Last month I had a fun-filled day in Boston with my friend Kristine – we spent the entire day at the Boston Public Library! I wrote earlier about the wonderful BPL Art & Architecture tour we took, and a bit about the exquisite entries in a bookbinding competition. I mentioned our lovely lunch in the Map Room Cafe, and hinted that we happened to be there during the monthly Friends of the Library book sale. Well, it’s time to revisit one of the books I picked up that day.
There were hardcovers, paperbacks, local interest books, audiobooks, cookbooks, albums (that is, record albums, vinyl, LPs … those things that look like big black CDs), children’s books, etc., all nicely organized amid a hive of activity as people came, saw, and conquered the stacks of books.
One side of the large room was roped off to control browsing. A sign indicated that these were ‘special collections’ and didn’t qualify for the $2/hardcover and $1/paperback pricing found elsewhere in the room. This section had signed books, newer releases, antiques and collectibles.
I stepped beyond the rope, and I saw this beauty sitting at the cashier’s table – a special edition of Dr. Seuss’ I Am NOT Going to Get up Today!. What made it so special? Between each page of colorfully illustrated text is a clear plastic sheet with the identical text in Braille.
My 7-year-old had been asking me a lot of questions about Braille, and the only example I had been able to find for her was the raised Braille instructions at the ATM. Here was a book she could own, read the printed text, decipher the Braille text, and understand more about the challenges faced by the visually impaired.
And she has made it her own! She has translated a few of the pages (so into codes and anything she can turn into detective work 
), made a crayon rubbing of the patterns, and used her little fingers to try to discern one letter from another. This copy of I Am NOT Going to Get up Today! was a library discard, and I snapped it up for $3!
It was rebound by the Children’s Braille Book Club, with a book donated by a children’s book publisher. CBBC cut the book apart at the spine, inserted plastic sheets with the Braille text, then rebound it with a plastic comb binding. This Braille/print format allows children and families to read together, whether parent or child is visually impaired.
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Children’s Braille Book Club is a division of the National Braille Press, a nonprofit Braille printer and publisher located in Boston. I was fascinated to learn about the work they do, and the products they have available. There is an online bookstore, if you know a young (or not-so-young) person who might benefit from having their own Braille/print picture book; Madeline is the current selection, at $7.99. As a nonprofit, the National Braille Press gratefully accepts additional donations to support their mission.
Interesting, isn’t it?!
How cool is that? I remember when I first learned about Braille as a kid and then wondering how anyone could read it because it all felt the same to me. I still am fascinated by it and finger the Braille writing in the elevators and the McDonalds menu and such.
It’s really great that the library carries Braille books and what a neat loot from their sale
That is fascinating! And of course, the first thing I think of is “I bet that would sell for alot of money on Ebay!”. I think it is so cool that your daughter has taken an interest in this, and bravo to you for nurturing it! You win good mom points (to make up for those you thought you lost the other day!)
How totally cool! I did read that Braille is in “trouble” because of all the speaking media now out. Your blog just looks great, by the way: so crisp and clean!
I have often run my fingers across braille signs in office buildings, and wondered how people can decipher the words, the dots all feel so small and close together. I wonder how long it takes people to learn that skill. I didn’t know it was “in trouble” and hope people are still learning it, and books being made.
I used to check Braille books out of the library to try and read them with my fingers. I love this. Thanks for sharing this.
When Vance was in elementary school he read a book about Louis Braille, so he had tons of questions about braille. Like you, the only example of braille I could find was at the ATM machine. He would have loved to have had a treasure like that book.
I love that your daughter is doing this!!! What a cool find … and an amazing daughter.
What a wonderful find and perfect timing to be able to share it with your daughter.
WOW, what a neat, unusual book! I lvoe finding things like that. And your daughter is awesome!
This is such a special find. Thanks for sharing it with all us fellow readers. That’s so cool how your 7 y.o. is so interested in the book! What a great instructional tool!
Very cool…both the book and your daughter. And the title of the book…I feel like that every morning!
Hello all!
My name is David and I have the privilege of being President of the Citywide Friends of the Boston Public Library, “The Booksale People”. I often get blogs forwarded to me such as this one relating great experiences from people attending our sales. It is gratifying to our Board and volunteers to know that our efforts are appreciated and have a real and profound effect on our neighbors and friends. Thanks so much for sharing this with your community.
By the way, our NEXT BOOK SALE IS SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6, 2010 from 10-4 at the Copley library. What will YOU find at the BPL today?
Regards,
David J. Vieira, President
Citywide Friends of the Boston Public Library
700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116
CWF Office 617.859.2341
MOBILE (24/7) 617.364.1507
CWFBPL@HOTMAIL.COM
“You don’t belong to the library-
the library belongs to YOU “.©
What a great find and great post. Definitely a treasure for your daughter to keep!
*smiles*
What a great writeup! I’m the volunteer who waited on you that day and what a pleasure.
I, like you, love the BPL. I can see how you and your daughter enjoyed the day spent there. Our library is surely a Boston treasure and we have many treasures at our CityWide Friends booksales. See you there.
What a wonderful find and so great that your daughter is interested in it.
We at National Braille Press were delighted to read about the discovery of a print/braille edition of Dr. Seuss at the BPL Booksale! If your daughter is interested in understanding how the braille code works, we have a book, Just Enough to Know Better, written for sighted kids and adults who want to learn the braille code using their eyes. What your daughter already understands is, “braille is beautiful – and it works!”
I love this! How very cool. I would love to get a Braille books for my students and teach them about it.
Kool Aid Mom – a great find, indeed!
Sandy – ebay LOL!
rhapsody – thanks for the feedback on my blog tidying
Jeane – I had a really hard time discerning the raised dots. Patience!
Serena – I wonder if our local library has any. I’ll ask the children’s librarian the next time we’re in (likely today!)
Kathy – I was so excited to find it!
Jenners, Carol, Marie, Amanda, Stacy – she IS pretty cool
I also got a hardcover of Jennifer Haigh’s BAKER TOWERS ($2!) and a coffee table book of IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE. My friend Kristine, who was with me, grabbed the IAWL, knowing I’d like it.
softdrink – I’ll have to ask LW7 to review it for me (I’m feeling that way right now … wish it were the weekend and I was still in bed!)
Diane – thanks for your note. I’ll take a look at JUST ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER; sounds like something we should add to our home library.
Rebecca – Have you looked at the NBP website? Maybe you can find a few affordable books to share with your students (like the one Diane mentions and a braille/print storybook?)
Dave – thanks so much for stopping by my blog – I love the tagline … The library belongs to YOU!
kim – ‘treasure’ is the perfect word
Ginger – thank you for your assistance that day, and for all you do for the Friends … I’ll be back!
This is really a great find! As a kid, I was totally into codes and I wanted to learn Braille as I thought it would be great as a coded language, but I never really ended up doing it. This must be a great experience for your daughter!
When I was kid (in the dark days before ATMs!) there were very few places to see Braille. Some of the newer elevators had Braille.
What a great program.
This is just such a unique and cool find for your kids! I would love to get a look at a book like this and show it to my daughter, I think it would be an incredibly relevant teaching tool for her.