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Arlene Alda and the Art of Books
By E. Mendelsohn
 Acclaimed author and photographer Arlene Alda came to speak with Class 4 today about the art of bookmaking. Ms. Alda, who has been writing childrens’ books for 25 years, read several of her works for the students and shared insights into “what it is I do when I’m at home trying to figure this thing out.” Did You Say Pears? and ABC: What Do You See?, two of the books Ms. Alda presented, featured her photography as well as her words. These books, she explained to the students, were concept books since they were structured around an idea, rather than a narrative. In addition to these beautiful works, Ms. Alda has teamed with illustrators to write narrative children’s stories such as Morning Glory Mondays and Hurry Grannie Annie.
For her concept books, Ms. Alda spends months, or sometimes even years, taking photographs until she feel that the book is done. She develops the photographs as slides and then presents them to her publisher, who manages the creation and printing of the actual book. For Did You Say Pairs?, a book that plays delightfully on homonyms and homophones, Ms. Alda also created a mock-up of her finished product by stapling the typical 32 pages together and taping her images and print onto the pages as a suggested layout. This book explores her continued fascination with the interplay between things that look alike and things that sound alike.
Ms. Alda informed the students that she writes only about what interests her “on such a deep level that I really get excited about it.” After her visit, Class 4 will have an opportunity to follow in her footsteps. Lower School Librarian Christina Kover, who arranged Ms. Alda’s visit, will teach the students how to make their own 32 page books over the next few weeks.
Similar to ABC: What Do You See?, a book that contains photographs of objects resembling the letters of the alphabet, the girls will create a framework for their own books using the ABCs. Each student will choose a theme and an audience and then make choices about the layout and content of the book to communicate their theme. One student is drawing dogs that start with every letter of the alphabet; another is hanging letters on the branches of an illustrated tree. Arlene Alda’s visit provided the students with some new ideas on how to structure and create books that will guide them as they go on to write about their own interests. |
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