, that 2-dimensional tactile illustrations have inherent challenges, and that illustrations that respect good design principles are easier to explore and interpret. Designers have also wondered if there is an overall order of difficulty among different types of illustration. One recent study found consistently higher rates of recognition for textured collage illustrations versus thermoform and raised-line drawings among students from 6 to 16 years of age (27).

Is it easier to interpret raised-line drawings, collaged illustrations, or real object illustrations? What contours afford the easiest interpretation? Which identifying features should be included and which details should be excluded for better interpretation? Although we do not have a great deal of research to “spell out” a precise order of difficulty, we do know some of the factors involved. Some are best explained in terms of the tactile illustration, and others, in terms of the child.

### Research finds higher recognition rates for textured collage illustrations

A. Theurel and A. Witt; P. Claudet; Y. Hatwell, E. Gentaz (2013). Tactile picture recognition by early blind children: The effect of illustration technique. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2013, Vol. 19, No. 3.

- Subjects were 23 early blind students, ages 6 to 16 years.
- Half of the subjects had previously had regular/moderate level of use of tactile illustrations; half had no use/infrequent use.
- Subjects were asked to identify tactile illustrations of eight objects produced as raised line, thermoformed, and texture/collaged illustrations.
- Objects were evenly divided into four categories: natural object/handleable (e.g., grapes); natural object/not handleable (e.g., kangaroo); artifact/handleable (e.g., saucepan); artifact/not handleable (e.g., helicopter).
- Subjects with prior regular use of tactile illustrations had higher identification rates than those with no or infrequent prior use.
- Textured illustrations were better recognized than other illustration techniques by all subjects regardless of age, prior use of tactile pictures, or object depicted.
- Authors observed, in the literature and their own results, greater ease in tactually recognizing real objects than 2-dimensional illustrations, which suggests tactile illustrations need to be more like 3-dimensional objects if we are to increase likelihood of recognition.
- Response times did not differ significantly between subjects who had regularly used tactile illustrations and those who had had no or infrequent use.
- Average response time for a correct identification was more than 13 seconds.
- Age was not a significant factor in identification rates or response times.
- There was considerable variability in identification rates for different objects: banana—high rates of identification across all techniques (82 to 95%); kangaroo— low rates (4 to 21%).
- When approximate responses, such as saying “carrot” for “banana” were considered, identification rates for thermoform were close to textures.

### Number and Relative Strength of Tactile Clues

Many clues to an object’s identity are lost in a tactile illustration of that object. Some clues have more significance for the child than others. This means that even though a child may have sufficient tactual discrimination and exploratory skills, some types of illustrations are likely to be more difficult to interpret than others. Stratton (see inset) offers an example of how a tactile illustration of a sock can quickly lose a number of identifying tactile clues, making interpretation more and more of a challenge (23).

### “Lost in translation” as tactile clues decrease

Most young children are very familiar with socks and the business of putting them on and taking them off. A young child’s experience of sock probably includes the impression that it is soft, that he can place his hand or foot inside the sock, and that he can scrunch it up or stretch it.

THAT’S NOT MY BEAR
APH, ©1993

- Real object illustration: The same sock, fixed to the page as a tactile illustration, has lost one or two clues to its identity: It cannot be scrunched or stretched. The child can still put his hand inside it; but it is harder to fit on his foot, so it has lost its functionality.
- Collage illustration: Choosing, instead, to illustrate the sock by gluing down a single layer of “sock-like” material, cut to show the contours of a sock in side view, further reduces the tactile information available to the child. He may detect texture and outer shape, but the “sock” is now 2-dimensional and inflexible. He cannot fit his hand inside it or scrunch and stretch it. And quite probably, the stiff outer shape of a flat sock is not a very strong clue to its identity for a child who has only examined the shape it assumes once it is placed over his foot.
- Raised-line illustration: Lastly, representing the sock as a raised outline made by embossing its contour contains almost no clues that might trigger a connection to the child’s experience of a real sock. It isn’t the same texture, and if the outline shape is unfilled, the child may even have difficulty determining what is “inside” the shape and what is “outside” and so arrive at a completely different impression of the contour being depicted.

In addition, reducing the size of the sock in any of these types of tactile illustrations removes yet another critical clue. A child needs a great deal of experience and a context in order to make sense of a tactile illustration when so many critical clues are missing! Tactile illustrations in a child’s book must be well supported by the book’s text—which must identify the object or offer enough verbal clues to guide the child in deciding what the illustration is supposed to represent.

Although “a picture may be worth a thousand words”—a tactile illustration without words is just plain confusing!

### Child’s Skills and Experience

Other factors determining the relative difficulty of different types of tactile illustrations are particular to each child and may be interrelated in a variety of ways. All play a role and should be considered when designing a tactile illustration for a particular child.

- The child’s ability to use his hands and fingers (fine motor) limits or expands the tactile input he is able to obtain from the illustration, which impacts his ability to discriminate differences in textures, objects, the contours of collaged illustrations, and raised-line drawings.
- His cognitive skills play a central role in directing his exploration, fitting together the sequential information his sense of touch provides, and interpreting it based on his familiarity with the conventions of 2-dimensional tactile displays.
- At the foundation of it all, his real life experience with the things or events shown in the illustration directly impacts his ability to obtain meaning from the illustration. These firsthand experiences also are likely to inform his exploration and influence which clues he chooses to search for in the illustration.

Like literacy, learning to interpret tactile illustrations and displays involves the interaction of many different skills and types of knowledge, and develops over time with guidance from adults and opportunities to practice.

### Early Fine Motor Capabilities

Research shows that a young child’s fine motor skills develop gradually and follow an overall progression (see Appendix C), although sequence and timing can vary for a child with a visual impairment and may also be affected by the presence of additional disabilities.

A very young child’s ability to examine things with his hands is at first limited to a reflexive grasp; his hands are tightly fisted much of the time (8). A child with a visual impairment may have a tendency to keep his hands in a fisted position longer than a child who, motivated by what he sees, begins to open them to reach for and handle objects around him (8).

Even if a child’s hands are fisted, however, he may be able to notice large areas of texture by brushing the side or back of his hand across textures on a page. He may also reflexively grip and squeeze objects placed in his hand. As he does, he may notice obvious textures, such as fuzzy versus smooth, and pliability, such as hard versus “squishy.” Temperature and weight can also be perceived.

### Grasp Types and Exploratory Actions

Over time, the child develops the ability to relax this reflexive grip and progresses through different grasp styles toward a voluntary grasp that involves his fingers and thumb as his palm encloses the object (8). However, because he is using his whole hand and cannot yet use his fingers individually, he is likely to miss details, parts, and aspects of the shape of objects and of tactile illustrations.

From a relatively early point, he begins to use common exploratory actions on objects he grasps or contacts— scratching or rubbing their surface, banging, shaking, squeezing, and waving an object in hand. This continues to develop as he begins to use both hands for these actions and to pass objects from hand to hand.

Still, these initial stages of bimanual exploration do not afford the child much information about shapes and contours; this comes later.

During these early stages, tactile illustrations that use 3-dimensional objects that are familiar, distinctly different, and large enough to be grasped with the whole hand are most likely to be successful. Objects attached to a page that can be removed for handling are effective tactile illustrations. Since it may be some time before the child can easily release objects, allow time for holding and replacing the objects in the book in order to take the next one (8).

THAT’S NOT MY BEAR
APH, ©1993

As the child’s hands begin to relax and remain open, he is more and more able to explore objects that are fixed to the page, as well as large, simple collaged shapes on the page using the “flats” of his hands. He may notice gross differences, such as the fact that one collaged shape is large and the other small, one rough and one smooth, and one has sharp corners and the other has rounded corners.

Once the child is able to use his thumb and pads of his fingers to grasp smaller objects, a much wider range of objects and interactive components can be used in tactile illustrations. He will not yet be able to examine these objects with a great deal of care, but this new ability allows him to pick up and hold small objects used in illustrations, to open a flap, turn a small knob, pull on a string, and more.

### Finger Use and Increased Bimanual Coordination

COCINELLA VA IN MONTAGNA (LADYBIRD GOES TO THE MOUNTAIN), T. MANTACHETI
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2004

Once the young child is finally able to separate his fingers to examine objects using his more sensitive fingertips, he will at last be better equipped to detect much more about shape and texture. Children first learn to separate their index fingers from other fingers, pointing and poking at and into the recesses of objects. Eventually the child is able to use all of his fingers separately, moving them both independently and in coordination to explore and trace contours. At this point, he becomes physically capable of exploring more detailed collage illustrations and raised-line drawings.

TOUJOURS RIEN (STILL NOTHING), C. VOLTZ,
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2006

As his skill in bimanual exploration develops, he begins to use each hand for different roles, carrying out more sophisticated search strategies. One hand may mark a spot while he traces along a line or around a shape with the fingertips of his other hand. His hand skills and search strategies will evolve over a long period with exposure to tactile illustrations and other types of tactual tasks. Many tactual learners appear to develop their own styles of bimanual exploration and vary it for different tasks—braille reading, exploring a tactile illustration, using a tactile map with a key.

However, even if a child can use fingers and hands in a very refined and efficient manner, he will not be able to make sense of illustrations he explores if he cannot assemble the information for interpretation. A very young child may not have a well-developed understanding of part/whole relationships, spatial relationships, and the conventions of 2-dimensional displays. It is only when the child develops necessary fine motor skills, exploratory skills AND the ability to think about the tactual input his senses bring, that he will be able to explore and interpret the details of tactile illustrations.

### Handy to know

SOFFEO DI VENTO (LITTLE BREATH OF WIND), E. LODOLO,
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2009

The following describes some hand skills and strategies used by older students who are skilled in exploring tactile displays. A young child will not yet use all of these but through scaffolding can be guided into these habits over time. Encourage talking and “thinking aloud” about tactile illustrations as the child explores them. Praise his efforts and offer support, occasionally modeling specific strategies with the child’s hands placed over yours.

- Experienced users of tactile illustrations often begin exploration of a new tactile display by using both hands to explore the whole display—its overall size and the general location of its most significant parts. If a “baseline” is provided in a display, the child can use it as a starting point and a reference point to locate other parts of the display.
- The ability to track with fingertips along a raised line with a light, smooth, and flowing motion is a fundamental exploratory skill that greatly assists tactile exploration.
- When several types of lines (e.g., dotted, solid) are in a single display, skilled students have learned how to track one type of line through its intersection with another line, without veering off course.
- Another important skill is the ability to track around the outline of a closed shape, such as a circle. One way to do this is to place both index fingers, side by side, on the circle. Leaving one finger in place, the child traces around the circle with the other finger. When the traveling finger again reaches the stationary finger, he will know that he has completed tracing the shape.

## Real Object Illustrations: First and Familiar

Children who are less than 2 years old most often explore with their whole hand instead of using their fingers separately. This continues to be true for some older preschoolers, and children who exhibit tactile selectivity. Putting together what we know about a young child’s development of “hand skills,” early cognitive development, and the number and strength of clues provided by different types of tactile illustrations, it is likely that large areas of texture and real objects used as tactile illustration provide the best introduction to tactile illustrations for a young child.

Whole objects are most easily identified, for reasons previously explored. When a whole object is too large to include, using only part of the object in a tactile illustration may not always be a suitable compromise. You need to evaluate each instance carefully, based on the child’s familiarity with the whole object as well as its parts, his ability to understand part/whole relationships, and how distinctive or unique the part is. A tab from a soft drink will not signal “soft drink” to a young child who has never drunk from a can. Placed alone on the page, it may not be understood, even if the story supplies a context.

Similarly, miniature models are often difficult for a young child, who may not understand the relationship between the model of an object and its real-life counterpart. Parts of objects and miniatures are objects, but objects used in a symbolic way.

Always, before sharing the book with the child, give firsthand experience with the things and events in the book. Let the child handle the objects as you give him the appropriate words for each.

### Guidelines to Consider When Creating Real Object Illustrations

- Select objects that are familiar to the child. To the extent possible, use the real thing (rather than a model, miniature replica, or part of the object).
- When possible, use the child’s own items and toys as object illustrations. If he is capable, let him choose or help you choose the objects to use as tactile illustrations.
- Objects that have unique and distinctive textures greatly assist recognition.
- When possible, use objects that feature actions the child can perform—a purse that opens up, a spoon attached to the page that he can detach and use.
- It may be easier for the child to recognize objects that have simple forms, unique shapes, or distinguishing features.
- If the objects can be detached from the page, try to use ones that can be grasped easily by a child’s small hands and that fit his current grasp style (e.g., palmar, whole hand, pincer).

  SOMETHING SPECIAL
  APH, ©2009

- If the real object is too large to fit on the page and if the book’s words provide enough supporting information, it may be successful to attach a texture or material like that of the object (e.g., a story character has a soft, fuzzy blanket—provide a large swatch of blanket material, attached at one edge rather than glued down, so it can be “crumpled” and feels more like a blanket might actually feel).
- Objects can be attached to the page, enclosed in the pocket of the TBB Kit’s Pocket Page or Ziploc® Page. Remember that objects are more difficult to recognize if they cannot be detached from the page since they cannot be handled or used.
- Limit each tactile illustration to one or two objects per page unless you are showing multiples of the same object.
- Position objects on the page so there is enough space to separate each of them; things positioned too closely may merge, to the sense of touch, into one object. However, do not scatter objects so widely that the child is likely to miss one positioned off to itself.
- If the child is beginning to use fingers separately and together to investigate details, objects with more detail and complex contours can be used.
- If the child has remaining vision, provide an appropriately contrasting background for the objects you use to add interest, to help him locate the objects for grasping, and to guide tactual exploration.

## Collage Illustrations: Texture, Shape, Size, and Sequence

DAS HUHN ALBERTA, (ALBERTA THE HEN), A. GIEBICHENSTEIN
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2005

Collage illustrations offer a next, but significant, step away from the 3-dimensional objects a child knows into 2-dimensional tactile illustrations (27). Even typically sighted preschoolers pay special attention to texture and give it a higher priority as a classification criterion over shape and size (9). Just as different colors are used to indicate visual differences, so too should the textures vary. As discussed before, texture in a tactile illustration functions much as color does in a visual illustration; it adds interest, assists in identification, and differentiates the objects shown, one from another (11). Different parts of the object may be shown by using different textures to set them apart. Layering allows the designer to achieve different thicknesses—a 3-dimensional illustration is not created but some modeling can be effected. Layering can also be used to show different parts of objects and their relationship to one, such as a “plate” glued on top of a rectangle that represents a placemat.

A LA CHASSE A L’OURS (GOING ON A BEAR HUNT), M. ROSEN
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2015

Most collage illustrations attempt to keep important textural clues and also present a related 2-dimensional shape—such as a smooth, round apple shown as an apple shape cut from smooth, slick poster board. As mentioned earlier, a largely flat shape glued to the page does not give as much information to a tactual learner as a visual shape does to sighted learners.

If the collage illustration also preserves the size of the object it represents, then this important clue is also available to the child. In addition, the way the collage illustrations are placed on the page can also give important information to the young child. When placed in a linear sequence, the child learns that a series of events occurs over time or that something is changing. Sequence can show very dynamic processes in the story as well as teach important concepts of storytelling, such as first this happened, then that.

LE GÂTEAU D’ÉMERAUDE (THE EMERALD CAKE), F. JEANNOT & M. TRAHARD
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2007

Adding 3-dimensional items to a collage illustration can also assist recognition—for example, silk flowers added to a collage side view of a vase or a shoelace added to a collage shape of a shoe. If your collage can include other sensory aspects of the real life object, don’t hesitate to provide these. Think of collage illustrations as a form of mixed media. Scent the silk flowers with a floral perfume. Provide something that makes a sound like the object—plastic material that crackles just like the wrapper on an actual piece of candy. If your collage can include any of the functions of the real life object—a flap that opens to simulate the lid of box, and a small clasp to close it—these can be essential clues for a tactual learner and add fun to exploring the illustration.

Remember that the young tactual learner has in mind a 3-dimensional mental representation of the object, learned by holding the whole object in his hands. The contours you choose to show will not be recognized automatically. For this reason, it is always a good idea to have the real object on hand for immediate comparison to the collage illustration. Let the child trace with his finger, on the real object, the contour the collage represents.

Always, before sharing the book with the child, give firsthand experience with the things and events in the book as you give him the appropriate vocabulary for each.

### Guidelines to Consider When Creating Collage Illustrations

LA PAYS D’EN BAS LA MER (THE COUNTRY DOWN THE SEA), C. GILLIEAUX AND STUDENTS WITH VISUAL AND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2015

- When you select objects to represent, rather than trying to match the visual appearance of the object, choose textures that reflect the qualities of whatever is being illustrated. Using materials that feel very similar to the child to illustrate vastly different objects is like using the same color for everything in a picture—imagine a picture where the sun, the trees, the playground, the little boy and his ball are all the same shade of yellow.
- In some cases, it may be easier for the child to recognize the collage shape of an object that has a simple, symmetrical form. For example, the contour of an orange, because it is symmetrical, will be the same regardless of view chosen. At the other extreme, a collage shape attempting to show a shoe could be difficult—in part because of large differences in contour depending upon whether it is shown in side view or from above and also because shoes vary so much in style.
- When deciding which objects to represent, continue to choose objects that are familiar to the child or that he can examine before reading the story. If something is too large, too small, too faraway, or too fragile for the child to feel firsthand—a butterfly, for example—you may be able to show the child a 3-dimensional, full size model and explain how it is like and unlike a real butterfly. Let the child trace the contours of the real object or model and compare to the collage illustration of it.
- As much as possible, involve the child in selecting the textures and contours to use to show elements in the illustrations; discuss how you might position these in the tactile illustration to show spatial relationships.

- DAS HUHN ALBERTA, (ALBERTA THE HEN), A. GIEBICHENSTEIN
  LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2005

  Think about what is important to show—then eliminate unnecessary detail. In particular, it is unnecessary and can be misleading to show details that are primarily visual—such as colored stripes on a ball.
- But do show one or two defining details, such as the eraser at the top of a pencil. A single detail, such as a feather on a bird, can “jumpstart” recognition and increase the ease with which some illustrations are interpreted.
- If the child has remaining vision, provide appropriately contrasting backgrounds to add interest and guide him to locate all parts of the collage.
- At first, keep illustrations to a size that is no larger than what fits beneath the child’s hand or two outspread hands. It can be more difficult to identify large illustrations that must be examined by moving the hands from one part to another.
- Continue to show objects at their actual, real-life size until a child understands the idea of scaled sizes. Then, if you are showing multiple objects, try to show them in relative proportion to one another. A flower should be smaller than a tree, a mouse smaller than a cat. This is another case in which size can be informative. When making tactile illustrations, size is not about distance or perspective. Rather it is about concepts such as big and little, and also about relative age and status—for instance, mother and child.
- In deciding which contours to represent, consider the child’s tactual experience of the object in real life. Is this an object, such as a plate, whose shape is usually felt from above? Is a critical, identifying detail only obvious if a side view is presented—such as a cup’s handle?

- THE GREEN GRASS GROWS ALL AROUND (PROTOTYPE), C. BOQUET

  Once the child has been introduced to simple collage illustrations and understands more about interpreting these, if he is beginning to use fingers separately and together to investigate details, you can depict objects that have more complex contours and create illustrations that include smaller collage shapes.
- Once a child understands that objects can be represented with collage shapes, the next step is to represent spatial relationships among multiple objects. Again, demonstrate and compare the spatial relationship with actual objects. It will be quite a change for the child to think of “above” as being at the top of the page instead of somewhere in space “hovering” over the page. Do make sure he has an understanding of spatial terms (above, below, beside, between, etc.) in his everyday activities before you feature these in illustrations.
- To some extent it is possible to layer collaged shapes to build up different thicknesses to form something that has more relief than a single flat shape. A spoon can be shown with the bowl of the spoon slightly indented. This is more like the 3-dimensional shape of a spoon the child probably has in mind.

- EMY GETS HUNGRY (PROTOTYPE),
  LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2012

  In general, avoid occlusion, hiding one shape by overlapping another. However, sometimes layering one shape on top of another shape can give spatial information about the two objects. For example, a round shape meant to show a plate can be glued on top of a rectangular shape that represents the placemat. This common spatial arrangement is a clue that might trigger recognition.
- Openings in an object can be suggested — a second texture can be shown “inside” the round opening in a collage shape of a bowl to show some of its contents.
- Showing animals and other characters is a challenge for designers. The shape you choose to show may be a poor cue, and size will almost certainly be different from the actual size of the animal or story character. In general, show animals from a side view. People are usually shown from a front view. Show all of an animal’s legs and the characteristic shape of the ears and tail—long and thin, short or thick. Position arms and legs away from the body so they can be felt as separate from the rest of the body. Look for “telling characteristics” you can provide—a lion’s mane. Look also for details you can omit and possible simplifications of the overall shape. It is not necessary to be visually realistic. Showing details such as a bulge for the knees of the horse or the elephant’s shoulder can distract rather than add to the child’s ability to identify the animal.
- Many animals are furry, but you can use clear differences in the type of fur to denote different characters. For instance, Spot and his mother are both dogs; therefore, their collage illustration should both be of soft, furry materials that resemble what a dog feels like. However, Spot is a puppy, and he is the little one. His fur should be shorter and feel softer than his mother’s fur. And if Spot has other furry friends in the story, the feeling of their fur should be so distinct and different from dog fur that there is no confusion.
- Front views of faces also tend to be identified correctly by older tactual learners, so it may not be a mistake to include details (eyes, nose, mouth, and ears) in a collage illustration. Ears are particularly noticed and used to identify the shape as a face.

- THE LITTLEST PUMPKIN,
  APH, ©1999

  If a tactile illustration has multiple parts, consider breaking the illustration into several different illustrations. A growing plant could be shown first as a single stalk, then shown as a stalk plus branches, and finally as a stalk plus branches plus leaves.
- However you choose to represent an object or story element, be consistent! If you show it at a certain size, use that size throughout the book. If you use a particular texture, use the same texture for that object each time. Shape should be consistent, too. If you use a contour based on a side view, it should be the same each time you show the object unless there is a change in the object that is part of the story and mentioned in the text. Some stories offer a compelling reason to change some aspect of what is being shown—for example, the story of a small pumpkin that grows larger each day.

## Raised-Line Illustrations: Later and Lacking Clues

Given what we know about children’s development of tactual discrimination and exploratory skills, as well as the number of tactile clues that are lacking in a raised-line illustration, it is reasonable to expect raised-line illustrations to be more difficult to interpret than other types of tactile illustration (27). In most cases, they are best reserved for use with an older preschooler or school-age student who has had successful experiences with other types of illustrations. Raised-line illustrations require the child to use his fingers separately, trace along lines with fingertips, note where lines intersect, decide which line to follow, and develop a strategy to ensure he completes his examination without retracing portions he has already explored.

Raised-line illustrations are more like the tactile diagrams, maps, and other raised graphics the child will encounter in school textbooks and test; so there is reason to provide experience with them. Nevertheless, most children will continue to enjoy and benefit from using real object illustrations and collage illustrations since they are inherently more interesting and tactually informative.

### Raised-line illustrations can be created any number of ways

- emboss a paper page by turning the page over a soft carpet or mouse pad and making dots with a stylus or lines with a tracing wheel
- use special paper that swells when heated (swell paper)
- draw with tools on thin plastic or foil
- glue string or yarn in place
- draw or rub with waxy crayons on paper placed over a window screening
- draw with thick fabric paints
- shape and cut Wikki-Stix® pieces and stick to the page

Appendix A lists these and other methods.

Raised lines most often show the outline of an object—more specifically its contour, its 2-dimensional shape in cross section. Sometimes inner lines are added to show detail—eyes, mouth, and nose on a face. A raised-line drawing can quickly become an undecipherable collection of lines for a tactual learner who does not have in mind a visual image of the objects shown.

Unfilled outlines present a particular problem since it can be difficult to tell what the raised outline is supposed to enclose, especially if several objects are presented and are close to one another. For this reason, the outline is usually filled with an “areal pattern.” An areal pattern is a repeating pattern of raised dots or other small raised marks; this tactual pattern “fills in” the area inside the outlined shape. Think of it as “coloring–in” an outline to help define the shape being presented. Areal patterns do not imitate the texture of the object.

Many of the guidelines for collage illustrations, especially those that address contour, size differences, and number and complexity of the objects shown, can also be applied to raised-line illustrations.

As with collage illustrations, the contours you choose to show will not be recognized automatically by a tactual learner. Have the real object on hand for immediate comparison to the raised line illustration. Let the child trace with his finger, on the real object, the contour the raised line shape represents.

Always, before sharing the book with the child, give firsthand experience with the things and events in the book as you give him the appropriate vocabulary for each.

### Guidelines to Consider When Creating Raised-Line Illustrations

- As much as possible, involve the child in creating the illustration, deciding what to show, how to represent things, and where to place them on the page to show spatial relationships.
- Continue to show objects at their actual, real-life size when you can. Until a child understands the idea of scaled sizes, avoid making illustrations of things that are very big, such as a house or an elephant.
- At first, keep illustrations to a size that is no larger than what fits beneath the child’s hand or two outspread hands. It can be more difficult to identify large illustrations that must be examined by moving the hands from one part to another.
- The child may find it easier to explore and identify objects with relatively simple contours rather than objects with many parts and protrusions.
- In deciding which contours to show in a raised-line drawing, consider the child’s tactual experience of the object in real life. Is this an object that is usually presented and felt from above, or is it commonly grasped from the side? Is a critical, identifying detail only obvious in one particular side view—such as a cup’s handle?
- Think about what is important to show—then eliminate all unnecessary detail. It can be misleading to show details that are primarily visual (e.g., colored stripes on a ball) or nonessential (e.g., folds in clothing). Do, however, show one or two defining details or parts, such as the apple’s stem.
- If you use an areal pattern, the raised lines that form the lines in the illustration should be higher (more raised) than the pattern itself. This way, they are less likely to distract from the child’s examination of the overall shape.

- THE GUMDROP TREE, E. SPURR,
  APH, ©1998

  After a child understands that the contours of objects can be represented with raised lines on a page—the next step is to represent spatial relationships between these. Again, demonstrate the spatial relationship with real objects before showing the raised-line drawing. Make sure the child understands spatial terms.
- If a tactile illustration has multiple parts, consider breaking the illustration into several different illustrations. A growing plant could be shown first as a single stalk, then shown as a stalk plus branches, and finally as a stalk plus branches plus leaves.
- Showing animals and other characters is a challenge for designers. The shape you choose to show may be a poor cue, and size will almost certainly be different from the actual size of the animal or story character. In general, show animals from a side view. People are usually shown from a front view. Show all of an animal’s legs and the characteristic shape of the ears and tail—long and thin, short or thick. Position arms and legs away from the body so they can be felt as separate from the rest of the body. Look for “telling details” you can provide—a goat’s pointed horns. Look also for details you can omit and possible simplifications of the overall shape. It is not necessary to be visually realistic. Showing details such as a bulge for the knees of the horse or the elephant’s shoulder can distract rather than add to the child’s ability to identify the animal.

- THE BOY AND THE WOLF (SKETCH FOR RAISED LINE DRAWING),
  APH, ©2009

  Research shows that older tactual learners are able to correctly identify a simple stick figure as a representation of a person without much context. Using stick figures in raised-line drawings and teaching children to recognize them may be preferable, in some cases, to trying to show clothing and other details. Differences in story characters could be shown by making adult stick figures larger than those of children.
- A simple line drawing depicting the front view of a face showing eyes, nose, mouth and ears also tends to be correctly identified by older tactual learners. Ears are particularly noticed and used to identify the shape as a face.
- If the child has remaining vision, provide appropriately contrasting backgrounds and color to add interest. If he has enough vision, color may help him identify the objects in the illustration perhaps more than the raised outlines you provide.
- However you choose to represent an object or story element, be consistent! If you show it at a certain size, use that size throughout the book. If you use a particular areal pattern for that object, continue using it for that object each time. Shape should be consistent, too. If you use a contour based on a side view, it should be the same each time you show the object unless there is change in the object that is part of the story and mentioned in the text.

## Fitting the Tactile Illustration to the Child

If a tactile illustration engages a child, stimulates imagination, and encourages the child to explore, involving him in handling books and associating these with pleasure, then the designer has achieved several key, important goals.

However, more is needed. We also expect a tactile illustration in a children’s book to convey meaning related to the text. Even if an illustration follows principles of good tactile design and provides a supporting context, it still may not trigger an association with real objects or concepts the child knows. And if he is unable to associate the tactile illustration with his own experience of the object and relate this to the words of the story, the illustration will not support his understanding of the text or enable meaningful conversation about it, an important part of developing literacy.

Designing and creating a tactile illustration that is both meaningful and interesting to the child requires careful consideration of many elements: the child, the story or text, type of tactile illustration, principles of good tactile design, space available for the illustration, tools and materials needed to produce it, and more. The final design will depend on how all of these considerations are balanced.

The following outlines a process to follow so that different factors are considered and evaluated:

### 1. Begin with the Child

Consider the child’s previous experiences, background knowledge, and the abilities he will need in order to explore and interpret the illustration you are creating.

- Has he had hands-on experience with the objects in the illustration or can this be provided? A young child cannot be expected to understand a tactile illustration of an object he has never before felt or examined.
- Can you design the tactile illustration so it feels similar to the real object the child already knows by using a similar texture, shape, size, and key features? If you cannot, does this child have the ability to make use of less realistic, more symbolic tactile illustrations?
- Are the components of the illustration easy for the child to discriminate, one from another, given the level of his tactual discrimination skills?
- Is the tactile illustration in keeping with the child’s exploratory skills? What types of fine motor skills and exploratory strategies will it require? What can you provide as part of your design that could assist him, such as a baseline, using left to right progression, or a top to bottom arrangement?
- Will the tactile illustration fit the child’s cognitive ability to assemble the information he gathers into a meaningful whole? Illustrations that show only one object with little detail can be much easier to “piece together” than illustrations with many elements or ones that show a large object with a complicated shape.
- Can you design your illustration to build upon the child’s previous experiences with tactile illustrations, gradually introducing the range of conventions/rules of practice used in tactile illustrations?

One of the surest ways to create a tactile illustration that has meaning for a child is to involve the child in choosing how to illustrate a particular thing or concept (28, 31).

### 2. Consider the Story/Text

Whether you intend to add illustrations to an existing book or create an original book, carefully consider aspects of the book’s text.

- Does the text give enough information to support the meaning of the tactile illustration? Even if a tactile illustration shows a familiar object with its most significant tactile features, a child still needs a context to form a meaningful interpretation.
- Will you be able to illustrate significant things or events using tactile illustrations suited to the child’s abilities and experience? You may find that you cannot illustrate all of a book’s most important objects/concepts. This leaves several options: create a tactile illustration of another, less significant object or aspect of the story; include fewer tactile illustrations; or rewrite the story to include something that you can represent with a tactile illustration.
- Does the story include imaginary or nonexistent things such as castles and dragons? Tactile illustrations of these may not be meaningful; you will be unable to provide firsthand experience with them and verbal descriptions, for a young child, may not hold much meaning. Largely visual things, such as a rainbow, also present a significant challenge to illustrate. Sometimes it is better to choose another book or wait until the child is older and can benefit from added verbal description. In some cases, you may be able to illustrate something else from the story that the child has experienced—beans and a beanstalk for “Jack and the Beanstalk,” rather than the castle and the giant.

### 3. Design the Tactile Illustration

When considering the child’s abilities and the objects you plan to represent, you will have given thought to the overall type of tactile illustration you expect to use—objects, textures, collage shapes and textures, and considered guidelines for that type of illustration. You may already have in mind specific textures and materials. As you complete your design, there are other fundamental aspects to weigh and consider, and then to recheck against what is appropriate for the child and what best illustrates the story.

The following are some basic questions you will need to answer. As you do, other more specific questions will arise.

- How much space on the page is available for tactile illustrations?
- How will the book be bound so that it can accommodate tactile illustrations, especially if they are very thick?
- Where will the tactile illustrations appear in relation to the text—together on the same page or on opposing pages? Will the illustrations always appear on the same side of the pages or will it change? It is usually easier for the child if the tactile illustration is in the same place, or side of the page throughout the book.
- Can objects be shown at their actual size (recommended), or will it be necessary to reduce their size to fit the page? If so, by how much? And will the child be able to understand this size transformation?
- Can you consistently use the same representation for a given object (size, shape, texture, type of illustration) throughout the book (recommended)?
- If more than one thing is represented in the tactile illustration, is their relationship to one another (above, below, behind, near, far) important? If yes, how will you show important spatial relationships?
- What materials will you need for the illustration (paper, plastic, fabric, glue, yarn, fabric paint, etc.)?
- What tools are required (scissors, tracing wheel, embossing equipment)?

### 4. Evaluate the Tactile Illustration

I LIKE MY PLAYGROUND, J. BARABASH & S. BRYANT, GOVERNOR MOREHEAD PRESCHOOL

Before you include the illustration in the book and use it with the child, try out the illustration yourself or “test drive” your illustration with someone who has never before seen or touched the illustration.

Provide your test subject with a context by reading the book’s text, watch as he tactually explores the illustration and ask him to “talk through” his examination and interpretation of the illustration. If you are sighted, even with eyes closed, this will not be like the experience of a child with a visual impairment. Nevertheless, what you learn can be valuable. If you, or an adult or older child with a visual impairment has difficulty examining and understanding the illustration, it is all but certain that the young child will also have trouble. If this happens, redesign your illustration to resolve the issues you discovered.

Once you do complete and use the tactile illustration with the young child, continue to be a careful observer.

- How does the child explore it—quickly, haphazardly, slowly, strategically, incompletely, with ease or tension?
- Does he have trouble locating some of the elements or objects shown?
- Does he recheck certain features over and over again?
- Does he seem to be “hung up” on parts that may be tactually distracting in some way, for example, an areal pattern that is too pronounced?
- Does he comment?
- Can he answer questions about the tactile illustration after he finishes examining it?

An older child should be able to reflect on the illustration and his examination of it. This is valuable information for you, the designer! The observations and feedback you collect may help you to design a better tactile illustration the next time, introduce the illustration in a more meaningful way, or may indicate areas where the child needs to develop more skill.

### Haptic pictures…learn from the learner

Illustrations that show what is most significant from the standpoint of a tactual learner have been called “haptic pictures.” A study by D’Angiulli (3) provides some insight into differences in how a tactual learner and sighted designer might choose to show the same object in a raised line format. In this single case study, the subject, a 13-year-old boy, was asked to identify 8 raised line drawings made by the experimenter. He correctly identified 62% of the drawings—the table, scissors, face, bottle, telephone—but failed to identify the cup, key, and apple. (Identification rates in similar studies can range lower; an identification rate of 30-40% is not unusual.) It is interesting, however, that the child accepted only 3 of the 8 drawings as an “appropriate” representation of the object. Further information was collected by the experimenter, who asked the child to describe or draw what would make a more acceptable raised line drawing of that object.

The raised line drawing of the cup made by the experimenter showed the cup from a side view with a narrow oval depicting the rim of the cup. The child responded that the most significant feature of a cup, for him, was the interior holding the cup’s contents. He mentioned the “hollow space that can be felt by the fingers and lips” and drew a U-shape as the best way to represent “cup.”

Similarly, he referred to his experience of a table: “You can run your hand…fingers on the table, and your legs often run into one of the legs that sticks out from the empty spaces below the top of [the table].” The experimenter’s drawing showed the tabletop as a rhombus with legs of unequal length using depth perspective; the child’s drawing showed a simple rectangle with legs of equal length all positioned along the front edge of the rectangle.

In the case of the key, the experimenter made a raised line drawing of what most sighted people have in mind as a generic illustration of “key.” We learn to accept this shape as a “key” even though, in fact, there are many different styles of keys having very different shapes. The child noted that the drawing did not resemble his own key, which was of a special kind, and that this was why he could not identify it. He also remarked he would not expect a drawing of a key to be of this size.

Another of the child’s responses indicated the importance of orientation and positioning of the parts of an object in a drawing. He noted that the drawing of the scissors was “funny” and he would expect that they should be shown “not pointing upward and not so much apart,” although the handles helped him identify the drawing correctly.

Each of the child’s comments seem to show the importance and centrality of the learner’s own haptic experience of the object—its most significant features, orientation, shape, and size—for him.

Angiulli, A. (2007). Raised line pictures, blindness, and tactile beliefs: An observational case study, Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101, #3, 172-177.]

# Section II: How to Make a Custom Tactile Book Using the TBB Kit Materials

This section contains suggestions for using the TBB materials to build books that feature different types of tactile illustrations and multisensory, interactive components combined with braille and print text. The TBB Kit consists of binders with re-closeable plastic loops and an assortment of page types, sized and pre-punched to fit the binders. The variety of page types gives you the ability to create tactile books featuring many different types of tactile illustrations and several options for adding braille and print text.

You are encouraged to explore additional ways to use the kit to create books that will inspire a love for books and reading. Safety, principles of good tactile graphic design, abilities of the child, and your imagination are the only limits to creative use of TBB Kit components.

## Adding Text to TBB Books

Text is a critically important part of all children’s books, even for a child who is not yet reading. As stories are read aloud, exposure to the book’s text, in print or in braille, gives him the opportunity to learn that the words he hears are connected to these symbols and that learning about them is key to becoming a reader.

When a tactile book includes both braille and print text, it meets the needs of many audiences sharing the book—the child who is a potential braille reader, the adult reader, typically sighted peers, and (if the print is large and accessible) a child with a visual impairment who will use print.

For this reason, most of the books you create will probably provide print/braille text—most often as a line of print words with the corresponding words in braille on the line just beneath the print line. This allows the braille-reading child to run his fingers along the braille without blocking the print reader’s view of the text. Ideally, it is best to be reading aloud the same line of print text that the child is touching in braille. This allows you, from time to time, to point out some of the words and letters in braille as you read.

Because braille letters are fixed in size, it’s often best to begin by planning the layout of the braille, deciding what material it will be embossed upon, how it will be embossed (slate and stylus, braillewriter, or braille embosser), and where it will be placed on the page. Clear templates are provided with the TBB Kit and information given below to help you measure how the braille can best be fitted onto each page or braille label.

Options for including print text are suggested after discussing guidelines for embossing the braille. Even if you plan the braille layout first to ensure you can fit all needed text on the page, depending on the processes you select, embossing the braille may have to occur after you have produced the print text.

### Braille Text

If you are a parent or volunteer, your child’s teacher can guide you in providing braille suited to his needs. When you braille a book for a young child, the following guidelines are recommended:

- Title page. Braille on a title page is usually centered just as print title pages are centered.
- Page numbers. The standard position for braille page numbers is on the page’s upper right-hand corner. Some bookmakers prefer to put the page number in the lower right corner in books for a young child; this provides space for a line of embossed dots across the bottom of the page so the child can track from left to right along the line to find the page number—useful practice for a prereader.
- Margins. Begin each line of braille text at the left margin but not too close to the edge of the page or binding. Leave a half inch of space or more before the first braille cell, and if there is enough space on the page, begin each new sentence at the left margin.
- Skip a line. If there are multiple lines of braille on a page, skip a line between each line of braille if there is enough space to do so. This skipped line makes it easier for a young child to locate the beginning of each braille line and to learn the hand movements for tracking straight along each line of braille without accidentally slipping to the next line.
- Interline. If you include both braille and print text, it works best to place the print text above the corresponding braille text, alternating a line of print with the corresponding line of braille beneath, and so on for each line of text. A skipped line between each braille line usually provides enough space to add print text in a reasonably large font size.
- Line length. Although a standard, full-length line of braille is 38 to 40 cells long, shorter braille lines are easier for a young child to follow. If you are not sure of the child’s ability to track braille, ask his teacher to recommend the best line length to use. The size of the TBB pages and braille labels do not accommodate a full-length line.
- Single-sided. Although experienced braille readers are able to read text brailled on the front and back of a single sheet of paper, avoid this when brailling a page for a young child. Dots embossed on the reverse side can interfere with reading the dots embossed on the front. One alternative is to braille just one side of a larger sheet and then fold the sheet to produce two sides. The Folded Braille Paper Pages are constructed for this purpose.
- Lead lines. If you are placing a single braille letter or word on a page or label, consider providing a line of dots leading to it to help orient the child to the position of the dots in the cell—all lower dots in the cell versus upper dots, dots to the left or right side of the cell. This can done in different ways:
  - place a “full cell” (all 6 dots showing) and then a single or double blank space before the letter or word you are presenting
  - braille a short baseline of dots (repeat dots 3 and 6 several times) then braille the letter or word at the end of the baseline
  - create a longer baseline of dots and place the letter or word in the middle of the line of dots

The TBB materials offer a variety of options for adding braille:

- Emboss the braille text of your book on Braillable Labels using a braillewriter, braille embosser, or slate and stylus. The TBB Kit includes two sizes of these clear plastic adhesive-backed braille labels. They can be applied over a print page or print label, or you can write the print text directly on the label with a permanent ink pen. The 7.75” x 5.5” Braillable accommodates up to 12 lines of braille, 6 lines if leaving a skipped line between lines of braille. Lines can be up to 26 cells in length. The smaller Braillable (3.875” x 1.75) accommodates up to 4 lines of braille, and is 15 cells across. Once labels are embossed, they can be applied to any of the kit pages (except the Fabric Pages for hook and loop attachments); once attached, they cannot be repositioned.
- Use a slate and stylus to emboss the braille text directly on the Folded Braille Paper Pages. To emboss these, unfold the page, emboss braille on one or both sides, and then refold the page for insertion into the book. The TBB Folded Braille Paper Pages accommodate 17 lines of braille, 30 cells across.
- Emboss the braille text using a braillewriter on the white Cardstock Pages (singlesided only). The TBB Cardstock Pages accommodate 17 lines of braille, 30 cells across.
- Create repositionable braille labels by embossing the braille text on magnetized paper or the thicker magnetic sheet material included in the kit. Cut the label to size and apply it to the Magnetic Pages.
- Emboss braille on another material that accepts braille embossing, cut to create a label, and apply the adhesive-backed magnetic strips or magnetic sheet material to the back of the label. These can then be used as magnetized labels with the Magnetic Pages.
- Emboss braille on any material that accepts braille and back it using adhesive-backed hook “coins” or strips. Apply matching loop “coins” to Board Stock Pages, Polyblend Pages, Pocket Pages, or Ziploc® Pages and attach the brailled material.

### Print Text

Providing both print and braille text in tactile books meets the needs of a range of audiences. If there is any possibility a child with a visual impairment may become a print reader, your child’s teacher can advise you concerning the best font size, contrast, and colors for his needs. In general, use print letters that are sufficiently bold and visible. Plain fonts without serifs (i.e., sans serif) are usually easier to read than stylized fonts or fonts with serifs. Choose more open rather than narrow fonts; letters should not be cramped.

- As mentioned before, common practice is for the print text to appear just above the braille text; alternate print and braille lines as you move down the page. If you leave 3/8” to 1/2” of vertical space between each line of print this should provide enough space for the corresponding braille lines. The clear templates provided with the kit can help you plan the spacing of the book’s text.
- If there is not enough space on the page to interline the print and braille text, you can emboss the braille directly on top of the print text. This may distort the print, especially a small font or small hand printed letters.
- You may want to space the print words so they appear directly over the corresponding braille words, making it easier to refer to the braille as you read aloud. However, this may not work as well for contracted words that have fewer symbols than the corresponding print word.
- If braille contractions are used, some people choose to show this in the print word by underlining or using a bold or italic font for the contracted portion of the word (25).

The TBB materials offer several options for adding print text to your books:

- Handwrite the text directly on the page using a permanent marker (Board Stock Page, Cardstock Page, Polyblend Page, Pocket Page, Ziploc® Page); emboss and apply a clear adhesive Braillable label over it.
- The print text can also be written directly on the Braillable label material with a permanent marker.
- Produce the print text using a printer. Cut the page so it can be fitted inside a Page Protector; emboss and apply a clear adhesive Braillable label to the outside of the Page Protector.
- Produce the print text using a printer and glue it to the page (Board Stock Page, Polyblend Page, Pocket Page, Ziploc® Page); then emboss and apply the Braillable over it.
- Print out the text on a heavier paper stock that you can directly emboss after printing.
- You can write the print on the magnetic sheet material included in the kit and emboss the braille directly on the sheet material. The print/braille label you create can be used on the Magnetic Pages.
- It is also possible to print thinner magnetic paper (purchased commercially) on a printer and afterward emboss it to use with the Magnetic Pages.
- Print/braille labels can also be made using any number of different materials and then attached to the page using the adhesive-backed hook “coins” or strips provided in the kit.

## Adding a Title & Identifiers to TBB Book Covers

Placing a title and tactile identifier on the front cover of a book enables a child to independently identify and choose the book he prefers to read. The opening in the front of the TBB binders allows you to insert any of the TBB pages, providing the basis for including a tactile identifier as cover art.

Standard placement for a braille title on a book’s cover is at the upper left corner of the front cover. However, instead of positioning the label horizontally, so it is read across the cover, the label is turned 90 degrees and runs parallel to the spine, beginning at the upper edge of the book’s cover. Since this is not a good placement for print readers, you may center the print title or both titles on the cover.

Placing an identifying tactile symbol or object on the front cover is very helpful for a child who is not yet able to read. The tactile identifier you choose could be an object, texture, or shape from one of the book’s tactile illustrations or a symbol that relates to the book. For example, a birthday candle might be displayed on the cover of a book about a child’s birthday celebration. Whenever possible, involve the child in choosing the symbol, texture, or object that will identify the book.

Include the name of the author in braille and print on the cover and/or title page, especially if the child helped write the book. This helps the child recognize that he can be a writer, and further, placing the author’s name on the cover or title page is a standard practice with which the child should become familiar.

## Adding Tactile Illustrations to TBB Books

As discussed in a previous section of this Guide, some types of tactile illustration are more difficult to interpret than others. Please refer to Section I: Designing Tactile Illustrations for guidelines and information about how to design the most appropriate tactile illustration for a particular child.

To view specific examples of tactile books and gather ideas for book topics, see Section III: Tactile Book Examples and Starter Ideas.

To learn which TBB pages and materials can be used to produce different types of tactile illustrations, read the descriptions below or refer to the Quick Start Chart on the guidebook’s inside front cover.

### Using the TBB Kit to Make a Book of Simple Textures

Several TBB page types can be used to make simple texture books that display large areas of appealing textures, with limited text (“smooth”). These are not the same as tactile illustrations that use collaged shapes, cut from textured material, to represent an object. They are simply areas of texture to feel and explore. Some of the methods suggested below for constructing simple texture books also allow the textures to be removed for cleaning or for incorporating new textures to maintain the child’s interest and widen his exposure to different sensations.

- One method of constructing a simple texture book is to cut a large square of textured material (fabric, paper, plastic, other) that is slightly smaller than the size of TBB Pages. Use fabric glue or ‘”no-sew” tape to keep the edges of the fabric from fraying, or bind the raw edges by sewing. On the reverse side of the texture, stick (or sew) hook “coins” in each corner of the square or use the hook strips along the edges of the square. The textures can then be directly attached to the TBB Fabric Pages.
- As an alternative, use the texture squares described above. Along each side of one of the Polyblend Pages, place strips of loop material or use loop “coins” so they align with the hook attachments on the texture square.
- Use Sticky Dots™, double-sided tape, spray adhesives, hot glue, ordinary white household glue or another nontoxic adhesive to affix textures to Board Stock Pages, Folded Braille Paper Pages, or Polyblend Pages.
- Sew a two-sided rectangular pocket sized to fit over a TBB Page (Needlepoint Canvas Page, Polyblend Page, Board Stock Page). Use hook and loop strips or “coins” to secure this “slipcover style” pocket to the page. For added thickness, insert a piece of craft foam paper into the pocket.
- Cut a large hole in the Folded Braille Paper Pages. Then, glue a texture on the page’s reverse (interior) side to allow the child to feel the texture through the hole.
- Sew or bunch and attach textures to the Needlepoint Canvas Pages.

### Using the TBB Kit to Make Real Object Books

The TBB Kit is particularly useful for assembling books that feature objects or parts of objects used as illustration.

- The Pocket Pages and the vinyl Ziploc® Pages are designed so that you can easily insert objects to act as tactile illustrations. To keep objects from separating from the book you can make a hole in the Pocket Page or Ziploc® Page with a hole punch. Tie a short length of ribbon or cord through the hole and attach it to the object. (Be aware that safety standards specify a maximum allowable length for cords used in a child’s toy.)
- It is also possible to place adhesive-backed hook “coins” on objects. This will allow you to attach the objects to the Fabric Pages, or you can apply hook and loop “coins” or strips to any of the other page types (Board Stock Pages, Folded Braille Paper Pages, Polyblend Pages) and then attach objects to these pages as well.

- In a similar manner, the adhesive-backed magnetic strips can be applied to objects to enable them to stick to the Magnetic Pages.
- Objects may be tied to the Needlepoint Canvas Pages. Make sure to use secure ties, such as the plastic zip ties supplied with the TBB Kit. Twist ties or pipe cleaners can also be used to attach items to pages but are not as childproof and could be removed and ingested.
- Objects can be glued to Board Stock Pages using nontoxic adhesives or caulk.
- It is also possible to tie objects to a Board Stock Page or Polyblend Page. To do this, position the object on the page and make several small holes in the page on each side of the object. Thread yarn, string, or a piece of elastic through each hole and across the object; then secure the object to the page by tying the ends of the string together on the back of the page. Twist ties or pipe cleaners can also be used.

### Tips for gluing

- Use nontoxic glues, adhesives, or caulk.
- Glues with high moisture content may cause paper pages to wrinkle.
- A thick layer of glue will not dry well, so use thin layers.
- Take care to spread the glue smoothly to avoid leaving drops of glue. Dried blobs of glue create distracting lumps.
- Wipe away excess blobs of glue; they can be removed and ingested by the child.
- One way to apply glue evenly is to cut a template that masks all of the page except the area you want to receive the glue. Brush the glue across the template with a wide brush or sponge brush.
- Allow glue or any type of adhesive time to cure, according to product recommendations, before the book is used.

### Using the TBB Kit to Make Collaged Books

Several pages in the TBB Kit, along with a wide selection of craft items, fabrics, papers, and items from around the house can be used to create collage style tactile illustrations. (See Appendices A and B for suggestions.)

Cut out shapes from textured fabric, paper, craft foam paper, and a variety of other materials—needlepoint netting, bubble wrap, foil, corkboard. The shapes can be displayed separately or layered to achieve varying thicknesses. Gluing craft foam paper to paper or fabric shapes gives them added elevation and makes them easier to discern.

There are many types of pages in the TBB Kit suited to creating tactile illustrations that use collaged textures and cut/appliquéd shapes:

- Use Sticky Dots™, ordinary nontoxic white glue or another nontoxic adhesive, hot glue, or caulk to attach shapes and textures to Board Stock Pages, Folded Braille Paper Pages, or Polyblend Pages.
- It is also possible to cut a hole, in a particular shape, in a Folded Braille Paper Page. A texture can then be glued on the page’s reverse (interior) side, allowing the texture to be felt through the hole you have cut.
- To attach repositionable shapes, place adhesive-backed hook “coins” on textures and shapes, then attach these to the Fabric Pages. Or you can apply matching loop “coins” to one of the other page types (Board Stock Pages, Folded Braille Paper Pages, Polyblend Pages). This will allow you to attach shapes/textures to these pages as well. It may be necessary to back the shape/textures with something stiff so they can be easily attached and detached from the page.
- Cut shapes from the magnetic sheet material supplied with the TBB Kit, or apply adhesive-backed magnetic strips to other shapes you have made in order to stick them to the Magnetic Pages.

### Using the TBB Kit to Make Raised-Line Books

Raised lines can be created any number of ways using a variety of materials, some of which are listed in Appendices A and B. Raised lines can be used alone or in combination with other types of tactile illustrations, such as objects, textures, and collaged shapes.

Several types of pages in the TBB Kit can be used to create raised-line illustrations:

- Glue yarn, string, ribbon or another fiber directly in place on Board Stock Pages or Folded Braille Paper Pages.
- Use thick glue or fabric paint to form lines on Board Stock Pages, Cardstock Pages or Folded Braille Paper Pages. Some glues will also adhere to the Polyblend Pages. Allow the paint or glue to dry, forming a raised line.

- SPLISH THE FISH
  APH, ©2003

  Use magnetic strips to make lines on Magnetic Pages.
- Use a stylus or tracing wheel to emboss raised lines on Folded Braille Paper Pages or Cardstock Pages or to make an incised line in craft foam paper.
- Put raised line symbols on pieces of sturdy tagboard. Back them with hook coins and attach them to Fabric Pages. These pieces can be moved about, making the tactile illustration more interactive and fun for the child.

## Adding Multisensory & Interactive Items to TBB Books

In many regards, sounds, scents, and interactive components included in books are also a type of illustration and often a more appropriate one. An “illustration” can be thought of as something that makes the meaning of another thing (in this case, a book’s text) clearer, connecting it to the child’s own experiences. Certainly, these components have the potential to make the meaning of a book more evident for a young child and add interest to the reading experience. They also may require less interpretation than some tactile illustrations, such as raised-line drawings, which require the child to recognize that a 3-dimensional thing can be represented by a 2-dimensional display that lacks many of the tactile qualities of the original object. An action, however, is an action; so to open a flap, or slide a moving part, stick two things together or pull them apart doesn’t involve the child in abstractions. A sound, if it is familiar, is likely to be recognized by the child, similarly with a familiar scent. There are many possibilities for creating illustrations that are multisensory or interactive, and they can be combined with illustrations that are more representational for an older child. A flap can simply be a flap to open or shut, or it could represent the “gate” in the children’s rhyme “One Two, Buckle My Shoe.”

Add sound-making elements to a book

- TBB SoundPage and recording devices—insert the SoundPage with recording devices into the TBB binder or use the kit’s hook and loop attachments to attach a recording device to any of the kit’s other page types
- Small noise-making devices attached to the page or in the Pocket Page—a whistle, paper horn, bells, rattle, squeaker, clacker
- Prerecorded sound buttons purchased in craft stores

- I LIKE TO PLAY, J. BARABASH & S. BRYANT, GOVERNOR MOREHEAD PRESCHOOL

  Other commercially available small recording devices
- Pre-recorded sounds from greeting cards or from mainstream children’s books purchased inexpensively at a yard sale
- Bubble wrap for popping
- Seed pods that rattle or a securely sealed paper envelope with beans or seeds inside
- Crinkly paper strips or packing material that rustles or crackles
- A ribbed texture that makes a sound when rubbed with a stick
- A Ziploc® Page of material that crunches when squeezed, such as cereal bits
- Small battery-powered device that rings or buzzes (old cell phone)

Add scents to a book

- Scented stickers
- Cotton pads, cotton balls, or fabric soaked or sprayed with a fragrance and kept in a Ziploc® Page; sealed vial, such as a medicine bottle that is punched with holes to allow the fragrance to escape
- Scented soap samples
- Fragrance samples from magazine advertisements or in-store displays
- Incense sticks or cones in a Ziploc® Page, but only if there is no possibility a child might ingest them
- Scented candle wax in a Ziploc® Page, but only if there is no possibility a child might ingest them
- Scented teabags or sachets, but only if there is no possibility a child might ingest them

Add interactive components

- THE BOO BOO BOOK, C. ROBERTSON, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS

  Things designed to be moved about the page as the story is read to match the activity described in the story; use magnetized pieces or hook and loop attachments
- Item/s or shape/s inserted in a pocket or some other bag or container on the page; attach these to the book with a piece of string to keep items and shapes from being lost
- Shapes or pieces that fit together, perhaps attached to the page using hook and loop attachments
- Flaps that open and close, perhaps with a texture or small object hidden beneath the flap

- HOLY MOLY (PROTOTYPE)
  APH, ©2015

  Pieces fastened with a brad so they can be rotated (strips of cardboard forming a “pointer” that can be pointed to different things on the page)
- A round “wheel” or spinner that spins (an old gameboard spinner)
- Moving parts that slide—going “up” and “down,” “left” or “right”
- Holes that can be explored by poking a finger into and through the hole
- A short length of cord or thick yarn that can be threaded in and out of holes or tied together
- Items threaded onto a short length of cord or elastic to slide or stretch

- LOOK, LOOK, LADYBUGS! L.GELLHAUS, SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

  Things that dangle and swing
- A shape or item backed by a coiled spring, causing it to bounce out as the page or a flap is opened
- A battery-powered light that can be switched on, if the child has light perception
- A small battery-powered device (old cell phone) that can be switched on to ring, play music or tones, buzz, or vibrate

# Section III: Tactile Book Examples and Starter Ideas

Just as there is diversity in print children’s books, tactile books also vary widely. Tactile books differ in the type of tactile illustration they use, the number of tactile illustrations they contain, the amount and importance of the text, and the type of content they present.

- Some tactile books contain only a limited amount of text—simple, short phrases that label or briefly describe each tactile illustration. The illustrations usually depict a familiar object, texture, or simple shape and are central to how the book is used. (These tactile books are similar to many books used with a very young typically sighted child, sometimes called “finger-pointing books.” The adult reads the text, sometimes only a label that names the picture, and the child is asked to “Find the ______.” or is directed to notice some aspect of the illustration or text.)
- Some tactile books feature a much greater focus on language. They may be built around rhymes, alliterations, or interesting sounding words, with perhaps only a few tactile illustrations to support what is in the text and further interest.
- Simple, predictable books with repeated words, sounds, and phrases can be illustrated with familiar objects, textures, smells, and sounds.
- Other tactile books focus on telling a story; the text may be long or short. The story may be based on a personal experience, made-up, or a retelling of another children’s book or tale. Various types of tactile illustrations may be used depending on the child’s age and abilities, and they may or may not be heavily illustrated.
- There are also concept books that present concepts about things such as numbers, shapes, and textures through a combination of text and tactile illustrations. These often focus on providing tactile illustrations with relatively less text, which may be labels, short descriptive phrases, or a brief story.
- Tactile informational books offer information on a topic—plants, animals, farm life— mostly through their text. The type and amount of tactile illustration used varies, but the focus is usually on the text and less upon the tactile illustration.
- Tactile alphabet books use text and tactile illustrations to explore letters and letter sounds. Unlike print alphabet books, which depend on a child’s ability to recognize and name pictures in order to link letters to letter sounds, tactile alphabet books use text to make those connections. This is because it is difficult to create tactile illustrations that a child can easily identify and name unless the text provides a great deal of context.

The following pages highlight just a few of the many tactile books that can be made and used with children who have visual impairments.

## Simple Texture Books

A book of appealing textures often makes a good first tactile book for a very young child who is still developing very basic tactual exploration skills and does not yet have the concepts needed to interpret even simple tactile illustrations. The purpose of highly simple texture books is to offer something of tactile interest that motivates a child to touch and handle books. These first books can offer both adult and child a path to establishing a pleasurable read-aloud routine. In this case, there may be very limited text—a few words to label or describe the texture—“smooth and silky.” Care should be taken to use contrasting textures and ones that the child likes or is at least willing to touch. This may require close observation in the case of children with tactile sensitivities; make sure the textures you use are acceptable to the child before you spend time and energy featuring them in a book. A texture that covers all or most of the page is a good place to start. This ensures that the child does not have to search for it. It also bypasses any distraction that might be caused by introducing shapes; that can be a later stage in exploring tactile books.

It is a good idea to select washable or waterproof materials since many young children may explore the book by tasting and chewing, in addition to touching! (Refer to the Quick Start Chart on this guidebook’s inside front cover for how to use various types of TBB Kit pages and items to create simple texture books.)

Textures to try

Smooth, rough, ribbed, bumpy, fuzzy, silky, hard, soft, fluffy, furry, sticky, stretchy, tickly, squishy, and degrees and variations of these

## Tactile Books Based on Early Routines & Common Objects

Highly simple books with a limited amount of text—a few sentences, a short phrase or word identifying each tactile illustration, sound, scent, or interactive component—can be very engaging for a young child. These are more likely to have meaning when they are based on familiar everyday routines and settings. Their purpose is to give a young child the opportunity to learn how to hold and handle a book, explore its tactile illustrations, and encounter braille in a natural setting. The point is not to read the braille, but to become aware of its function and how it feels. A number of daily activities at home, the daycare, or school can serve as the basis for this type of book. Objects taken from the child’s own environment can serve as tactile illustrations. You may also want to use the TBB SoundPage recording devices to record one or more sounds the child hears as a part of the routine. (These can be attached directly to any of the kit’s pages or snapped into the SoundPage, which clips into the binder of the book, allowing you to play back the sounds as the book is read.) Don’t forget to use scents, too, when appropriate.

Possible topics and tactile components

- Taking a bath – small bar of soap, washcloth, sponge, cotton swab, scented powder puff or scented sticker, other small toys or objects that are part of the child’s bath time routine, sound recording of running water, piece of smooth tile like the feel of the tub, bubble solution for blowing bubbles
- Getting ready/dressed – brush, comb, zipper, button closures, fleecy fabric from a sweatshirt, socks, shoelace to tie, hat, mitten, small shoe, hair barrette or tie
- Having breakfast – cereal, napkin, spoon, plastic bowl, placemat material, scented stickers (cinnamon, banana, oranges)
- Riding in the car – car keys, piece of the seat belt, sound recording of car noises
- Being at daycare/preschool – crayon, paper, child’s name in braille, plastic bag with snack time treat, sound recording of teacher’s voice, small toy from classroom
- Playing familiar games – peek-a-boo cloth to place over items in the book such as a small stuffed toy or doll, flaps of cardboard to lift that hide other small toys, sound recording of child saying “peek-a-boo”
- Around the house – collection of small, familiar objects from various rooms in the house, or parts of those objects that the child has felt: square of carpet, linoleum, or rug; spoon, crayon, small toys, cracker in a plastic bag, a key
- Mommy/Daddy comes home – car keys, cotton ball scented with Mom or Dad’s cologne, sound recording of Mom or Dad’s “hello,” fabric square of Dad’s shirt or Mom’s blouse, sandpaper for Dad’s scratchy beard, other personal item of parent preferred by child
- Tucking into bed – toothbrush, sample tube of toothpaste, square of blanket fabric, pajama material, fuzzy stuffed toy fabric, small pillow, sound recording of familiar lullaby
- Routines that are part of the child’s therapy or orientation and mobility instruction

Jane Barabash, orientation and mobility specialist, assisted by Sandy Bryant, a TVI at the Governor Morehead Preschool, have made tactile books for home and school that use just these kinds of familiar routines. In some cases, these are presented in the same sequence in which the child encounters them each day.

### “I Like My Playground”

This book was created to describe a young boy’s playground. The illustrations in the book follow the same sequence of activities and landmarks that he encounters during his route on the playground. In this route, Jason’s first landmark is the sandbox.

The first page of the book shows a sandpaper square that represents the sandbox. In addition, a recording of the sound Jason hears underfoot as he approaches the sandbox has been added using the APH SoundPage device.

### “I Like My Classroom”

Jane and Sandy developed this book about the activity centers in a child’s classroom. They use it to help the child make choices about which center to play in and to summarize activities at the end of a play session.

The first landmark in the classroom is the “writing center.” Children sign in on a sheet of newsprint on the door or in braille using the Perkins Brailler. The book illustrates the writing center with a Braille Alphabet card.

The ball center is another favorite center. The ball illustration feels like a real basketball and includes a sound chip of a ball bouncing. The sound chip is labeled in braille/print, adding further opportunities to encounter braille.

### “I Like to Play”

Each page in this highly interactive book encourages action and is based on toys Marie uses in play therapy routines.

Teacher Elaine encourages Marie to reach for the scarf and pull it from the pocket page.

This illustration is fun because the Slinky® moves!

Similar books reported by Tolla and Lewis (2003)

### “My Bathroom”

Repeated at the bottom of each page of this book is the text, “In my bathroom, there is....” The artifacts included are soap, toothbrush, dental floss, trial size toothpaste, cotton swabs, comb, ponytail holder, and a small piece of washcloth.

### “Things in Mommy’s Purse”

This book was stored in a large straw purse. It consisted of seven pages, and all items were removable for easy exploration and manipulation. Objects included are compact case, comb, small spiral notepad, credit card, pen, lipstick, and a wallet in which coins and a dollar bill had been placed. The text on each page reads, “I looked in Mommy’s purse and found....”

## Tactile Books Based on Firsthand Experiences

Similar to books based on early, familiar routines and the objects that accompany the routine, books about more complex, firsthand experiences and special events can be custom-made for a slightly older child. These are commonly referred to as tactile experience stories. Most children are highly motivated to share these books and often request repeat readings, perhaps because the child usually helps write and illustrate the book. Tactile experience stories can be based on a unique, memorable experience the child has had, although almost any experience can serve as a basis for this type of book. As the experience takes place, engage the child in collecting artifacts and objects that can be used later to recall the experience and illustrate the book you will create together. These should be items the child touches and handles during the actual experience. You may also want to use the SoundPage recording devices to record one or more sounds the child hears as a part of the experience. Use scents, too, that the child encountered during the experience, if you can find a way to capture or duplicate these. Although many tactile experience storybooks are written by the adult about the child’s experience, they are most effective when the child dictates the story and decides how to illustrate it. Children can decide how to use the collected objects, or may even make collaged or raised-line drawings to illustrate “their” book. Older children may be encouraged to help braille their story, with adult help.

Special, memorable experiences lend themselves well to tactile experience stories

- Trip to grandparent’s house
- Birthday party
- Summer vacation
- Holiday events
- School field trip
- Day at the beach
- Walk in the park/woods
- Day in the city
- Trip to a farm
- Trip to a children’s museum
- First day of school
- Visit from a friend
- Shopping trip for a special toy or item for the child
- Planting a garden
- Camping trip
- Going out to a restaurant or for ice cream
- Getting a haircut
- Doctor visit
- Family traditions
- Trip to the zoo
- Looking for a lost item or pet
- Making something or a special project

### “Going to the Restaurant with Daddy”

Daddy took me to a restaurant today. The waitress brought me a menu. (Attach menu to page, preferably a braille menu.)

She brought me a straw with my milk. (Attach or include a straw.)

She laid down a napkin at my place. (Attach or include a napkin.)

Then she gave me a fork. (Attach or include a fork.)

After a while, she brought my plate with chicken nuggets and fries. (Attach or include a small plate.)

When we left, Daddy let me take a mint for the way home. I like going to the restaurant with Daddy! (Attach or include a mint.)

Ordinary events also make interesting tactile experience stories. The story can be written in first person, or use the child’s name in the story. Include the names of family members, pets, and places he knows. Gather concrete objects that the child recognizes from an ordinary activity, and place these in the tactile book.

### Ordinary events and tactile components

- Grocery shopping – grocery bag, sound recording of the “beeps” at the checkout counter, a few coins, small items from the grocery—small food packages such as an instant rice box or empty tuna can, package of gum or other candy the child knows
- Cooking in the kitchen – shallow plastic bowl, plastic lid, large spoon or spatula, measuring spoon, recipe in braille, plastic bag with dry ingredients (cinnamon oatmeal, sponge, potholder, tinfoil)
- Cleaning the house – dust cloth, scented sticker for lemon cleaner, sponge, sound chip of a vacuum cleaner, paper towel, sandpaper or a sticky patch to simulate “dirty”
- Doing the laundry – various clothing items or squares of them that are familiar to the child—sock, sweatshirt fabric, flannel, jeans, T-shirt, fabric softener sheets, sound recording of the washing machine or dryer
- Taking care of a pet – pet brush, pet treat, pet toy, plastic bag of pet kibble, collar, section of leash with handle, sound recording of the child’s pet
- Looking for a lost item – an empty bag, envelope, small purse, pocket sewn to the page, flap to look under
- Washing the car – small bucket, car washing sponge, small container of dishwashing soap (or skip these steps and get a carwash token), small squeegee for the window, microfiber drying cloth, car fresheners, and sound recording of water filling a bucket or going through the car wash

### Expert Tip

“Using objects that the adult associates with an event, but which are unfamiliar to the child, is a common mistake of inexperienced bookmakers. In addition, artifacts used in the book must be real—not miniature representations of an object. Miniatures do not provide the same detail for the tactual learner that they provide to the visual learner. Thinking again of representing a ride in a car, a toy car would not be an appropriate artifact, unless perhaps, the child played with the toy car during the ride. In general, a toy car is very different from the car experience of a child who is blind or who has low vision. A better representative object might be a swatch of fabric from the child’s car seat or the seat belt buckle that the child has helped to fasten.”

Lewis & Tolla, 2003, pg. 24

## Tactile Books Based on Children’s Rhymes & Songs

Children’s songs and rhymes can serve as the basis for a tactile book. In these books, language may be the focal point of the book; tactile elements add interest, and there may be only a few. Rhyming texts are especially appealing to many young children. They draw attention to the sounds of language, part of developing skills that will help the child as he learns to read. Rhyming texts also help the child predict the rhyming word at the end of each phrase. This predictability helps the child join in as the story is read. The tactile illustration you choose depends on the child’s age and abilities. Some lend themselves to real object illustrations, but others do not. Some may be suited to collaged illustration or raised-line drawings, but take care that the content is not too “young” for an older child, or the type of illustration too challenging for a young child.

Some rhymes to illustrate with objects, scents, interactive elements

“Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?” (illustrated with cookies, or cookie-like shapes cut from foam paper or thick textured paper, cookie-scented stickers, a jar lid to “open”)

“One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” (illustrated with a buckle, a hinged piece of board stock to act as a “door” to shut, twigs to act as “sticks,” a metal gate latch)

“Three Little Kittens Lost Their Mittens” (illustrated with three pairs of mittens, some of them clean and some dirty, textures for the kittens)

“Peanut Butter and Jelly” (illustrated with scented stickers, square of foam rubber for bread slices, a knife for pretend “spreading”)

“Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around” (illustrated with a small teddy bear with a shoe that can turn, bend, “touch the ground,” and “shake its shoe”)

“Baa, Baa Black Sheep” (illustrated with curly texture for the sheep, three small bags with fuzzy wool inside)

“Over in the Meadow” (illustrated with simple textured shapes for some of the animals in the rhyme—example, two fish shapes cut from a silky texture for the “two fishes”)

“The Green Grass Grows All Around” (illustrated with artificial grass or grass-like pieces of paper or fabric)

“Do Your Ears Hang Low?” (illustrated with a simple face collaged together using hook and loop attachments and “ears” cut from felt, loosely attached at one edge so they can be flapped, “tied,” etc.)

“The Eensy, Weensy Spider” (illustrated with a raised-line web made of glued yarn or drawn with fabric paint, a section of pipe to serve as the water pipe, and a detachable plastic spider that can be moved up and down, hangs by elastic, or utilizes another means of moving up and down as the story is read)

“Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” (use collaged shapes or small toy monkeys fixed to elastic positioned so they “jump” on the bed)

“Arabella Miller’s Tiny Caterpillar” (illustrated with a detachable fuzzy caterpillar that can be moved from page to page across collaged illustrations to imitate the caterpillar’s movements in the rhyme)

## Tactile Concept Books

Mainstream books for typically sighted preschoolers include a number of different concept books. Although these may have a storyline, they frequently use a limited amount of text to introduce the reader to basic concepts and related vocabulary (big, little, round, soft). There are many concepts that can be presented tactually. You may want to experiment with books that present concepts related to scents and sounds.

Concept books for a very young child primarily provide exposure, but concept books for an older child—depending on the concept/s presented—may engage the child in discriminating among different textures or shapes, or in matching like examples. It is at first easiest for most young children to tell which thing is different among a group of several things. When presented with two, identical fuzzy textures and one rough texture, the child is to find the one that’s different. Matching “like to like” comes later. Storylines can be used in books for an older child, such as the “little square” that goes searching for a shape “just like him, only bigger.”

With age and opportunity, a child learns that things have more than one attribute and can be sorted or matched using different criteria—all the things that are smooth, all the things that are round, all the things that are round AND smooth.

Some topics for tactile concept books

- Textures of all types
- Shapes of all types
- Features of shapes (edge, corner, hole)
- Sizes (big, small, long, short, wide, thin)
- Numbers (counting books)
- General quantity (few, many, full, empty, more than, less than)
- Positional concepts (in, out, top, bottom, sides, above, below, beside, between)
- Broad concepts (one-to one correspondence, like and different, opposites, part/ whole)
- Sounds of all types
- Scents of all types

### “My Counting Book 1-10”

One spoon to feed me my cereal.
Two leaves that grow on the tree in my yard.
Three balloons to blow up and pop.
Four candles for my birthday cake.
Five hearts to say I love you.
Six suckers at the end of six sticks.
Seven cotton balls so very soft.
Eight POPSICLE® sticks made out of wood.
Nine soda pop straws for me and my friends.
Ten pennies to put in my bank.

Pauletta Feldman, parent and former Special Projects Coordinator for Visually Impaired Preschool Services

## Informational Tactile Books

Informational books for typically sighted children have become increasingly recommended and used as a means of building knowledge while engaging a child in books and in reading. Sometimes these have a storyline, such as a story that provides information about an animal and its habitat as it tells a story about the animal’s day or life cycle. Alternatively, they may simply give a series of facts. It is possible to create tactile books whose primary focus is to provide information on a particular topic. Informational tactile books can be a good follow-up for a child’s previous, hands-on experience with the subject in question. Objects related to the topic can be gathered, and the text should relate information on a level that is appropriate for the child’s verbal ability and level of concept development. Use the SoundPage and recording devices or other sound-making elements, as well as appropriate scents to illustrate the book. For a young child, choose things with which he can gain at least some firsthand experience. Be aware that the extreme size transformation required if you are to represent some things, such as animals, on a book’s page will likely be confusing at first. Use additional cues, such as texture and sound, whenever possible.

Some topics for informational books

- Seasons
- Holidays
- Places (beach, forest, farm, community places)
- Plants
- Animals
- Insects
- Foods
- Weather
- Community helpers
- Transportation
- Other cultures

TOUJOURS RIEN (STILL NOTHING), C. VOLTZ, LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2006

## Tactile Alphabet Books

Most mainstream alphabet books rely completely on the child’s ability to identify visual pictures and print letters. Because the child can identify the pictured object and say it aloud, he can be helped to hear the beginning letter sound in the object’s name—“buh” for ball— and then to see the letter “b” on the page. Adding braille to these often does little good if there is not a way to help the child identify and say the name of the pictured item.

A few mainstream print alphabet books manage to introduce letter-sounds and names without depending too heavily on pictures. Instead, they depend on the text; but once again, there may not be much to illustrate using tactile elements. Just add braille to these and read them for the fun of hearing the rhyming language and alliterative letter sounds. Dr. Seuss’s ABC (“Aunt Annie’s alligator – A – A – A”) and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom are fun to read simply for their catchy language, which promotes valuable phonemic awareness.

You will probably be able to make your own, more suitable alphabet books. One way to do this is to use small common objects that are familiar to the child. Include them in Pocket Pages or attach them to the page. You may want to identify the item with very limited text, perhaps not much more than labels. You can also expand the text to mention other things that include the letter sound, or make up a rhyme about the object and/or use other words that begin with the same letter.

You can also use interactive components, things that require the child to perform some type of action, and let that be the “thing” that relates to the letter sound—a flap that “opens” for the letter “o.” An alphabet book that mainly uses actions rather than objects may be difficult to illustrate, but will be very engaging for the child, who can clap, dance, and wiggle through the alphabet. Scents may be added— an apple scented sticker for an apple and the letter “a.”

The following lists possibilities for objects, textures, shapes, sounds, scents, and actions to feature in tactile books to highlight beginning sounds building phonemic awareness.

However, if your goal is to foster letter-sound relationships, be aware that some of the words listed below begin with a contraction, and in some instances the first braille shape in the word may not be the same as the braille shape for the beginning letter.

a—
things: apple, acorn, almond, alphabet, apron, abacus, ankle, arm
scents: apple
shapes: arrow, arch
sounds: accordion

b—
things: braille, beads, bell, BAND-AID®, brush, bubble gum, ball, book, barrette, button, balloon, box, bag, boot, belt, bracelet, basket, brick, branch, bucket, butterfly, battery
scents: banana, blueberry, bread
sounds: bird (chirping), bell (ringing), buzz, bang, bark, beep, boom
actions: banging, blowing, blowing bubbles, breaking, bending, brailling, brushing, bouncing
textures/tactile features: bumpy, bouncy, bent, big, bubbly

c—
things: comb, crayon, cookie, cracker, clothespin, carrot, clock, cup, candy cane, candy, candle, coin, collar, cord, cork, cube, clippers, coat, card, carpet, clay
scents: coffee, coconut, caramel, cocoa, cake, cookies, cotton candy, cantaloupe
shapes: cone
sounds: cat (meow), cow (moo), clock (ticking), cricket, cough, crackle, clapping, cackle, clack, clap, cluck, clunk, crack, crackle, crash, creak
actions: closing, clapping, catching, coughing, crying, cracking, crushing, combing, cutting
textures/tactile features: cold, corner, curved, curly, coiled, crooked

soft c—
things: cereal
scents: cinnamon
shapes: cylinder

ch—
things: chalk, chain, Cheerios®, chips, calendar
scents: chocolate, cherry
sounds: chuckle, chicken (clucking), chime, cheep
actions: chopping, chewing, chuckling, cheering, choosing

d—
things: dime, dice, drum, drumstick, doll, diaper, donut, dress, door, domino
scents: dill pickle
shapes: diamond
sounds: duck (quack), dog (bark), dad’s voice, drum
actions: drinking, digging, dancing, drumming, dropping
textures/tactile features: dry, deep

e—
things: egg, envelope, earring, eraser, elastic, elbow, ear, earphones
actions: eating
textures/tactile features: edge

f—
things: fan, feather, fur, flower, fork, foil, flashlight, finger, foot
scents: flower
sounds: flute, fiddle, frog (croaking)
actions: falling, flipping, filling, frowning, finding
textures/tactile features: felt, fuzzy, furry, flat, frizzy, full

g—
things: gum, glasses, gift, grass, glove, gluestick, golf ball, grapes, glass, grass
scents: grapes, garlic
sounds: guitar, gobble, growl, grumble
actions: giving, giggling

h—
things: horn, harmonica, hat, hook, hammer, hand, hair, hanger, handkerchief
shapes: heart, horseshoe
sounds: horse (neighing), harmonica, hiss, hum, hoot, howl
actions: hearing, hopping, hissing, humming, hooting, howling, hiding, holding, hugging
textures/tactile features: hard, heavy, hole

i—
things: ink, iPad®, ivy, iron (metal), insect, ice cube tray, inch
sounds: insect (buzzing)
textures/tactile features: itchy

j—
things: jar, jellybeans, jewel, juice box
sounds: jingle
actions: jumping, jiggling, jingling
textures/tactile features: jagged

k—
things: key, kazoo
shapes: kite
sounds: kiss, knock
actions: kissing, kicking

l—
things: lid, lollipop, leaf, LEGO®, licorice, leather, lotion, lock, lunch box, lips, legs
scents: lemon, licorice, lilac, lavender
sounds: lamb (baa)
actions: laughing, lifting
textures/tactile features: lacy, leathery, light, little, large, long, loose, lumpy

m—
things: mitten, M&M’S®, marshmallow, marble, marker, magazine, maraca, mask, macaroni, mirror, magnet, mouth, money
scents: melon, mint
sounds: music, monkey (chattering)
actions: marching, making a mess
textures/tactile features: mushy, metallic

n—
things: napkin, necklace, noodle, nut, nail, nest, nose, neck, necktie, nickel, newspaper, note, net, nutcracker
scents: nectarine
sounds: neigh
actions: nailing, neighing
textures/tactile features: nubby

o—
things: ornament, orange, oven mitt, oatmeal
shapes: oval
scents: orange
sounds: owl (hooting)
actions: opening
textures/tactile features: oily

p—
things: pencil, pen, penny, peppermint, purse, paperclip, paintbrush, pocket, plate, pretzel, pickle, potato chip, potato, peanut, powder, pebble, perfume, pinecone, placemat, puzzle piece, pan, pants, pillow, pom poms, puppet, paper
scents: pine, pizza, peppermint, pineapple, peach, plum, powder, popcorn
sounds: pig (oinking), piano, purr, pop
actions: pushing, pulling, pointing, pounding, popping
textures/tactile features: pointed, prickly, plastic, paper

q—
things: quarter, quilt, Q-TIPS®
sounds: quack
actions: quacking, quilting, quivering

r—
things: ring, rattle, ribbon, ruler, raisins, rope, rock, rug, rag
shapes: rectangle
scents: raspberry, roses
sounds: rooster, roar, rattle, ring, rippling, roar, rumble, rushing, rustle
actions: rubbing, ripping, running, reading
textures/tactile features: ridged, rough, round, rubbery, rippled

s—
things: sock, soap, sponge, sand, spoon, scissors, screw, sack, seeds, scarf, salt, spaghetti, sweater, sugar
shapes: square, spiral
sounds: sneeze, sigh, squawk, sing, slam, scream, snap, snort, splash, squawk, squeal, squish, stamp, swish, swoosh
actions: singing, smiling, spinning, sliding, swinging, scooping, scribbling, scrubbing, snapping, sweeping, sitting, swimming, stamping
textures/tactile features: sandy, scratchy, silky, slimy, smooth, soft, spongy, spiny, springy, square, squishy, small, solid

sh—
things: shell, shoe, shoelace, shovel, shampoo, shirt
shapes: shamrock
sounds: shout
actions: shutting, shaking, stamping
textures/tactile features: sharp, short

st—
things: stone, stick, stickers, straw, stylus, string
shapes: star
actions: sticking, stretching, standing
textures/tactile features: sticky, stretchy, straight

t—
things: toothbrush, toothpaste, twig, tape, tea bag, tag, twisty, toy, towel, tongue, tooth, tummy, toes, teeth, tambourine, tinsel, tennis ball, teddy bear
scents: tuna, toothpaste
shapes: triangle, tube
sounds: turkey (gobble), tap, thunder, toot
actions: twisting, turning, tying, tapping, tickling, tearing, tasting
textures/tactile features: tight

th—
things: thread, thimble, thumb
sounds: thunder
actions: throwing
textures/tactile features: thick, thin

u—
things: umbrella, underwear, ukulele
textures/tactile features: under, upside-down

v—
things: valentine, velvet, VELCRO®, vine, vegetables, vase
scents: vanilla, violets
sounds: vacuum cleaner
actions: vibrating
textures/tactile features: vertical

w—
things: watch, wire, wallet, wig, wax, wood, washcloth, web, water
scents: watermelon
sounds: water, wind, wail
actions: walking, winding, wiggling, washing
textures/tactile features: warm, wide, woolly, waxy, wet, wooden

wh—
things: whistle, whisk, wheel
sounds: whistle, whisper, whine
actions: whistling, whispering, whining

x—
things: xylophone

y—
things: yarn, yo-yo
sounds: yawn, yell, yodel
actions: yawning, yelling, yodeling

z—
things: zipper, zero, Ziploc® bag
shapes: zig-zag
actions: zipping

## Tactile Books Based on “Made-up” Stories (Original Fiction)

This category consists of books based on original stories that are written by adults for a child with a visual impairment or made-up by the child and dictated to an adult. These are not the same as experience stories, which are about a personal experience the child has had and are usually written in first person or include the child’s name.

Since the story topic is under your control, you are able to select topics that enable you to give the child some sort of hands-on equivalent, before reading the book. For example, if you have written a story about five little fishes that swim upstream, the child can touch and examine a fish and experience swimming “like a fish” in the tub or pool, and feel moving water to understand how hard it might be to swim against it.

Because you are writing the story, you can focus your descriptions on how things feel and sound, as opposed to mainstream children’s books, which primarily refer to how things look. If the child has special interests, include these in original stories. Does he like going to the beach, or is he curious about what will happen when he goes to school for the first time? Some topics that serve as a basis for experience stories can also be the basis for original fiction, but you are free to develop a plot and characters. You can also personalize the story in many different ways, using the names of family members and familiar locations.

While you are free to be creative with original fiction, remember to think from the child’s point of view as you choose topics. As you decide what to say and how to say it, channel your inner poet and/or comedian. Humor, rhyme, and repeated phrases encourage the child to join in and make any story more fun.

## Tactile Books Based on Print Children’s Picture Books

When creating tactile books, it is perhaps most challenging of all to design a tactile version of a print children’s book in a way that provides meaningful tactile illustrations. Difficulties may include having too few tactile elements that will be understood by the child and be truly representative of the story, a text that is too fantasy-based to be explained in concepts the child already knows, or a book whose meaning is carried too much in its visual pictures.

Nevertheless, some mainstream books can be adapted if you allow yourself to “think outside the box” established by the visual picture. Rather than try to duplicate the shapes in the visual picture, look for textural, multisensory, or interactive items that can represent some other thing or aspect of the story, and then include these, judging for yourself whether these stray too far from the central storyline.

Another approach, more likely to be more successful, is to let the child propose a favorite book to adapt and support him as he suggests designs for the tactile illustrations. The students who created the tactile illustrations for La pays d’en bas la mer (The Country Down the Sea, Les Doigts Qui Rêvent, ©2015) were motivated by their liking for a book they already knew and their firsthand experience with the sea animals in the story.

The following lists a few print books that lend themselves to tactile adaptation. This brief list is far from exhaustive; some may be out of print, and new children’s books are always being published. However, looking at the books on the list may help you spot the elements that make these “adaptable” and guide you to choose from others that you come across. Most of the books in the list focus on everyday objects likely to be familiar to a young child, or items that can be represented by a simple collaged or raised outline shape that you can fit onto the page without having to greatly reduce its size (e.g., to fit a book page, a raised outline of a house would have to be shrunk a great deal and thereby lose much of its “houseness”).

Examples of mainstream children’s books that lend themselves to tactile and multisensory adaptation

- IF you give a mouse a cookie,
  L.J. Numeroff, ©1996

  “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff (and others in this series) — adapt by using actual objects featured in the story; most are small household objects that can be fitted inside the TBB Pocket Pages or Ziploc® Pages, or can be to fixed to the Needlepoint Canvas Pages or other page types using ties, adhesives, or hook and loop material
- “Sheila Rae’s Peppermint Stick” by Kevin Henkes (and similar books by Henkes, such as “Lilly’s Chocolate Heart”) — adapt by using real peppermint sticks/ chocolate hearts, or use molded shapes, collaged shapes, or simple raised-line drawings showing a peppermint stick/chocolate heart; add scented stickers
- “Momma’s Magical Purse” by Paulette Bogan — use some of the actual objects described in the story, fitted inside the TBB Pocket Pages, Ziploc® Pages, or fixed to the Needlepoint Canvas Pages or other page types
- “Four Valentines In a Rainstorm” by Felicia Bond — use cutout valentines, a letter, and an envelope
- “Sam’s Cookie” by Barbro Lindgren (and others in this series by Lindgren, including Sam’s Bath, Sam’s Ball, and others) — use the actual object (cookies), or collaged shapes or raised-line drawings if the shape is simple, such as ball or cookie
- “Owen” by Kevin Henkes — use squares of blanket material to illustrate the story of Owen’s favorite possession, his blanket
- “My Two Hands, My Two Feet” by Rick Walton — use collaged shapes or raised-line drawings of a child’s hand and foot
- “The Doorbell Rang” by Pat Hutchins — use real cookies, or collaged shapes or raised outline shapes to depict the cookies that are counted out each time the doorbell rings
- “The Straight Line Wonder” by Mem Fox — use raised lines to illustrate this story of a line
- “The Big Green Pocketbook” by Candice Ransom — use actual objects fixed to the page or in a pocket page
- “The Pocket Book” by Josephine Haskell Aldridge — sew or use no-sew bonding material or strong adhesives to make fabric pockets on each page; use different textures, sizes, and shapes
- “Small Green Snake” by Libby Moore Gray — use collaged or raised-line drawings to show the small green snake as he curls and uncurls into a spiral and zigzags across the page
- “The Bag I’m Taking To Grandma’s” by Shirley Neitzel — use actual objects fixed to the page or in a pocket page
- “Press Here” by Herve Tullet — use textures or shapes to represent the colored dots the child touches in this interactive book
- “The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson — use collaged illustrations and items to depict the Gruffalo’s terrible tusks and teeth and a tactile path for the mouse to follow to meet him)
- “The Piggy in the Puddle” by Charlotte Pomerantz — use collaged illustrations to show the large mud puddle and Daddy, Mother, Brother, and Baby Pig, each differently sized
- “Stone Soup” by Margaret Wise Brown — use objects (soup ingredients and cooking utensils) in pocket pages or attach to the page
- “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?” by Bill Martin — use collaged illustrations and animal textures and recorded animal sounds on each page; texture the recording devices, too, to mix and match to each animal
- “Cat Count” by Betsy Lewin — use collaged or raised line symbols for the cats, lining them up for counting
- “Hattie and the Fox” by Mem Fox — use collaged illustrations and lift flaps to reveal the fox as appears from behind a bush, showing first eyes, then nose, tail and teeth
- “Buzz” by Janet S. Wong — use recorded sounds for all the things that ring and buzz in this story and a raised line path for the buzzing bee

The purpose of a tactile illustration is to communicate an idea or information that triggers a connection to the tactual experience of the real object — not to a visual image.

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28. Valente, D. (in press). Haptic books for blind children: A Design for All approach. Proceedings from the 11th International European Academy of Design Conference. Paper presented at the 11th International European Academy of Design Conference, Paris, 22-24 April.
29. Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (2001). Emergent literacy: Development from prereaders to readers. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 11-42). New York: Guilford Press.
30. Wright, S. (1991). Final report, developing literacy: Early experiences for visually impaired children. Unpublished report. Louisville, KY: American Printing House for the Blind.
31. Wright, S. (2008). Guide to designing tactile illustrations for children’s books. Available from http://www.aph.org/edresearch/illustration.htm
32. Wright, S., & Stratton, J. M. (2007). On the way to literacy: Early experiences for children with visual impairments (2nd ed.). Louisville, KY: American Printing House for the Blind.
33. Zucker, T. A., Ward, A. E., & Justice, L. M. (2009). Print referencing during readalouds: A technique for increasing emergent readers’ print knowledge. The Reading Teacher, 63, 62-72. doi:10.1598/RT.63.1.6

# Appendix A: Common & Commercially Available Materials for Tactile Books

## Common & Commercially Available Materials for Creating Collaged Shapes/Textures for Illustrations

### Cut or form shapes from (or use precut or manufactured shapes available in craft stores):

- Artificial flowers and leaves
- Beads and scrapbook embellishments
- Buttons
- Candles, small scented candles or cake candles
- Candle or soap molds (made of thermoformed plastic)
- Cardboard/chipboard (pre-cut shapes available)
- Craft objects
- Cork
- Fabric scraps (various textures and colors)
- Feathers
- Felt or sticky back felt
- Foam paper (sheets and pre-cut shapes available)
- Magnetic paper (also ink jet printer compatible)
- Magnetic sheet material (pre-cut shapes available)
- Modeling compound (Crayola® Model Magic®)
- Needlepoint canvas
- Packing material (shredded paper, molded shapes, packing noodles)
- Paper (thick, textured papers and card stock; pre-cut shapes available)
- Paper mache (manufactured shapes available)
- Pom pom balls—soft, colorful balls in various sizes can be glued to the page
- POPSICLE® sticks
- Puzzle pieces
- Sandpaper
- Shells
- Stickers
- Soaps, scented and molded into shapes
- STYROFOAM™ shapes and packing, including packing “noodles” and swimming noodles (which can be sliced to create perfect raised circles with a hole in the middle)
- Wood (pre-cut, manufactured shapes available)

### Materials/Tools for Creating Raised Lines

- Blunt pen or stylus—lay paper over carpet, a folded towel, computer mouse pad, or corrugated cardboard; poking holes with the pen or stylus produces a raised dotted line on the reverse side of the paper
- Brailler—emboss lines to create a straight line, waves, or outlines of shapes
- Crayon and screenboard—window screening stapled over a wooden board, drawing on paper placed over the screenboard leaves a rippled, waxy line that can be felt
- DRAFTSMAN Tactile Drawing Board—drawing board used in conjunction with a plastic film and stylus instantly produces raised-line drawings (available from APH)
- Fabric paint or thick glue
- Quick-Draw Paper—flat, dry sponge “paper” swells as you draw on it with a water soluble marker; markers of different widths produce lines of different widths (available from APH)
- Raised-line drawing kit—features a thin plastic sheet attached to a clipboard with a rubber backing; writing on the plastic sheet with a blunt tool
- Swail Dot Inverter—special stylus allows dots to be embossed upwards by puncturing the paper on the downstroke (available from APH)
- Swell-Form Machine, Swell Touch paper (available from American Thermoform Corporation)Tracing wheel—lay paper over carpet; roll spur wheel to produce a raised dotted line on the reverse side of the paper (available at craft stores); tracing wheels with different “teeth” can be found to produce slightly different types of lines
- Tactile Marking Mat—textured mat functions like a screenboard when paper, laid over the mat, is written upon with a waxy crayon (available from APH)
- Trim, braid, ribbon, bric-a-brac, hook and loop strips, thick duct tape—apply to page to form raised lines and outlines

### Shape and adhere to page to form lines

- Graphic Art Tape—thin, adhesive-backed tape can be used to make straight lines and manipulated to form curved lines and outlines; available in several widths (available from APH)
- Pipe cleaners
- Wikki-Stix®—bend and cut into any desired shape; tacky texture will stick to almost any surface—and are easy to remove
- Wooden or plastic “stir sticks”
- Yarn/string—glue in place to form a raised outline or line

### Multi-sensory Additions

- Audio sound file (use sound chips from mainstream children’s’ books or record your own sound effects on a small digital recording device such as those available from APH, catalog # 6-77505-00)
- Jingle bells
- Sachets of herbs
- Scented markers
- Scratch and sniff stickers
- Small scented soap, hotel-size shampoo or lotion bottle
- Herbal tea bags
- Perfume (spray onto an absorbent cloth or paper
- Vibrating equipment (e.g., cell phone)
- Plastic bag of crunchy candy or food to smell, taste, and hear

# Appendix B: Other APH Materials for Custom-making Tactile Books

The following is a list of other APH products that can be used with the Tactile Book Builder Kit to create custom books.

Braillable Labels and Sheets
Small Label Pack (3.87 x 0.95) (#1-08872-00)
Large Label Pack (3.87 x 1.75) (#1-08873-00)
Full-Size Label Sheets (8.5 x 11) (#1-08874-00)

Braille Paper, White (various sizes: 8.5 x 11; 11.5 x 11; unpunched and punched for ring binding)

Braille Paper, Manila Transcribing (various sizes, unpunched and punched for ring binding)

Digital Recording Device 6-77505-01

DRAFTSMAN Tactile Drawing Board (#1-08857-00)

Feel ‘n Peel Stickers
Braille/Print Alphabet Letters (#1-08849-00)
Carousel of Textures (#1-08863-00)
Point Symbols I (#1-08846-00)
Point Symbols II (#1-08868-00)
Smiley/Frowny Faces (#1-08847-00)
Stars (#1-08867-00)

Graphic Art Tape (#1-08878-00)

Hundreds Boards
Bag of Red Circles (#61-219-006)
Bag of Blue Squares (#61-219-007)
Bag of Yellow Stars (#61-219-008)
Bag of Green Triangles (#61-219-009)

Picture Maker: Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit
Textured Shapes (#61-151-168)
Diagramming Strips (#61-151-167)
Accent Pieces (#61-151-171)

Quick-Draw Paper (#1-04960-00)

Scented Sticker Pack 61-401-150

Swail Dot Inverter (#1-03610-00)

Tactile Connections Kit: Symbols for Communication (#1-08837-00)

Tactile Marking Mat (#1-03331-00)

Textured Paper Collection (#1-03275-00)

Textured Sorting Circles and Shapes (#1-08834-00)

# Appendix C: Fundamental Skills for Exploring and Interpreting Tactile Books

The following chart shows types of tactile illustrations and books appropriate for a child developing the skills listed in adjacent columns. Some listed ages are taken from the literature for typically developing children with vision and will not apply to the kit’s target audience (children with visual impairments and children with multiple disabilities and visual impairment). However, the listed skills, regardless of age at which they are acquired, can assist a child in exploring, understanding, and enjoying the tactile illustrations and book types described in the two right-hand columns.

It is important to remember that even though mid- and long-term developmental objectives are comparable for children with vision and children with visual impairment, a child with a significant visual impairment will take different paths and follow a different “tempo of development.” Bambring (2005) notes that we do not know enough about alternative paths of development and the importance of examining “…alternative strategies that blind children apply to solve tasks and use this knowledge to derive blind-adequate recommendations for promoting their development.”

Brambring provides the following examples to clarify the ways in which the demands imposed by the same developmental task may differ for blind and sighted children:

1. Sighted infants acquire the skill of “building a tower with three toy blocks” at about the age of 15 months; “normally developing” blind children, in contrast, not before 29 months. The explanation for this difference is that sighted children can see if one block is sitting exactly on top of the one below it, and if the tower collapses, they quickly learn this is because they have not positioned their blocks exactly. Children with a severe visual impairment can only learn this task when they have “understood” that blocks have to be placed exactly on top of each other if a tower is to stay up; they solve the task cognitively rather than visually. A cognitive solution requires a longer process of development, so the task is mastered much later.
2. Sighted children solve the task “find two identical objects in a set of five objects” at approximately 26 months of age; “normally developing” blind children, not until about 42 months. The reason for this difference is that sighted children can compare all five objects at a glance, a task that makes relatively low cognitive demands. A child with a visual impairment, on the other hand, must carefully feel all five objects one after the other before he can identify the two that are the same—a relatively advanced cognitive achievement—explaining the difference in age at which each group acquires this skill.

Bambring, M. (2005). Keynote speech: Assessing developmental differences in blind versus sighted children, Conference report, ICEVI European Conference “Education – aiming for excellence”, 14 – 18 August 2005, Chemnitz, Germany.

Age
Fine Motor Skills
Tactile Discrimination Skills
Cognitive / Language Skills
Suggested type of Illustration / Representation
Suggested type of Book
Infant
0 to 4 months

Maintains fisted palmar grasp (2)

Applies pressure, fingers open-close, kneading (3)

Holds hands in open, loosely fisted position when not grasping object (2)

Alerts to tactile, auditory, visual, and movement stimulation (1)

Perceives temperature, size, and pliancy (5)

Responds differently to tactile sensations: temperature or texture (1)

Is aware of differing sounds in spoken language (phonemic awareness) from birth

Familiar whole object from daily routines or familiar toy that fits within the child’s grasp

Familiar whole objects from daily routines with differences that might be noticed as object is grasped, obvious textures or differences in hardness and pliability; 1 or 2 objects per page

Simple rhymes, songs that feature a related toy or object the child can grasp and hold

Simple songs or rhymes; include 1 or 2 objects to be held by the child, in a story box or bag; co-act simple actions with object

4 to 9 months

Hands mostly open tolerating a variety of tactile input (1)

Use of one hand only, one stabilizes while other explores (5)

Performs exploratory actions: scratching, rubbing, banging, shaking, squeezing, waving (5) (6) (Gibson, 1988)

Localizes tactile stimulation; moves only area affected, touches same spot or searches for object when touched to body (1)

Perceives (imprecisely) texture, hardness, weight (5)

Developing awareness of objects used in daily routines

Begins to build language through hearing familiar objects named, descriptive words; receptive language exceeds expressive language

Sounds and smells connected with familiar daily routines and objects

Objects and simple toys that provide different feedback in response to child’s exploratory actions

Books with familiar objects that can be detached/removed from the book and grasped, co-act simple actions appropriate to object

Simple texture books, fabric books and board books with interesting textures and thick, easily grasped pages to explore and turn; textures do not represent something but do encourage touching and handling

Books with familiar sounds and smells – these can add to the experience of sharing any of the book types mentioned above or stand alone with a short interesting rhyme or text

Books featuring highly manipulable objects that can be detached/removed from the page and handled using basic exploratory actions; braille text – few descriptive words or short sentence; rhyming text, predictable text in some books

9 to 18 months

Complementary bimanual hand use – one hand holds object and other hand explores (5)

Follows/explores manually along the contours of an object or shape (3, 5)

Begins to explore fabric, cardboard, or plastic books (manipulates pages) (1)

Turns pages of books (4)

Drops object with controlled release (6) (Erhardt, 1994)

Pokes object with index finger (6) (Erhardt, 1994)

Isolates movements of one or two fingers (explores holes, pushes buttons or levers on toys) (1)

Uses pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) (6) Erhardt, 1994)

Refines discrimination of texture and other tactile qualities (size, shape) as he explores a wider range of objects in the environment and performs action upon them

Develops receptive and expressive language through hearing familiar objects named and described as he handles them

Develops turn-taking abilities through play and conversation, including interactions involving books, such as chiming in on repeated parts of the text, imitating animal sounds, talking about and asking simple questions

Expands concepts about objects in immediate environment, including attributes, function, and underlying concepts such as connected/ unconnected, one object contained inside another

Illustration types described above AND:

Wider range of everyday objects and textures connected with familiar activities; objects that can be handled and used by the child in functional ways (brush to brush hair); 1 to 2 per page

Sounds and smells related to the book topic

Objects that can be manipulated: connected, contact one another, put in and out of container (pocket) or covered (i.e., placed under a swatch of fabric or flap)

Familiar whole objects used in illustrations can now be smaller, feature parts or holes and recesses that can be examined by poking

Illustrations with movable parts and interactive components, such as a flap to lift, buttons to press, small knob to slide back and forth, holes to probe, string to pull, zipper, etc.

Book types described above AND:

Naming/“pointing” books using familiar objects, textures, sounds or smells; objects that can be detached/removed from book; include brief braille text to name/describe

Experience storybooks about everyday routines with familiar objects that can be detached/removed from page; braille text – few short phrases or sentences telling a simple sequence or story; rhyming text in some books

Board books or fabric books with stiff, thick pages that can be more easily turned and explored

Simple predictable books - brief text with repeated word, sound, or short phrase; illustrate using familiar objects, smells, sounds, and textures

Books featuring objects that can be detached/ removed and put in and out of pockets or containers, connected together, or put under or inside things

Experience books including smaller familiar objects that can be detached/removed from page; braille text– few short phrases or sentence telling a very simple sequence or story; rhyming text, predictable text in some books

Books with simple interactive components; few words or a sentence or two per page as the braille text; rhyming text, predictable text in some books

Toddler
18 to 36 months

Touches and holds familiar and unfamiliar objects and textures

Demonstrates use of the following manipulative skills: place (in or on), push and pull, stack, twist and turn (1)

Matches textures (finds the same kind when given a choice of 2 or 3) (1)

Language skills and vocabulary increasing rapidly

Names familiar objects, toys, foods (1)

Interested in books with textures or movable parts (1)

Finds object when its function is described (“Show me what you use to brush your teeth.”) (2)

Illustration types described above AND:

Familiar as well as less familiar whole objects; objects may be fixed to the page or removable

Parts of familiar objects now sometimes used if these are distinctive and known to the child; fixed to page or removable

Book types described above AND:

Books about wider range of everyday routines—very brief; objects, parts of objects—fixed to page or removable; simple story or several sentences of information as the braille text

24 to 36 months

Actively examines the pages of tactual books (1)

“Tracks” braille (follows along in book or on label). (4)

Matches big and little objects (otherwise identical) (1)

Matches simple geometric forms (2); later for vi

Matches circle, square, and triangle (2); later for vi

Matches 3 shapes (identical in color, size, material) (1)

Finds or touches big and little objects on request (1); later for vi

Identifies familiar objects by their use (2); later for vi

Identifies textures (4)

Identifies objects as rough or smooth, hard or soft (1)

Illustration types described above AND:

Unfamiliar as well as familiar textures that represent “different than”— as in a concept book

Illustrations with interactive components, movable parts, sounds, and smells

Book types described above AND:

Predictable books and books with rhyme—brief text with repeated word, sound, or short phrase; illustrate using familiar objects, textures, smells, sounds, and interactive or movable parts

Simple concept books—very brief; introducing shape, size, texture, or function; early numeracy concepts (one/many); rote counting to 5 or 10

Preschool
36 to 48 months

Moves thumb without moving any other fingers) (1)

Isolates finger movements (1)

Turns pages of book one at a time (2)

Independently explores homemade books with real objects, textures, or tactual shapes (1)

Locates a named shape or object on the page (1)

Locates braille labels in a variety of settings (1)

Uses braillewriter to experiment making dots (1)

Tactually discriminates among items with similar characteristics (child’s own hairbrush from mom’s) (1)

Matches long and short objects (1)

Finds or touches, names shapes on request (circle, square, triangle) (1)

Finds the one which is heavy or light empty or full more or less (1)

Identifies big and small shapes (2)

Sorts two kinds of tactually dissimilar objects (nuts from bolts, macaroni from dried peas) (1)

Illustration types described above AND:

Collaged textured shapes depicting objects with few parts and simple outer contour:

- texture of actual object used if possible
- presented at more or less actual size
- one or two identifying details if needed—could be an actual part of the object glued in place
- 1 to 3 objects shown per page but with distinctly different textures and/or shapes
- spatial relationships between objects not featured/critical functionality included whenever possible—a knob that twists as it does on the real object, pocket with a button closure

Book types described above AND:

Experience books about special events—very brief; objects, parts of objects fixed to page or removable; simple story told in the braille text or few sentences of information; objects may be less familiar to child but have been experienced before reading the story

Simple storybooks based on common experiences or interests of a young child—adapted from carefully chosen print children’s books or original stories written for the VI child; longer braille text; illustrated using objects or collaged textured shapes depicting objects with simple contours

Simple informational books—adapted from print children’s books or original book written for the VI child on a topic of interest; longer braille text; illustrated using objects or collaged shapes depicting objects with simple contours

Concept books about texture, shape, size, and function; early numeracy concepts and counting to 10; illustrated using objects or collaged shapes depicting objects with simple contours; braille text

Alphabet books that use familiar objects (or sounds or smells) for naming and hearing initial letter sounds (“s”—sock); all same sound (bell, ball) or several different sounds per book; braille text

48 to 60 months

Uses two hands to search for and locate tactual information (1)

Traces raised-line patterns and mazes with fingers (1)

Uses tactual materials to create raised-line pictures or shapes (1)

Tells whether two symbols (letters) are the same or different (1)

Compares two objects on page to find the one requested (by size or shape) (1)

Tells whether objects are either long or short; hard or soft; rough or smooth (1)

Identifies picture or object that is “different” within a group of 4 (1)

Touches first, middle, and last items in a row (1)

Places 5 objects in horizontal arrangement by size (seriates) (1)

Can match, sort, and name 5 basic geometric shapes (1)

Tells what object has been removed from group of 4 (1)

Uses textures (soft, hard, rough, smooth) to match, sort, and name objects (1)

Uses geometric shapes to match, sort, and name objects (1)

Names 3 raised-line shapes in a tactual book (1)

Illustration types described above AND:

Collaged textured shapes with slightly more complexity in shape and number of parts:

- texture of actual object used; several identifying details if needed—could be an actual part of the objects
- more objects per page, with distinctly different textures and/or shapes
- spatial relationships between elements are depicted
- functionality included whenever possible—a door that opens
- presented at same size as actual object when possible; if not, should be proportional to other objects in the illustration (a mouse is not as large as a cat)

Simple raised-line geometric shapes filled with a raised pattern (embossed, puff paint, etc.):

- at first only 1 to 3 per page
- use distinctly different shapes and/or “fill” patterns
- spatial relationships depicted

Simple raised-line drawing, filled, depicting the outer contour of a common object known to the child:

- retain one-to-one size correspondence with actual object
- at first only 1 per page, later 1 to 3 per page,
- use distinctly different shapes and/or “fill” patterns if more than one
- spatial relationships not depicted

Raised-line drawing, filled, depicting the outer contours of several common objects known to the child:

- retain one-to-one size correspondence with actual object; if not, should be proportional to other objects in the illustration
- distinctly different shapes and/or “fill” patterns
- spatial relationships depicted

Tactile symbols representing characters or objects – can be a small swatch of texture or a small raised shape or point symbol to represent characters in a story:

- at first use only a few symbols
- use distinctly different textures or shapes
- spatial relationships can be depicted
- different types of raised lines may symbolize map-like elements: path, river, border between two areas, outline of lake use distinctly different symbols

Book types described above AND:

Simple storybooks that are adapted or – use a wider vocabulary and feature longer braille text; illustrated using objects, collaged textured shapes (as shapes if the story is about shapes) or depicting contours of actual objects

Concept books about textures, shapes, sizes (big/little; long/short); types of raised lines and raised-line shapes; counting to 10 and beyond

Storyboard books that use objects or collaged shapes that can be detached and reattached, moved about the page and placed in relation to one another to depict simple spatial relationships

Experience storybooks using objects, collage, or simple raised-line drawings—child can begin to create these; child can narrate text that is brailled with adult help

Alphabet books—adapted or original—that use language to emphasize letter sounds (Dr. Suess’s ABC’s) or letter names and sequence (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom); braille text

Books with tactile symbols and raised lines – can be based on an original story or adapted from print children’s book or classic tale; a key to the symbols can be provided; map-like elements and conventions can be included along with the symbols—an overhead view of the position of characters or objects in the illustration

# Proper Trademark Notice and Attribution

BAND-AID® is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson.

Cheerios® is a registered trademark of General Mills IP Holdings I, LLC.

Kleenex® is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.

iPod® is a registered trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group.

M&M’S® is a registered trademark of Mars, Incorporated.

POPSICLE® and Q-TIPS® are registered trademarks of Unilever (Conopco, Inc.).

Slinky® is a registered trademark of POOF-Slinky.

Sticky Dots™ is a trademark of Therm O Web, Inc.

STYROFOAM™ is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company.

VELCRO® is a registered trademark of Velcro Industries B.V.

Wikki Stix® is a registered trademark of Omnicor, Inc.

Ziploc® is a registered trademark of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.

# CAUTION

Always supervise children closely to ensure that items from the Tactile Book Builder Kit and additional items included in custom books are used in a safe manner and remain in good condition.

- Some objects or parts of the illustration may be breakable. If this is the case, remember to check for sharp, jagged edges or corners, or small pieces that could present a choking hazard or be harmful if ingested.
- Small parts present a choking hazard. Toys suitable for ages up to 36 months must not contain any parts or produce any parts during normal use that could choke or be swallowed or inhaled by a child.
- Monitor the condition of books you create to be sure there are no broken items with sharp or ragged edges that may cause cuts or punctures.
- Be aware of sharp edges or corners on objects. Efforts should be made to round these to prevent cuts and scratches.
- Make sure plastic pieces are durable and not brittle. When brittle plastic breaks, it can form sharp jagged edges or points.
- Lengths of string, ribbon, cord, or similar materials longer than 9 inches should not be used since these could pose a strangulation hazard.
- Use wooden items that are smoothly finished and made from soft wood that will not splinter when chewed.
- Use only nontoxic glues, adhesive materials, markers, and paints. Refer to the product label for details.
- If a child is allergic to certain materials or foods (e.g., latex allergy), do not use those materials in the book.

Tactile Book Builder: Guide to
Designing Tactile Illustrations
Catalog No. 7-08826-00

American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-3148
Phone: 502-895-2405 | Toll Free: 800-223-1839
Email: info@aph.org
www.aph.org