EnErgEtic h.
Books are the best. They take you to faraway places, and make you feel more at home in the world. They introduce you to new things, and deepen connections with the things you love.
But not everyone has the opportunity to own new books. Over 44 percent of the nation’s children—more than 32 million kids—live in low-income households without access to age-appropriate reading material and educational resources.
We’re partnering with First Book for the 5th year in a row for our Give Books campaign, and our goal is to donate 30,000 books to children in need—and we need your help!
Learn more at givebooks.co
Philip Bradburn, a Bookbinder expert based in England, got what he called a “KleverCase lightbulb moment” when he thought of giving a twist to his son’s Christmas present in 2011: Unifying his 40-year-old bookbinding experience with the modern technology by producing a handmade gadget case in the form of hard bound book.
Their book cases fit certain sizes of kindle, phones, and ereaders. One case could either be specifically moulded plastic for popular gadgets, or a universal fit reusable grip area for other devices.
Mr. Bradburn’s workshops in the New Forest England produces a variety of British and American literature-inspired gadget cases, ranging from Sherlock Holmes to To Kill a Mockingbird.
Sherlock Holmes:
The Great Gatsby:
To Kill a Mockingbird:
His little company KleverCase is a passionate family business, which also helps people in his area back to work.
So, today, a woman came into our shop. It was a woman I’ve only heard my parents refer to as ‘the Deaf Lady’. My mum had told her about me, explained that I was doing Sign Language, and come to find me on a day she knew I was working.
But today, she didn’t need her lawnmower repaired. In fact, she hadn’t touched it since it had been, and as far as she knew everything was fine.
She’d come in to sign to me.
She waved hello, and instantly explained that my mum had told her I would be in today. I asked her how she was, and the smile that she had on her face was the biggest I’ve ever seen.
And we spent about an hour in my family’s little shop, talking about everything. She told me about her life, about how she’d lived in the same house for 60 years.
She’d been born deaf, and been a Brownie, but never a Guide, because of the War… she’s now 86.
She had some amazing stories to tell, and twice she cried. One of those times was remembering her youth, and the other was when she was explaining to me that her husband had died around 20 years ago, and how he’d been the last person she’d known that could communicate with her.
She’s been alone for 20 years, living in a silent world, unable to communicate with anyone for the most part. The most interaction she has is when she writes things down for people, but she’s struggled to make any recent friends, and her family is long gone.
Now someone explain to me what’s wrong with every school teaching a certain amount of Sign Language, and for colleges to offer it more freely and frequently. People should be encouraged to learn BSL, because otherwise we’re cutting ourselves off from talking to around 8 million people or so (in the UK alone).
That’s millions of people who are no less important than you are, who have their own stories to tell, and the same need for communication as anyone else on this tiny little planet.
J. cried today because it was the first time for a long time that anyone has asked her for her name, or listened to her stories.
She’s also coming back into work tomorrow, to sign with me, and help me practice. But also - because we’re only human - for the company.
the fact that danny fenton will never be completely human again really fucks me up
fickled ghoti [pʰɪkəld fɪʃ] n : A blog made up primarily of linguistic play.
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