These books are made using scissors, glue and different materials. Some details must be sewn like small beads for eyes etc.
This is a kind of collage art where textures are more important than colours. Simple or simplified forms are also a strong word. And when choosing colours the contrast is more important than beauty or harmony (for the partially sighted to be able to see).

If you are making collage books for sighted children, all the details need not be tactile. You can even take a main stream picture book and glue one or two tactile things on every page.
All small children like to touch and feel things!

URSULA ON THE BEACH

Anneli Salo
Liisa Hietaketo-Vieno

Produced with a grant from
The Finnish Cultural Foundation

Helsinki & Kerava 2003
***

This book is about counting things. As we got a grant for this we made 15 copies of the book, most of them in Finnish.
One copy in English participated in the TACTUS Competition for tactile picture books and was donated to ClearVision in Great Britain afterwards.
The picture on the cover is not tactile, but all the other pictures are.

URSULA ON THE BEACH
Ursula is a little girl.
Now it is summer and
no school for a while.
Swimming school is over, too.
Ursula learned to swim there.
Now Ursula wants
to go to the beach.
“I must practise more”,
says Ursula to her mother.
Ursula likes to play with
her swimming ring, too.
* * *

You can plait and unplait Ursula's long hair.

URSULA ON THE BEACH
The sun shining and it is hot.
Only three small clouds
can be seen in the sky.
Ursula wades in the water.
Four small fishes are
swimming there.
They are afraid of Ursula
and swim swiftly away.
Small pebbles are
tickling Ursula’s feet.
***

URSULA ON THE BEACH

Then Ursula finds some
sand toys on the beach.
She makes sand cakes:
“Bake bake good cake
don’t bake bad cake.”
Ursula makes cakes
of five different shapes.
Can you tell what they are?

***
I couldn't find any sand paper with a sandy colour. Only black and yellow. On the other hand this colour is easier for the partly sighted to see.
(Mind your scissors! I have a pair of old scissors especially for cutting sandpaper.)

URSULA ON THE BEACH

After making enough
of sand cakes Ursula
admires beautiful flowers
growing near the beach.
Butterflies are flying from
one flower to another.
They are looking for food.
Ursula counts
six flowers and
seven butterflies.

URSULA ON THE BEACH

There is a kiosk on the beach.
Ursula goes there
to buy some candy.
She chooses eight round
and nine square candies.
“I could have done
with some more,”
thinks Ursula when she
has no more candy left.

URSULA ON THE BEACH

“It is time to go home.
I am still hungry,”
thinks Ursula and
starts for home.
There are some
ladybirds in the bush.
They are looking for
lice that live there.
“Ten ladybirds – it is
quite a lot,” thinks Ursula.
When she gets home she eats
her lunch with good appetite.