School Book Covering

It is that time of year again - back to school.  A lovely bundle of fresh stationary represents all the possibilities and excitement that a new school year offers.  I must admit to having a bit of a thing for stationery!

One  thing I am not so keen on is the process of covering the school exercise books.  The adhesive book cover stuff and I do NOT get along.  In the course of covering the book I end up with myself, and possibly my cup of tea attached to the stuff, not to mention the air bubbles, toast crumbs and hair that sneak in as well.  It sticks to the scissors and just does not end up looking nice.  It kind of spoils the new book look!

And then at the end of the year, or whenever you get to it…. that clear stuff makes the books hard to recycle, and face it, that is where a lot of them will end up, sooner or later.  I've no doubt the emotional attachment to pages of alphabet, blend and math practice will wear off.  Story writing is another thing altogether, those we keep!

So how excited was I when I read of an alternative!  Re-useable book covers!  Oh yeah, bring it on!  I used them last year and can happily report that:

• They lasted the year
• They were easy to put on and remove
• We will be able to reuse them (size dependant)
• They are handy to switching to a new book later in the year
• My son liked them

They have patterned, coloured and clear ones.  I quite like the clear ones as they are easily reusable from son to daughter, whereas the patterned ones seem to have gender focused designs.  We personalise the books by making on the computer a 'bookplate' which includes my son's name, class, and some favourite pictures.  We paste this onto the exercise book, and then put the clear cover on top.  Easy peasy lemon sneezy!

I've seen them at Warehouse Staionary (or was it Officeworks?) but I buy mine from ezcover.co.nz, they are quick and good value.