Photo Board Books

The Wednesday after the Tuesday that the shelter-in-place order went into effect we were supposed to get on a plane and fly to Kauai. Needless to say that didn’t happen. It left our hearts hurting a little, we had been there two years before and left swearing to return as soon as possible. Asher had fallen in love with the island, only eighteen months old and refusing to take off his sunglasses and swimsuit.

So, as we started to adjust to the idea of staying at home, I started to think about how I could help him and Grayson remember this special time in our lives without being able to go back. I came up with this: make a photo board book!

It arrived and we started to read it together regularly. They picked it for story time and I would find them reading it around the house. While we read it Asher would say, “I miss those beaches mommy.” It felt like a way to connect to a part of who we were before this all started and who we will be again when it is all over.

One way photos can help keep us sane during these crazy times is by reminding us where we have been. If there is a special place, or trip, or maybe a special group of people, that you and your family are missing consider creating a board book to bring that part of your family into your everyday. Board books are great because they can be handled by big and little hands. They also are very sweet to house on a bookshelf. I might just end up with a little set of these to catalogue our family adventures.

You can order these books from several online photo companies including Pinhole Press and Artifact Uprising. If you are crafty, A Beautiful Mess has a great tutorial here.