
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).
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.
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:
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.
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
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.
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
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.
In Section II: How to Make a Custom Tactile Book Using the TBB Kit, you can explore
For a quick launch into book-making, refer to the Quick Start Chart on the inside front cover of this guidebook.
In Section III: Tactile Book Examples and Starter Ideas you can view
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SOMETHING SPECIAL
APH, ©2009
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.
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
DAS HUHN ALBERTA, (ALBERTA THE HEN), A. GIEBICHENSTEIN
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2005
THE GREEN GRASS GROWS ALL AROUND (PROTOTYPE), C. BOQUET
EMY GETS HUNGRY (PROTOTYPE),
LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2012
THE LITTLEST PUMPKIN,
APH, ©1999
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.
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.
THE GUMDROP TREE, E. SPURR,
APH, ©1998
THE BOY AND THE WOLF (SKETCH FOR RAISED LINE DRAWING),
APH, ©2009
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:
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.
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).
Whether you intend to add illustrations to an existing book or create an original book, carefully consider aspects of the book’s text.
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.
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.
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.
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.]
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.
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.
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:
The TBB materials offer a variety of options for adding braille:
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.
The TBB materials offer several options for adding print text to your books:
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.
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.
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.
The TBB Kit is particularly useful for assembling books that feature objects or parts of objects used as illustration.
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:
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:
SPLISH THE FISH
APH, ©2003
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
I LIKE TO PLAY, J. BARABASH & S. BRYANT, GOVERNOR MOREHEAD PRESCHOOL
Add scents to a book
Add interactive components
THE BOO BOO BOOK, C. ROBERTSON, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS
HOLY MOLY (PROTOTYPE)
APH, ©2015
LOOK, LOOK, LADYBUGS! L.GELLHAUS, SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
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.
The following pages highlight just a few of the many tactile books that can be made and used with children who have visual impairments.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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....”
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
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.
“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
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)
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
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 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
TOUJOURS RIEN (STILL NOTHING), C. VOLTZ, LES DOIGTS QUI RÊVENT, ©2006
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
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.
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
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.
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)
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:
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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:
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
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:
Simple raised-line geometric shapes filled with a raised pattern (embossed, puff paint, etc.):
Simple raised-line drawing, filled, depicting the outer contour of a common object known to the child:
Raised-line drawing, filled, depicting the outer contours of several common objects known to the child:
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:
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
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.
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.
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