A few highlights of how the book “Cayendo Hacia Arriba” was made.
Here is my new book on the floor of the print shop waiting to be bound. It’s the Spanish edition of the kids’ book, “Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life.” I needed to hover over the guys at the print shop because it just wasn’t getting done on schedule. Aah! And the books need to be on an airplane to Argentina the next day! But luckily, it made a fun trip for me. I got to take some photos and videos. And, I loved watching the book come together. There was a team of people working on it. One lady had the job to make sure none of the pages were upside down.
Would you believe they printed enough for 250 extra books just in case there is a mistake in the binding?
At the beginning of the video below, you can see the book at the printer as it is coming off the printing press.
Entrega de Libros Cayendo hacia Arriba en Argentina
My favorite video of the books being delivered to the kids
Español: La Embajadora de los Estados Unidos, Vilma S. Martínez participó de una actividad junto a alumnos de una escuela en Fuerte Apache con el objetivo de promover el desarrollo personal y profesional de chicos que viven en contextos vulnerables. Con motivo de la entrega del libro de Scott Stoll, “Cayendo Hacia Arriba,” el cual cuenta con ilustraciones de chicos de Buenos Aires, Chaco y Corrientes, la Embajadora visitó la Escuela No 3, Arturo Marasso, en Fuerte Apache, Partido de Tres de Febrero. Los alumnos de la Escuela No 26, Dardo Rocha y de la Escuela 13, Armada Argentina también participaron del evento.
English: The United States Ambassador, Vilma S. Martínez, participated in an activity with students from a school in Fuerte Apache with the objective of promoting the personal and professional development of children who live in vulnerable contexts. On the occasion of the presentation of Scott Stoll’s book, “Falling Up,” which has illustrations by children from Buenos Aires, Chaco and Corrientes, the Ambassador visited School No. 3, Arturo Marasso, in Fuerte Apache, Tres de Febrero District. Students from School No. 26, Dardo Rocha and School 13, Argentine Navy, also participated in the event.
The back cover
The back cover uses the photograph from the original English edition of “Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life.” We wanted to recreate this image in Argentina, but since we went to 14 schools and an orphanage, we couldn’t get enough people in one spot. The above picture has over 500 people in it.
Here is the full story of how the school photograph in the shape of a bicycle was made.
And here is a step-by-step guide to how the books are made.
How the book was illustrated
Each school worked differently. Below, the students worked in groups on the floor. We brought our own pencils, erasers, markers and paper because some of the schools we attended were very poor. I actually brought a whole box of supplies with me from the United States. Looking back, I wish I had brought even more.
I liked how the teachers, the “maestros”, and the students wore white coats, like scientists. I’m taking this photograph. I hardly took any photographs because I was asked to work with the students, which is, of course, why I was there.
The above photograph is one of my favorites. I selected this to be in the book. It is one of the pages that shows the cultural differences between the English and Spanish versions of the book. You can see it is an image of a football (soccer) player and a tango dancer, two icons of Argentine culture.
Retouching the drawings
The kids all draw on a piece of regular letterhead. So, to get the illustrations to fit in the book, I have to change the aspect ratio from the original 8.5 x 11″ piece of paper to the 6 x 9″ final trim size of the book.
For some illustrations, I have to deconstruct the image and artfully reconstruct it into the proper shape. If I hadn’t done that either, I would have had to reduce the image, which would have made some of the detail disappear, or I would have had to crop off one or two kids.
Those were just a few highlights
See more highlights here: a step-by-step guide to how the books are made.
Or, visit the main page: Make-a-Book Project.
