Archive for Children
An Icon of America – Radio Flyer Wagons
Posted by: | CommentsFor many years, Radio Flyer wagons have not only been popular, but they have also become one of the icons in America. Many kids have had one of these wagons while they were children and it has become an important part of many childhoods. Of course today there are more features to enjoy with these wagons, but they still provide all the fun for kids today that they did decades ago.
Over the years Radio Flyer wagons have changed a bit, and the company has kept up with times that are changing, providing toys that are more versatile than ever. What hasn’t changed though is the safety and durability of these great toys. They are just as safe and durable as the first wagons were many years in the past. Of course now there are a variety of different designs available, and many accessories can be purchased along with these wagons as well.
Radio Flyer wagons are all made with safety in mind. Those made of metal have special rolled edges that keep there from being any edges that may be sharp and harmful to kids. Some of the wagons have nice back rests as well for comfort if the kids are going to be in them for awhile. The ball joints in the wagons today have features that make them “no pinch.” This means kids won’t be able to pinch their fingers in the ball joint, which is definitely an important safety measure.
Another great safety features of Radio Flyer wagons is that they are designed so they are very difficult to tip over. This way the wagon won’t tip over and hurt children. They are made to turn in a way that the wagon will stay upright and it will deal with bumps well and even loads that are very heavy. Because of these features, not only are they great for kids, but they are great for hauling things around too.
It is easy to see why Radio Flyer wagons have become such an icon of American within the past decades. They are wonderful toys for great adventures and fun, and yet they are safe and practical as well. Any parent can feel good about giving their child this type of a toy.
Children Care
Posted by: | CommentsIt should be as like the breast-milk as possible. This is obtained by a mixture of cow’s milk, water, and sugar, in the following proportions.
Fresh cow’s milk, two thirds; Boiling water, or thin barley water, one third; Loaf sugar, a sufficient quantity to sweeten.
This is the best diet that can be used for the first six months, after which some farinaceous food may be combined.
In early infancy, mothers are too much in the habit of giving thick gruel, panada, biscuit-powder, and such matters, thinking that a diet of a lighter kind will not nourish. This is a mistake; for these preparations are much too solid; they overload the stomach, and cause indigestion, flatulence, and griping. These create a necessity for purgative medicines and carminatives, which again weaken digestion, and, by unnatural irritation, perpetuate the evils which render them necessary. Thus many infants are kept in a continual round of repletion, indigestion, and purging, with the administration of cordials and narcotics, who, if their diet were in quantity and quality suited to their digestive powers, would need no aid from physic or physicians.
In preparing this diet, it is highly important to obtain pure milk, not previously skimmed, or mixed with water; and in warm weather just taken from the cow. It should not be mixed with the water or sugar until wanted, and not more made than will be taken by the child at the time, for it must be prepared fresh at every meal. It is best not to heat the milk over the fire, but let the water be in a boiling state when mixed with it, and thus given to the infant tepid or lukewarm.
As the infant advances in age, the proportion of milk may be gradually increased; this is necessary after the second month, when three parts of milk to one of water may be allowed. But there must be no change in the kind of diet if the health of the child is good, and its appearance perceptibly improving. Nothing is more absurd than the notion, that in early life children require a variety of food; only one kind of food is prepared by nature, and it is impossible to transgress this law without marked injury.
There are two ways by the spoon, and by the nursing-bottle. The first ought never to be employed at this period, inasmuch as the power of digestion in infants is very weak, and their food is designed by nature to be taken very slowly into the stomach, being procured from the breast by the act of sucking, in which act a great quantity of saliva is secreted, and being poured into the mouth, mixes with the milk, and is swallowed with it. This process of nature, then, should be emulated as far as possible; and food (for this purpose) should be imbibed by suction from a nursing-bottle: it is thus obtained slowly, and the suction employed secures the mixture of a due quantity of saliva, which has a highly important influence on digestion. Whatever kind of bottle or teat is used, however, it must never be forgotten that cleanliness is absolutely essential to the success of this plan of rearing children.
Te quantity of food to be given at each meal ust be regulated by the age of the child, and its digestive power. A little experience will soon enable a careful and observing mother to determine this point. As the child grows older the quantity of course must be increased.
The chief error in rearing the young is overfeeding; and a most serious one it is; but which may be easily avoided by the parent pursuing a systematic plan with regard to the hours of feeding, and then only yielding to the indications of appetite, and administering the food slowly, in small quantities at a time. This is the only way effectually to prevent indigestion, and bowel complaints, and the irritable condition of the nervous system, so common in infancy, and secure to the infant healthy nutrition, and consequent strength of constitution. As has been well observed, “Nature never intended the infant’s stomach to be converted into a receptacle for laxatives, carminatives, antacids, stimulants, and astringents; and when these become necessary, we may rest assured that there is something faulty in our management, however perfect it may seem to ourselves.”
The frequency of giving food must be determined, as a general rule, by allowing such an interval between each meal as will insure the digestion of the previous quantity; and this may be fixed at about every three or four hours. If this rule be departed from, and the child receives a fresh supply of food every hour or so, time will not be given for the digestion of the previous quantity, and as a consequence of this process being interrupted, the food passing on into the bowel undigested, will there ferment and become sour, will inevitably produce cholic and purging, and in no way contribute to the nourishment of the child.
The posture of the child when fed:- It is important to attend to this. It must not receive its meals lying; the head should be raised on the nurse’s arm, the most natural position, and one in which there will be no danger of the food going the wrong way, as it is called. After each meal the little one should be put into its cot, or repose on its mother’s knee, for at least half an hour. This is essential for the process of digestion, as exercise is important at other times for the promotion of health.
As soon as the child has got any teeth, and about this period one or two will make their appearance, solid farinaceous matter boiled in water, beaten through a sieve, and mixed with a small quantity of milk, may be employed. Or tops and bottoms, steeped in hot water, with the addition of fresh milk and loaf sugar to sweeten. And the child may now, for the first time, be fed with a spoon.
When one or two of the large grinding teeth have appeared, the same food may be continued, but need not be passed through a sieve. Beef tea and chicken broth may occasionally be added; and, as an introduction to the use of a more completely animal diet, a portion, now and then, of a soft boiled egg; by and by a small bread pudding, made with one egg in it, may be taken as the dinner meal.
Nothing is more common than for parents during this period to give their children animal food. This is a great error. “To feed an infant with animal food before it has teeth proper for masticating it, shows a total disregard to the plain indications of nature, in withholding such teeth till the system requires their assistance to masticate solid food. And the method of grating and pounding meat, as a substitute for chewing, may be well suited to the toothless octogenarian, whose stomach is capable of digesting it; but the stomach of a young child is not adapted to the digestion of such food, and will be disordered by it.
It cannot reasonably be maintained that a child’s mouth without teeth, and that of an adult, furnished with the teeth of carnivorous and graminivorous animals, are designed by the Creator for the same sort of food. If the mastication of solid food, whether animal or vegetable, and a due admixture of saliva, be necessary for digestion, then solid food cannot be proper, when there is no power of mastication. If it is swallowed in large masses it cannot be masticated at all, and will have but a small chance of being digested; and in an undigested state it will prove injurious to the stomach and to the other organs concerned in digestion, by forming unnatural compounds. The practice of giving solid food to a toothless child, is not less absurd, than to expect corn to be ground where there is no apparatus for grinding it. That which would be considered as an evidence of idiotism or insanity in the last instance, is defended and practised in the former. If, on the other hand, to obviate this evil, the solid matter, whether animal or vegetable, be previously broken into small masses, the infant will instantly swallow it, but it will be unmixed with saliva. Yet in every day’s observation it will be seen, that children are so fed in their most tender age; and it is not wonderful that present evils are by this means produced, and the foundation laid for future disease.”
The diet pointed out, then, is to be continued until the second year. Great care, however, is necessary in its management; for this period of infancy is ushered in by the process of teething, which is commonly connected with more or less of disorder of the system. Any error, therefore, in diet or regimen is now to be most carefully avoided. ‘Tis true that the infant, who is of a sound and healthy constitution, in whom, therefore, the powers of life are energetic, and who up to this time has been nursed upon the breast of its parent, and now commences an artificial diet for the first time, disorder is scarcely perceptible, unless from the operation of very efficient causes. Not so, however, with the child who from the first hour of its birth has been nourished upon artificial food. Teething under such circumstances is always attended with more or less of disturbance of the frame, and disease of the most dangerous character but too frequently ensues. It is at this age, too, that all infectious and eruptive fevers are most prevalent; worms often begin to form, and diarrhoea, thrush, rickets, cutaneous eruptions, etc. manifest themselves, and the foundation of strumous disease is originated or developed. A judicious management of diet will prevent some of these complaints, and mitigate the violence of others when they occur.
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What Is Children Custody?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat do you know about children custody? Child custody is a legal term which is used to identify the practical and legal relationship between the parents and their child, such as the right of the parent to take decisions for thekid. This also includes the parent’sresponsibility to care for thechildren. The concepts of “custody” and “access” have been replaced by terms such as “residence” and “contact” (or “visitation” in the United States) after the ratification of the United Nations Convention regarding the Rights of the Child in most countries. This means that instead of a parent having “custody of” or “access” to a child, the child is now said to “reside” or have “contact” with a parent.
One of the mostcomplicated aspects of getting divorced is dealing with child custody and visitation if one parent wants sole legal custody of thekid. Legal custody of the child means having the right and theduty to take resolutions about the child’s upbringing. For example, a parent with legal custody can takeresolutions about religion, schooling, or medical care. Parental divorce means a restructuring of parental rights andobligations in relation to children. If the parents can agree to a restructuring arrangement (which they do in the overwhelming proportion of 90% of divorce custody cases) there is noconflict for the court to decide. If the parents are unable toachieve such an agreement (approximately 10% of the cases), the court must help todecide the relative allocation of decision making authority and physical contact each parent will have with the child. In order to determine the restructuring of rights and responsibilities, the courts typically apply a “best interest of the child” standard. The court onlybecome involve when arguments arise between the two parents.
Arguments
The most acrimoniousconflicts are generated by family law proceedings, which involve issues of residence and contact. Cooperating when it comes to sharing your child is the best way to resolve theconflict, and many parents cooperate, but not all. For those parents that engage in litigation, there seem to be few limits. The court filings quickly fill with mutual accusations by one parent against the other. These accusations include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Some of the other used accusations are a brain-washing, parental alienation syndrome, sabotage, and manipulation. Because these infrequent super-heated custody battles make the news, sometimes the public’s perceptions as to the adequacy of the court’s response and the prevalence of suchconflicts are distorted.
Which parent gains the edge in a custody dispute? Most often, the parent that gains the edge is the parent who can show that a decision in their favor is in the interest of the child. However, the definition of “best interest” can bedouble-edged, and is often based on arbitrary factors. Nowadays, attorneys and their clients are seeking sound and quantifiable data, which will define areas that will help the courts determine the best interest of the child. The most important area is the home.
The second most important area is school quality. By ensuring both these two areas a parent can win the child custody rights. Decisions regarding child custody and other parenting arrangements occur within several different legal contexts. These decisions include parental divorce, guardianship, neglect or abuse proceedings, and termination of parental rights. Because of these possible decisions, the parents should agree on a restructuring arrangement, without any court intervention and without any stress for the child involved in the dispute.
The laws
Forum shopping to gain advantage occurs both between nations and where laws and practices differ between areas within a nation. One of the conventions that seek to avoid this is the Hague Convention. In the United States of America, a new act, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, was adopted by all 50 states. According to this act, family law courts were forced to defer jurisdiction to the home state.
Today, courts and legal professionals are beginning to use the term parenting schedule instead of custody and visitation because this new terminology eliminates the distinction between custodial and noncustodial parents. It also attempts to meet the developmental needs of the children by crafting schedules that are built on the so-called best interests of the children. As an example, younger children need shorter, more frequent time with parents, whereas older children and teenagers may demand fewer frequent shifts, but longer blocks of time with each parent.
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Hello Kitty Goodies For Children, Adults, And Everybody
Posted by: | CommentsWe know that there are a lot of animated cartoon characters. Even we never count them. There are so many cartoon figure so that it will time consuming to count them. Of course, we know some sketch figure , especially those which are hot or hot enough. We could watch them on the television, etc. We, of course, see them on walls, on clothes, on bags, on books, on wallets, etc. We may see them in a lot of places. They may be very near to us. Even some of us have fallen in like with them. Hello Kitty, for example, is one of hot animated cartoon characters. It seems that Hello Kitty lovers are both female children and female adults. Persons in any age, of course, may love Hello Kitty.
We believe that most of us have seen Hello Kitty Layout. We would like to call Hello Kitty She. Yes, Hello Kitty is female. She usually wears pink clothes and a pink ribbon. Yes, we think that she love pink. Sometimes, we could see her wearing blue clothes and a blue ribbon. She is really nice in colorful clothesand either a ribbon or a flower on her head – on her ear – just beautifies her. She is so cunning. Of course, we know who (what) is she actually. She is a kitten. Actually it may already be shown by her last name Kitty. We may find Hello Kitty on many things. We can see her cunning face, for example, on posters, wallpapers and stickers. We could see her on book covers, gift wrap, etc. Of course, we may see her on the screen. We, of course may apply Hello Kittiesas a screen saver or wallpaper. Besides, we could find other Hello Kitty Electronics. Hello Kitties is not only on paper, but also on other materials. Hello Kitties can greet us from pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, pencil cases, and so on. She is happy to support us or our children to study. It is common to see Hello Kitties on bags, wallets, T-shirts, towels, handkerchiefs, socks, bands, shoes, sandals, and so on. Still we may find her on feeding sets, eating sets, lunch boxes, bed covers, cup boards, tables, etc. Of course, Hello Kitty can be very valuable. She may be pendants, earrings, rings, bracelets, and other pieces of jewelry. Furthermore, we can meet Hello Kitties with our cosmetics.
We should not forget the lovely doll Hello Kitty. We think that her doll form is the most hot form. Of course, we may mention other examples where we may see Hello Kitty. However, it will be too long. From the examples, we can see that Hello Kitty can be close to either children or adults. Besides, the examples can show how hot, how close and how important Hello Kitty is for us. The fact that there are so many examples related to Hello Kitty does not mean that Hello Kitty is cheap. We do not think that jewelry is cheap, for instance. It can be ironic that we could be with Hello Kitty as often as we want.
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Children’s Halloween Costumes
Posted by: | CommentsMaking Halloween costumes for children at home can be enjoyable, but is not always the most practical choice. This is especially true if the children will not be helping you in the process. Since many costumes are available at reasonable prices in stores, buying a costume for your child may end up saving you a considerable amount both time and money.
In order to keep expenses down on homemade children’s costumes, use old clothes you find at home or in thrift stores as the basis for the outfits. If you do this, the majority of the work on the costume will be related to the accessories, which are more fun to design and make anyway.
Think about one simple example of a child’s costume: a scarecrow. More than likely, you can find an old pair of slightly ripped jeans, an old shirt, and a big straw hat that can serve as the key parts of the outfit. Then, add pieces of straw to the cuffs of the pants and the shirt, as well as to the bottom of the hat.
The details could include a bird sitting on the scarecrow’s hat and some creative face painting. The idea is to create a unique and interesting look.
A basic pirate costume could be made from little more than an old shirt and cut down old jeans, with a bandana around the head. Your main effort would go into setting up the accessories such as a broad belt and sword, an eye patch, face painting and artificial tattoos.
A simple witch costume starts with nothing more than a long sleeved turtle neck and a pair of stretchy pants. Just add a long black cape, a tall pointy hat, and whatever other details you want.
Other old clothes can be made into animal costumes depending on the colors you use. Complete the look with mittens, ears, a tail, and the right face paint. If you prefer, you could find some accessories for animal costumes in a costume shop, such as masks, tails, noses, and ears.
If your child decides to dress up as a tiger this Halloween, then all you really need to get started is some orange clothing and black fabric paint to make stripes with. Lots of kids love Winnie the Pooh. Making this costume requires little more than a yellow outfit filled with some stuffing.
1st Year Birthday Parties
Posted by: | CommentsIf you were invited to a 1st year birthday party and you are trying to figure out what to buy, you should consider toddler boy clothes. Clothes are something you really can never have too much of and toys might not be the practical thing either.
When you go to a first year birthday party there are usually so many toddler boy gifts including toys. No one ever really considers buying toddler boy clothes. It is important to remember that toddlers are still in diapers and going through quite a few at age one. Plus, they are still on formula and have many other expenses. Babies are expensive. Clothing is expensive. Moms love to dress their babies in cool outfits but they don’t often have much money due to the other expenses.
When you buy gifts for a baby’s 1st year birthday you are really buying for mom. This is your chance to help out mom with some of the expenses. When you consider gifts for boys it is best to think about things you can help her for the baby.
These things include shoes, clothes, more diapers, and more. You might even consider a toddler bed if the baby is almost ready to transition out of the crib and more. Practical gifts are the most important.
A one year old is going to play with the wrapping paper more than he will the toddler boy gifts themselves. Babies are intrigued by the different colors in the wrapping papers. The cake is fun and the party with all of the attention is a great day. The birthday will be fantastic no matter what. However, the best thing you can do is help mom out with something practical.
First year birthday parties are a lot of fun when you have to buy toddler boy gifts. You should consider toddler boy clothes to help out mom. This is because the expenses of a baby can be outrageous and it will be more appreciated if you can help with practical items. When you buy gifts for boys that are toys at the age of one, the baby won’t even know what it is.
Child Neglect – Not Giving Kids a Financial Education
Posted by: | CommentsWhen it comes to success and money, children are more likely to follow the path of their parents than they are to go a different course. Children of poor parents will likely remain poor, middle class will stay in a similar income bracket, and rich kids will often raise little rich kids of their own.
Though these trends generally hold true, it?s become more likely in recent years that children will often end up in a worse financial position than their parents were in. This is due not so much to lesser incomes, but simply as a result of increased appending, of which credit cards are certainly to blame.
Teaching children the importance of money at an early age and not to take it for granted can instill good traits in them that will carry on into their adult life. Not doing so may pass on the notion that money in unimportant, or that money matters are overly complicated and to be feared, which could leave them with those same feelings through the rest of their live. These are just some of the ways you can teach them the value of money.
Give Children an Allowance
An allowance is the best way to give them a first-hand taste of money, and the responsibility and potential that goes along with it. There are different allowance types, and each one can have different effects.
These two main types are the gift and reward systems, and both are used at about equal rates in households that give allowances. Both systems work on a system of having regular and routine payments of the allowance, usually weekly or monthly. This lets the child develop methods to make the money stretch between the allowance periods, knowing that no more money will be forthcoming until the next scheduled date, much like the later paychecks they’ll be receiving.
The gift system is basically an allowance that is paid regardless of any other factors, like the reward system. The reward system on the other hand will often pay out for the child successful completing chores, doing their homework, getting good grades, eating their vegetables, maintaining good hygiene, etc. The reward system certainly has its advantages when it comes to giving children a sense of pride and appreciation for their money, but it may not be suitable for younger children. You may still wish to reward them for good deeds, but this can be done on top of the regular allowance, as opposed to it being a requirement for the entire allowance.
Beyond the allowance, you may want to give your child a more in-depth look at how your personal finances work, and slowly let them in on some of the deeper aspects of financing and the importance of investing and saving. You may wish to learn a little more about investing yourself before going too in-depth on the subject, to make sure your own knowledge is up to snuff. Sharing your own financial successes and failures makes the financial process tangible and relatable to your child, completely different from the black and white numbers they’ll go through in math class and the reality of the findings in credit check.
A good combination of a solid allowance system and some personal guidance and tales should set your child on a good path to financial responsibility. It won?t be an easy road, as there are many siren songs of temptation out there, but you?ll have done your part to shut their ears to such raucous melodies.
Shopping for Baby Showers
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are going to a baby shower and you are looking for baby boy gifts there are many things you might think about buying. You can buy some really cool baby boy clothes or even accessories for the baby. You should be sure to get mom something unique.
Baby showers can be boring if everyone is buying mom the same gifts for boys. You usually see an overwhelming stack of blankets and onesies. You should buy something fun and unique for the baby that will be absolutely cute. Some of the fun things you can buy include accessories that a baby can never have too many off.
These things include hats, pacifiers, bottles, socks, and more. A newborn needs to wear a hat for the first couple of weeks to maintain the warmth. Why wear the standard issue hospital hat when you can find something adorable. You can never have enough pacifiers either. Why not get one that has text or a funny saying on it.
Baby showers can be dull if the gifts for boys are all the same. You want to be sure to think about cool baby boy clothes. Baby boy gifts are a lot of fun to shop for when you are at the right place.
There is nothing wrong with dressing a baby in the cutest styles as long as the baby is comfortable. Why not? The typical pajamas and one piece outfits are boring. It is hard to tell it is even a boy most of the time with the typical outfits today.
When you are shopping for a baby shower you have to be sure to find baby boy gifts that are fun and unique. You don’t want to bring the same gift everyone else did. Get something fun for the baby to wear that will make a statement. It is the unique and fun items that create the memorable photos for later.
How to Organize Your Special Education Classwork
Posted by: | CommentsChoosing to start the school year with an organized classroom will save you time, frustration and headaches in the long term. How do you do this? In this article we’ll look at two areas that can be particularly challenging.
ASSIGNED WORK
I teach middle school students, grades 4-8, with a very wide spectrum of disabilities, ranging from the level of an infant to students capable of doing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade work. Nobody in class is assigned exactly the same work. Each of the programs is extremely individualized. If I didn’t have an organizational plan in place, I’d be in total chaos.
The best method of managing assigned student work is a basic plastic crate and some hanging file folders. I create packets of single subjects, i.e. one packet of adding, one of comprehension, etc. The packets should last two weeks, if not longer. These packets are kept in the file folders. I use a plastic crate because it is portable, unlike a file cabinet. Every day students get to practice making choices about the order in which they want to do their work.
I’ve tried using individual notebooks for student work. This didn’t work too well. Students tended to rush through the work, past what they’d been assigned for the day, and by Friday I would have to figure out something else for them to work on. In addition, every Sunday night I’d be at school copying work and putting it into the notebooks. I didn’t like that.
Ive also tried handing out individual worksheets on a daily basis. This is fine if I only have three or four students; any more than that and its too cumbersome to manage easily. Not to mention, things seem to disappear if they’re not stapled into a packet.
I’d recommend using the crate system over anything else. Its portable and organized. It also gives the student some responsibility, i.e. getting and putting away his or her folder and deciding which order the work will be completed.
COMPLETED WORK
Just thinking about this makes me tired! I used to have piles of corrected student work all over my desk just because I was afraid I’d end up without enough work samples for the state portfolio assessment that’s due in the Spring. I’d save everything until Spring. That amounts to A LOT of paper. Even with trying to get to it every month, I still had too much piled on my desk.
Despite good intentions, I never quite got to picking work to include in the portfolio until at least the middle of the year. I made sure I had the data, but the way in which I went about it was a headache. I decided to do it right–pick days, in advance, on which to collect data for the portfolios. I then keep only that set of work samples. Everything else gets sent home and my desk is clear.
Here’s how it works. To keep this work organized, I get one 3-ring binder and as many 2-pocket folders as there are students. The pocket folders go inside the binder. As the work is completed, I put each students completed work with the pre-printed documentation sheets specific to the portfolio requirements for my state. These packets (one for each goal) are held together by a paperclip and stored in the pocket folder. In the Spring, when all of the data have been collected, I move it all over to a smaller binder for each individual student that is then sent in for evaluation.
What’s my solution for making sure work gets home every day? It’s really basic.
You will need one heavy duty clip magnet for each student. Make sure to get the strong magnets. Put each student’s name on a clip and hang the clips on the whiteboard.
Draw a vertical line about a yard from the end of the white board. At the top write “Work To Go Home”. Put the clips in this area. They are the only things that should be in that area.
As work is returned to students, they put it on their clip. They practice reading, hand strengthening and general responsibility by doing this themselves. Part of the end of school routine is having the students check their clips for things to take home.
Having the clips in a central location also acts as a reminder all day long. And, everyone in the room knows what needs to go home, so if a student forgets to check the clip, any number of people (including other students) will remind him or her.
I’m sure there are many other organizational systems to manage student work: cubby boxes, mailboxes, magazine racks attached to the wall, etc. When it comes down to it, no one organizational system will work for everyone and you’ll have to do a lot of experimenting and tweaking until you find one that fits exactly right for you.
What Type of Paper Should I Use for My Book?
Posted by: | CommentsWhich paper stock you choose when printing your book can have a huge impact on your print pricing. Coated or uncoated? Glossy finish, matte finish, or standard offset? What’s the opacity? What’s the weight? The answer to these questions will determine your paper pricing.
Let’s start by clearing up a point of confusion among many looking to print their first book: the difference between bond and offset paper weights. When you purchase paper for your copy machine or home printer, you’ll note paper is listed as something like 20# bond. What that means is that when the paper is manufactured at 17 x 22″, 500 sheets of that paper weighs 20 pounds. However, offset paper for printing plants is manufactured in 25 x 38″ sheets, which is 2.5 times larger than bond paper. So 500 sheets of that same paper stock now weigh 50 pounds. Thus, 20# bond is the same as 50# offset.
Typically, I would recommend that for a standard book with just black text (no color) and not a lot of images, 50# offset is just fine. If there are a lot of graphics in the book, you might want to bump up to 60# offset to eliminate some see-through from one side of the page to the other.
No matter what, be sure to ask your printer to send you paper samples. There is no substitute for feeling the paper in your hand to make sure your book has the feel you want it to have.
Choosing paper stock for a book printed in full color is sometimes a little trickier. You may want to go with a glossy paper stock to make any images “pop” a little more. However, glossy stock often feels thinner than standard paper stock.
Also, if your book is full color, a thicker paper may be necessary to make your book have a nicer feel to it and justify your sale price. If printing in the U.S., I usually recommend no lighter than a 70# or 80# gloss. If printing overseas, don’t go lighter than 120 gsm.
Again — always get samples before making your decision!
Always ask for your book covers to include gloss lamination. Standard paperback cover stock is 10 pt. C1S. A C1S cover means that it is coated on one side for durability and to help the colors “pop” a little more. If your book is on the large side, consider bumping up to a 12 pt. cover for extra durability.
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