Tucked away in the quiet suburbs of Grahamstown is the workshop and home of tactile book designer, Lynette Rudman. Her colleagues Margaret Mabindisa and Liyema Mabindisa are busy at the sewing machines, while Greanette Nguta steadily irons the fabrics that make up the books.
Tucked away in the quiet suburbs of Grahamstown is the workshop and home of tactile book designer, Lynette Rudman. Her colleagues Margaret Mabindisa and Liyema Mabindisa are busy at the sewing machines, while Greanette Nguta steadily irons the fabrics that make up the books.
Tactile books are made out of various materials, and used to educate blind pre-school children who are not yet able to read.
During the initial stages of reading, adult supervision is required.
Books like ‘Find it’ can be found in Rudman’s inventory; they are a series of beginner fabric books that allow children to ring bells, smell flowers, and feel different fabrics.
Additionally, caregivers can read the story to their children in print or Braille, as both large print words and raised Braille type are also in the books.
Rudman’s books are in high demand, both locally and internationally.
In South Africa, she has sold most of her books to schools for blind children, and helped the Grahamstown Library for the Blind to make similar tactile books.
The tactile books have been sold on every continent, except South America.
Schools in countries like Sweden, France, The Netherlands and Italy have requested Rudman’s books in bulk, and have translated the text into a wide range of languages.
Rudman used to run a pre-school in her suburban home where, in 2004, she enrolled a blind three-year-old girl into her school.
“[Colette] loved to page through the books in the reading corner, and pretend she was reading a story,” said Rudman. “She often asked her sighted peers to tell her what picture was on the page,” said Rudman.
This is what sparked Rudman’s interest in tactile book production; she decided to make 3D reading material for Colette by gluing raised shapes in cardboard onto books. “Doing this made the story come alive for the little girl,” said Rudman.
In 2009, Rudman took on three employees, the aforementioned Margaret, Liyema, and Greanette.
They work four hours a day, then “I work till about 8pm doing prep work for the following day,” said Rudman.
The various materials used to make the books are mainly purchased from Jackson’s fabric shop on High Street. Rudman occasionally has to go to Port Elizabeth to get anything that she cannot find in town.
“People like my books because we’re a small outfit, and therefore have more quality control; their enthusiastic feedback is a great motivating factor for us,” she said..
Rudman’s award-winning book, Spider’s Web is a great example of the interactive nature of tactile books.
There are moveable parts that children can use help Spider find his web, for example.
The book I’m hungry allows children to build a hamburger from scratch, which is always fun.
More information about tactile books can be found on tactilegraphics.co.za.
