Help me "ruggedize" this book!

[sinead]

My oldest just got a copy of the "There's a Mouse in the House" book, which has this little mouse that you put through slots in each page as he makes his way through the house. Super cute book.

My middle one (knicknamed Danger Girl and Destructo for a reason) has fallen in love with the book and after just one day of devotion, she's already torn one of the slots a bit and bent the nose of the mouse.

So...I need to ruggedize/Katie-proof this book. I'm going to order a new perfect one for Maggie since katie is clearly working her Katie magic on the original. I'm thinking that I can remove the cover and take the book apart and get it laminated and just cut holes in the laminate for the slots that the little mouse goes through. There are a couple of pages that have flaps, though--how can I do that? I could remove the flap to laminate the page and then figure out how to reattach it, but I don't know how that would work.

Any ideas?! Please help me forbid World War 3593 at my house! :)

[Charla]

oh my! Yeah, sounds like a good idea, but I have no idea how to go about it. Hopefully someone else will...

[kelleighr]

Is that an Usborne Books book? If so, they should replace it for free! I'm {almost} positive that is the case.

Barring that, though, I suppose you could try the laminate, but to be honest, I'd just go with good old clear packing tape. You KNOW she'll rip through the laminate. It's not indestructible. Layer upon layer of tape should do the trick!

[sinead]

It is Usborne and it's 2 days old. It's designed for a kid a bit older than Katie, and it's more durable than other "paper" page books, but whew!

Ok, so you think the clear packing tape (a couple of layers) will be as solid as laminate would? I can do packing tape... That's what I've already used to reinforce the vulnerable areas. I think I'll order a new one for Maggie so that it's not messed up (she hasn't noticed Katie's attentions yet and will probably freak) and maybe doctor this one up to make it stronger for Katie.

Thanks, Kelleigh!

[nicoleseitler]

Is that an Usborne Books book? If so, they should replace it for free! I'm {almost} positive that is the case.

Seriously? Wow! How did I not know that? We have a 1,000 word book that's been loved a bit too much (the binding's been torn). I'll have to look into this! :D

[sinead]

I don't know if they'll replace it or not. I think they will with the Library binding but not the regular hard cover binding. I'll be talking to my Usborne friend this morning and I'll ask...