Make your own book

Here's some creative fun from the former Children's Laureate: discover how to produce a little book of your own, full of interesting new facts and thoughts. 

Inspired by The Onion's Great Escape by Sara Fanelli (Phaidon)

Staring into Space: resources from the former Children's Laureate

Download this resource

Make a book activity sheet

At the end of this project, you will have made a book of your own that you can carry around with you, and add to whenever you like.

Download all the Staring into Space resources

Six activity sheets to try

From making your own book to a 3D world, there's a creative idea to suit every child and classroom.

Extra ideas for the make-a-book resource

If you have time and want more inspiration, Lauren and Josey have some brilliant ideas of other things to do alongside this activity. They're all very good companions to The Onion's Great Escape by Sara Fanelli, which prompted this resource.

Read these books

Beware of the Storybook Wolves

Lauren Child
An amazing pop-up book, full of quirky ideas and ingenious mechanisms, including a book within a book, a nutty twist on a classic fairytale. 

Read our book review

My Dream Bed

Lauren Child
So many ideas for a dream bed, which will inspire you to think of your own. 'What would your dreams smell of if you slept in a flower bed like a tiny ladybird? Would you be snug as a bug curled up in a daisy, or are you frightened of creepy crawlies?'

This Book is a Planetarium

Kelli Anderson
This is so much more than a book: a loudspeaker, a spirograph, a decoder ring, a perpetual calendar and even a musical instrument!

Ponder some questions

Here some of the questions that Sara Fanelli asks in The Onion's Great Escape. Share these with your child and class and see what they come up with: they're there to stretch the imagination and help you think outside the box! They also create the story of YOU... 

  • Who are you?
  • Is something less real because we cannot touch it? 
  • What is the best / longest / shortest minute you can remember?
  • What is your earliest memory?
  • List things that make everyone you know happy

Download the questions to print out (PDF)

Staring into Space: resources from the former Children's Laureate 

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Find out more about The Onion's Great Escape

The Onion's Great Escape

Author:

A beautifully presented and innovative picture book telling the surreal story of a poor little onion who wants to escape the chopping board

Read more about The Onion's Great Escape

Staring into Space

Find out more about all six resources

From making your own book to a 3D world, there's a creative idea to suit every child and classroom.

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