Printable Storybook (#1)

Two of my grandchildren do not live in the same town as I do. We communicate often, using FaceTime. As we share time together, I frequently tell stories. I searched the internet for some simple, easy-to-print little books, and found none.

So I made my own, and I am now sharing my little books with others.

I hope you enjoy this first book. If you like it, add a comment!

Step 1: Plan

Write a story.

Divide the story into fourteen pages, including pictures.

Page one is always the cover.

Page two is usually blank.

Page three is the actual start of the story.

Pages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15 are "spreads" so if words and pictures go together, plan accordingly.

Step 2: Sample Planning for the Attached File:

For the attached PDF example, here is the plan:

Page One: Title: The First M-bot Story

Page Two: blank

Page Three: One day, M-bot decided to dig a hole. It would be a BIG hole. It would be a DEEP hole. So M-bot looked for a shovel. (Small picture of M-bot and shovel)

Pages Four and Five: Along came R-bot. "What are you doing?" asked R-bot. "I am going outside to dig a hole," answered M-bot. "I will come with you," announced R-bot. (picture of M-bot on the left, with shovel. R-bot on the right)

Pages Six and Seven: M-bot went into the back yard. He started to dig. At first, the digging was easy. When M-bot stepped in the hole, R-bot could not see M-bot's feet. (picture of M-bot with feet in hole)

Pages Eight and Nine: M-bot kept digging. Now, when M-bot stepped into the hole, it came up to his buttons. (M-bot in hole, up to the robot equivalent of a chest) R-bot clapped and said, "M-bot, your hole is getting very deep!" M-bot answered, "But it is not deep enough!"

Pages Ten and Eleven: M-bot kept on digging. He was getting very dirty. He was getting very tired. He climbed out of the hole and sat down to rest. M-bot was so tired that he fell asleep. (picture of M-bot, sleeping, on page ten.) While M-bot was sleeping, he had a dream. In the dream, M-bot dug a very very deep hole. It went down, down, down. Then it went sideways. (picture of hole)

Pages Twelve and Thirteen: In the dream, M-bot's hole went very, very far. At the very end of the hole, there were two shiny rocks. M-bot put the shiny rocks in his compartment. Then M-bot climbed out of the hole. Pages

Fourteen and Fifteen: When M-bot woke up, he saw that R-bot was sitting beside him. He told R-bot all about his dream. R-bot said, "Let's look in your hole. Maybe PART of the dream will come true!" So M-bot and R-bot looked down into M-bot's tiny hole. SURPRISE! There were two shiny rocks in the hole, just like the rocks in M-bot's dream.

Page Sixteen: M-bot and R-bot each put a shiny rock in their compartments. They were happy for the rest of the day. THE END

Step 3: Do the Layout

I am fortunate enough to have Adobe InDesign, so I use a sixteen-page template over and over again.

If you are making books on your own, the diagram above may help you plan the pages.

Step 4: Print, Cut, Fold.

Step 5: Sew.

It takes two minutes to sew the pages together. This is MUCH safer than stapling!

Step 6: Mail!

Step 7: ENJOY!

If you like this story (and this method of sharing PDF's) please add a comment below.