Children’s Board Book

By - Laurie Groh

Children’s Board Book

Intro

Children’s Board Book

A simple board book made with common materials. It’s reasonably durable and, even if it gets torn to pieces, it’s easy to make a replacement.Materials

1/16″-thick pressed cardboard (Elmers or Bienfang illustration board) – 1 per leaf
Full-sheet adhesive labels (Avery or similar) – 1 per leaf
Card stock – 2 small strips
Step 1

Cut boards

Cut 5″x5″ boards from pressed cardboard. I used Bienfang illustration board but any pressed (not corrugated) cardboard that’s about 1/16″ thick will do. You’ll need enough for the interior pages, plus the front and back cover. Round two of the corners.

Step 2

Print interior pages

Print 10-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ images on adhesive paper, one for each pair of facing pages. The first image will be the inside of the front cover and the first page; the next is the second and third page, etc. I used Avery full sheet labels for this. The outside 1/4″ of the image will be trimmed off, so keep any content away from the edge. Cut down each sheet to roughly the size of the image.

Step 3

Mount interior pages

Peel of the backing from the first sheet and lay it face down. Place two boards on top, lining them up with the center of the sheet.

Trim off the excess adhesive paper using a sharp knife.

Continue mounting all interior pages, using the back of the previous page for the front of the next.

Step 4

Print cover

Measure the thickness of the book so far. It should be about 1/16″ x the number of pages. The size of the image for the front cover will be 10″, plus the thickness of the book, plus any border. The image should be, from left to right, the back cover, the spine and the front cover. Print the image on adhesive paper. Crease the paper along the edges of the spine.

If you can’t print a single image large enough for the entire cover, you can print it in two pieces, overlapping on the spine.