Ruby in Her Own Time

tactile duckling
Chasity Griffin, a wonderful VI Assistant, created this tactile book.  Her tactile images are beautiful!  She uses “layering” meaning that some pictures have multiple layers of textures.  Example:  The eggs have a “squishy” material (sponge-type texture) under the top texture.  The eggs that are waiting to be hatched not only have the squishy material but there is a hard material in the basic shape of a duck under the squishy material!  On the pictures that show flying ducks, the wings actually move to show how the wings flap.  (The page has a slit.  The wing slides through the slit and is taped on the backside.)  FYI:  The moveable wings will eventually tear and have to be replaced, as they are more fragile than the rest of the tactile pictures.) However, this really teaches the concept of how wings flap!   The young ducks have feathers.  The orange ducks (like the first picture) is made from material that I bought in a fabric store - it feels realistic and is the same material as the physical toy duck that I included in my kit.
 
When creating the ducks with feathers, draw the duck shape on the double sided adhesive page.  Peel off the backing on one side and attach feathers to the sticky side.  Then, cut out the duck shape (cutting through both the feathers and the sticky material).  Peel off the second side of backing and stick the feathered duck shape to the page in the book.
 
FYI:  Most of the duck shapes used in the tactile book were traced from the actual print book.  Sometimes I use the copy machine to enlarge or shrink a picture so that it will work for the tactile picture.
 

Listen to the story of "Ruby in Her Own Time" here:

 
ruby in her own time cover
Ruby in Her Own Time
by Jonathan Emmett & Rebecca Harry
tactile lake
Once upon a time, upon a nest,
beside a lake, there lived two ducks.
a tactile mother duck and father duck
a mother duck and a father duck.
a tactile mother duck and father duck
There were five eggs in the nest. Mother Duck sat upon the nest all day and all night...
tactile eggs with rain
through howling wind... and driving rain. looking after the eggs all five of them.
tactile eggs in the sunlight
Then, one bright morning. The eggs began to hatch. One two three four little beaks poked out. Into the sunlight.
tactile ducklings
Little ducklings shook their feathers in the breeze. 'We'll call them Rufus, Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca" said Father Duck and Mother Duck agreed.
tactile egg
But the fifth egg did nothing.
tactile mother and father ducks
"'Will it EVER hatch?" said Father Duck.  "It will," said Mother Duck "in its own time."
tactile broken egg shell
And - sure enough - it did.
tactile ruby duck
"'She's very small' said Father Duck. 'What shall we call her?' 'We'll call her Ruby" said Mother Duck "because she's small and precious.'"
tactile worms and butterflies
They ate whatever they were given. They ate anything and everything.
tactile mother duck and father duck
"Will she ever eat?" said Father Duck "She will," said Mother Duck "in her own time."
tactile ruby duck
And - sure enough - she did.
tactile mother and father ducksRoofus, Rory, Rose and Rebecca swam off whenever they were able. They swam anywhere and everywhere. But Ruby swam nowhere. "Will she ever swim?" said Father Duck. "She will," said Mother Duck, '"n her own time."
5 tactile ducks
And - sure enough - she did. Roofus, Rory, Rose, and Rebecca grew bigger.
4 tactile ducks
And Ruby grew bigger too. Her feathers grew out and her wings grew broad and beautiful. And when Roofus, Rory, Rosie and Rebecca began to fly...
tactile ruby flying
Ruby flew too!
tactile tree
Roofus, Rory, Rosie and Rebecca flew far and wide. They flew out across the water. They flew up among the trees.
tactile tree and feather
But Ruby flew farther and wider. She flew out beyond the water. She flew up above the trees. She flew anywhere and everywhere.
tactile bird stretched out
She stretched out her beautiful wings... and soared high among the clouds.
tactile mother and father ducks
Mother Duck and Father Duck watched Ruby flying off into the distance. "Will she ever come back?" said Mother Duck. "She will," said Father Duck, "in her own time."
tactile water with ducks
And - sure enough - SHE DID.
 

 

Enjoy the related activity: Circle Time Braille Kit: Ruby in Her Own Time

ruby in her own time