I hid myself downstairs tonight. Some might say this was due to a particularly nasty bout of “I’m a four-year-old-with-attitude,” but it was actually due to my work on a Secret Project. The secret project is something that my daughter and I do every year. Every so often, I would call her down into the depths of the basement to ask her about colors, change text, and confirm the visuals. What was I doing? I was creating her annual photo book.
The year my daughter was born, I put together a photo book of her first six months and gave it to my husband for Christmas. Every year since then, my daughter has helped me make the book for him. It’s her gift to her dad. Last year’s book was a multi-media extravaganza of paint and photos. This year’s book is a little more straightforward. She decided to tell a story and do the illustrations.
I get to do the tough part. I scan the illustrations, upload them, resize them, and wrangle them into our photo book program. Then I consult with the boss – the four-year-old – and make sure that I have the story right. Usually it goes through several iterations before it is finished. We use Photo In Press, a company that has software that is easy to download. The software has a large number of page layouts for people like me, who wouldn’t know a page layout if it walked up and introduced itself. The books are also reasonably priced. A large coffee-table sized book will cost us just over thirty dollars. The small ones are around half the price.
We’re Christmas-lovers, but we’re not huge Christmas spenders, so a homemade photo book is a perfect gift for dad. I’ve considered giving it to grandparents and teachers too. The best part is that my daughter is thrilled to see her book, to show it to her dad, and to read all of the books from all of her Christmas celebrations. The second-best part? This year, she’s learning how books are made, how to pair illustrations and words, and how to craft a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Are you looking for a gift that your preschooler can give to others? Try a photo book! What gifts have your children made for you?