Bookwitch

I’m sure you’ve all come across glossy books. But have you got much experience of emulsioned books?

I’m trying very hard to be less of an old, cranky person, and to embrace modern teaching ideas. But, it can be hard sometimes.

Tried not to wince when Daughter came home and asked for an old picture book for Art (GCSE subject). The task was to find an old book (at 15 they surely have a few useless picture books lying around?) that they could paint with emulsion paint, to make blank pages, in order to do “art” on.

Tried not to think of Crictor and the oil pastels. All our unwanted old books have gone to Oxfam. The remaining ones are here because we want them as books. There’s always the local charity shop, which unlike Oxfam, sells books very cheaply. So, it wasn’t a case of it being economically unfeasible. But to buy even a secondhand book in order to cover it with paint?

Daughter went off and returned with the worst she could find, but even that felt like a shame to paint. And now she tells me the project has failed because the paint didn’t work as it was expected to. (Turns out the teacher had never tried it before.) Now I have to find a plain notebook to send in. I’d have been happy to do that in the first place; pre picture-book-vandalisation.

Not all books are so precious that you mustn’t ruin them. But I object to it being required in a school. It also gives the wrong message to the students.