Go to a library, bookstore, or your own book collection and look through the books. Please do not read any. Just pay attention to what catches your eye.

·         What is it that stands out to you? The colors of the book spines.

·         Why? My book collection is very colorful.

Choose a red book and open it to page 6. Close your eyes and put your finger on the page somewhere.

·         What did you find? A sentence being spoken.

·         If your finger landed on a paragraph, how many times does the letter P show up in that paragraph? 3

·         If it landed on a picture, how many straight lines are in the picture? Not on a picture.

·         If it landed on white space, what is the white space surrounding? Not on the white space.

·         Can you imagine the white space as a sea and the other parts (words, pictures, etc.) as islands floating in white water or space? The white space is like a frame around the paragraphs.

Using your other senses, explain what the paper feels like.

·         Is it slick or rough? The paper is a little rough.

·         What does the cover feel like? Smooth.

·         Can you feel the ink of the words if you close your eyes? I can feel the words a little bit.

·         Do different colors feel different with your eyes closed? Hard to tell, not many different colors on the book.

·         What else can you discover about the paper? The top of the paper feels rougher than the rest.

·         What about the cover? Can’t find anything else.

Without destroying the book, unless you own it and want to, see if you can figure out how the book was constructed.

·         Is it stitched? No

·         Is it glued? Yes

·         Is there any cloth on this book or is it all paper? No cloth.

·         Is it a hardback or paperback? Paperback.

·         Does it have signatures? (Hint: you may need to look up what signatures are in the context of making books…) I don’t think it has signatures.

·         If it has signatures, how many pages are in each and how many signatures are there in the whole book?

·         If it does not, look at the glue on the ends of the spine and describe what you see. I don’t see anything.

Flip through the pages and look at the end papers.

·         Is there any writing in the book, other than the printing? There is a message in the book.

·         If so, what does it say? It says may this book inspire me to work with animals.

·         Why is it there? I wanted to work with animals but change my mind years ago.

·         Who wrote it? My grandma.

·         If you do not know, then imagine who might have written it.

·         If there is no writing in the book then how does it make you feel to know you are the first person (possibly) to think about it?

Examine the book more.

·         Are there any stains on the book? None.

·         Are there any fingerprints? None.

·         What do they look like?

·         How might they have happened?

Look at the pages of the book.

·         What is the color of the pages? I bet they are not really white. The pages are a light yellow color.

·         How would you describe the color? Is it warm or cold? Bright or dull, etc. Warm but dull.

·         What other visual things can you explore with the book? The edge of the paper is dark than the inside.

Think about the history of this book.

·         Can you see any other evidence that someone else has handled this book? The book is in great condition. The only think is that there is a little tear in the cover.

·         What are the edges of the pages like? Describe them. Smooth but darker than the inside pages.

·         Can you imagine what someone else might have been thinking as they read this book? I’m not so sure what someone would have been thinking when reading this book.

·         Do you think anyone else has used this book like you are right now instead of reading it? I doubt anybody has used this book like this.

Flip through the pages quickly.

·         Can you hear the sound? If so, describe it. I can hear a sound. The pages make a soft sound and when the cover hits it, it makes a louder sound.

·         If not, what is your experience like?

·         Can you feel the breeze? Yes

·         Can you move something with the wind generated from the book? I can make a tea bottle wiggle.

·         Could you use this book to win a game you created using the book's wind power? I don’t think there is enough wind from the book to be significant.

Drop the book on the floor.

·         What did you experience? I hear a loud thud.

·         Did you sense the vibrations the book made? Not really.

·         Did you feel it in your feet? Nope.

·         Take your shoes off. Now drop the book. Was there any difference? No difference.

Hold the book between your hands with one hand on each cover and the book closed. Close your eyes.

·         Is the book cold? Hold it like that for at least one minute. Yes it’s cold but I can feel it warm up.

·         Now feel the cover. Can you feel the temperature change from where your hands were to where they were not? Yes my hands made it warmer in the spot where I was holding it.

·         Have you ever been aware of this before when you were holding a book to read it? Nope I never noticed.

·         If your heat transfers in this situation and you noticed it because I asked you to, why do you think you have never noticed it before? I get into the book that I read so I just don’t notice.

·         If you have noticed the temperature of a book you were holding before, describe why you noticed it.

Smell the book.

·         What does the smell make you think of? It has a smell that reminds me of new car smell and smells like that. It’s new book smell.

·         If you can't think of anything, describe the smells you can sense. (Interesting fact: Did you know that I have friends [many librarians, actually] who choose their books partly based on how they smell? Honestly.)

I do not recommend tasting the book for health and safety issues… :-)

Now, finally, read the first page. If it is just pictures, read the story of the pictures. 

·         What is the title of this book? The tittle is called ‘All creatures Great and Small’

·         Based on the first page, explain why you think the book was titled that. It sounds like the book is about a veterinarian, which makes sense.

Reflect back on this entire exercise.

·         What is your experience like with the book now that you have experienced it differently? There are thinks that I have never noticed before, like the heat transfer.

·         Do you still find books to be boring, assuming you did in the first place? I never found books to be boring. I used to read all the time.

·         What, if anything has changed for you in regards to books? I don’t read them anymore because I don’t have time and whenever I’m reading a book series that is still in the works I tend to forget about them.

Now think about this class.

·         How did I "fishbowl" this assignment? There were very specific things that were needed to be done.

·         What do you think the point is of this exercise? To look at books differently.

·         What can you take from this exercise that might help you with future projects? I could look at things that usually aren't paid attention to.