Printmaking
Printmaking techniques have been used in book illustration for centuries and are used by many modern illustrators. Young children could create designs for their book responses or book endpapers by printing repeated images. A plate can be made from a cut potato, an image incised on a foam tray, or some other printing medium. A reliable plate that will withstand repeated use can be made from pieces of bicycle tire inner tubes. Cement rubber shapes to a wood block using rubber cement, and print as with any other block. This technique takes some careful planning, but such plates can be used to print endpapers for any number of books.
       While woodcuts and linoleum block prints are seldom practical or safe for younger elementary children, similar effects can be achieved with printing plates made from the plastic foam trays that grocery stores use to package meat or produce. The trays should be washed to remove all grease. Lines can be incised on the plate with dull pencils or ballpoint pens, and excess foam cut away. Then water-based printing ink is rolled on. It takes time to create these pictures, but children find it very satisfying to work in the same media as an illustrator. In another type of printing process, the printing plate is built up by gluing pieces of cardboard, string, and other materials to a heavy backing. Ink is worked into or rolled onto the plate, and a print is taken or "pulled" off the plate. Often art teachers are happy to be enlisted by the classroom teacher in helping children explore a particular technique such as printmaking.
       A stencil print allows children to apply paint or chalk in ways that resemble art techniques used by many illustrators. Artists like Leo and Diane Dillon often use an art tool called an airbrush to achieve smooth applications of color and clean edges. To make a stencil, a figure is cut from a piece of heavy paper, leaving the figure (the "positive" stencil) and the figure's shape (the "negative" stencil). The stencil is placed on a sheet of paper, and paint can be applied by flicking a brush over a wire screen or simply stippling the tip of the brush on the paper. For a "finger airbrush" technique the edges of either the negative or the positive stencil are heavily chalked and the figure or shape is laid on a clean piece of paper. By holding the chalked paper stationary and gently brushing the chalk dust off onto the clean paper, an image shape or its outline is formed. Using different colors of chalk creates surprising shadows and shadings.

Bookmaking
Nothing motivates children to write as much as the opportunity to create, bind, and illustrate a book of their own. Teachers need to learn how to bind books themselves before attempting to teach children. Materials for bookbinding should be made constantly available so that children can make books as the need arises. Most bookmaking materials can be readily purchased, but parents may contribute leftover fabric pieces for book covers to ease classroom budgets.
       There are many simple ways to create handmade books in which to "publish" children's writing. However, since bookbinding involves time and some expense, it should be reserved for the publication of carefully planned, written, and illustrated books. Children should look at the way beautiful books are made, the various media used, the carefully designed endpapers or title pages, the placement of the words, and so forth, before they complete their own work. For endpapers, children can use marbleized paper or colored construction paper that reflects the mood of their story. They can take as models books with patterned and decorated endpapers, such as Taro Yashima's endpapers for Crow Boy, which depict a butterfly and a blossom, symbols of the main character's growth; or Kathy Jakobsen's endpaper paintings for Reeve Lindbergh's poem of Johnny Appleseed, which depict a map of the region where John Chapman wandered. Many children enjoy planning dedications and jacket copy for their books as well. As children create their own books, they learn much about the care and design that have gone into the books they read.
       Before binding a book, children can be encouraged to sketch a "dummy" or practice book. The illustrations are roughed out and lines are drawn where text will be written or typed. In Her Book by Janet Wolf, the book's dummy is incorporated into the final product as endpapers, and children may wish to compare Wolf's dummy with the more detailed final illustrations as they work on their own books. Aliki's How a Book Is Made, Michael Kehoe's A Book Takes Root, and Janet Stevens's From Pictures to Words give children an excellent overview of the creation and publication of a children's book. How to Make Pop-Ups by Joan Irvine suggests ways children can incorporate three-dimensional artwork into their books. Look at My Book by Loreen Leedy guides children to consider the many choices they have when writing and illustrating a book.

Aliki [Aliki Brandenberg]. How a Book Is Made. Crowell, 1986.
Irvine, Joan. How to Make Pop-Ups. Illustrated by Barbara Reid. Morrow, 1987.
Kehoe, Michael. A Book Takes Root: The Making of a Picture Book. Carolrhoda, 1993.
Leedy, Loreen. Look at My Book. Holiday House, 2004.
Lindbergh, Reeve. Johnny Appleseed. Illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen. Little, Brown, 1990.
Stevens, Janet. From Pictures to Words: A Book About Making a Book. Holiday House, 1995.
Wolf, Janet. Her Book. Harper & Row, 1982.
Yashima, Taro. Crow Boy. Viking, 1955.

On-Line Publishing
The presence of computers and the Internet in school classrooms and libraries has provided a new forum for publishing children's writing. There are many websites that offer web space for the publication of text and illustrations. Some of these sites even include bulletin boards that allow site visitors to post feedback to young writers. When reviewing these sites, it is always important to note the ways that the site designers have made efforts to protect children's privacy. Sites should never include children's last names or school names. Be sure to review your school's Internet-use policy to determine your district guidelines for parental permission related to student publishing on the Internet. Some sites post a "children's privacy policy" on their website.