Books by the Banks on Saturday, October 22 was a big success for CBAS again this year. Even before the event officially opened, folks started arriving eager to learn how to make their own simple pop-up book. It was fun to watch the parents, most of whom seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as their children. We gave everyone a number of options for pop-up figures: Halloween related and general, and just about every possible combination was chosen. After gluing in their pop-ups, kids moved on to the embellishment stage, where vigorous rubber stamping, stickers and some pretty imaginative marker work were all taken very seriously. It was great to watch the expressions on the children's faces when they first opened their books and ta-dah, a bat or a pumpkin popped out. By the end of the day, almost 175 books were made and we hope, some future book artists inspired. One young man of about 8 who added a dialogue balloon for the hand-drawn ghost on his book cover looked up and said very solemnly, "I like to put a lot of detail into my work."
Thanks to Cecie, Diane, Jack, Janice, Jeanne, Nancy D, Nancy H, Robin,Trish and Veronica, our great crew of volunteers. And special thanks to Jo for a lot of behind-the-scenes planning, and to Volunteer Coordinator Linda for organizing the schedule. If you missed it, look for Books by the Banks around the same time next year. If you love books and reading, it's an event you shouldn't miss.