Author: Team Blookup

Textolife turns your SMS into books!

Posted on by Team Blookup

If you regularly visit this blog (and if you have just arrived, welcome to you!), you must know that since 2011, BlookUp is the platform that transforms your blogs and social networks into books and is compatible with a little more than 10 different blogging platforms!

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These are not blooks, as you will discover in this article!

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A single question was the origin of the creation of BlookUp: “What if all my digital contents disappeared suddenly?”. The answer seemed obvious: Go back to the book, the physical object. To the compilation, the collection, the immortalization of our work and our moments spent together on the Web!

Our virtual contents and exchanges can be frail and ephemeral, like our SMS, MMS, chat messages and other short, instant conversations tools. Textolife understood that, and that’s why this online platform offers you (since 2013) to print all your SMS / MMS, WhatsApp or Messenger conversations!

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Sending SMS is a harmless, daily activity, and sometimes the conversations are so long that even your phone can have a hard time going back in history! It is easy to neglect these odinary exchanges, however, small forgotten treasures, sweet words, funny or moving photos are hidden inside them!

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It’s also this idea of sharing good moments and memories that started Textolife, when Yasmine wanted to offer to her family (including her sister Laura, who will also be at the origin of the concept) a collection of all their group conversations! This first book was very tedious to “handmake”, with a lot of screenshots and using Word for layout…

Be assured that today, you just have to back up your conversations using the help provided for Android, IPhone, WhatsApp and Messenger, sign in and start creating your book via a mobile app or directly from the online tool!

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A book of 40 pages costs about €15, and if you only want the PDF version, it will cost you €3.90 (downloadable from your personal account at anytime!).

Sounds great, right? Go ahead, and revive your SMS with Textolife!

BlookUp: Blog, Medias, frequency, news and THANK YOU!

Posted on by Team Blookup

At the end of 2016, we gave you informations about BlookUp‘s blogging and social networking activities. Today, we – already- have to update you on the situation!

THANK YOU !

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In the first place (yes, we start the article by the last element of our title, like some kind of blog punks), we would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for your growing support, your shares, your commitment…

In 2017, significant subscriptions goals have been reached for all our communication platforms, and that is obviously thanks to you!

WORDPRESS

logo-wordpress-blueGOAL REACHED: 5,000 SUBSCRIBERS

The blog is still there, in French (here) and in English (here. Like, no, really, no need to click, you’re already there 😉 ), but as some have noticed, our publication rhythm has kind of declined; No more publications on Tuesdays and Fridays but don’t panic, we explain why!

The first reason to this is simply our desire to propose a unique rendez-vous, every Wednesday, in order to make every article more  like a weekly celebrity coming to sign autographs at a given time. Punctuality is key!

The second reason is also quite simple, and that’s…

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Tumblr is the latest active network of BlookUp. This microblogging platform will be ideal to share with you the daily life of our startup!

Our Tumblr will be more like a Facebook page, a Twitter or an Instagram account, with a freer and more casual tone. The publications are to be short but more numerous, and this is why WordPress articles, longer and therefore more demanding in terms of research and writing, will be posted once a week to ensure their quality!

That being said, if you have a Tumblr account (or if you are just curious!), Subscribe to this new blog and enter the daily BlookUp life, joys, pains, environment, team… And much more!

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Logo Facebook

REACHED GOAL: 3,500 SUSCRIBERS

 Logo Twitter

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 FOLLOWERS

 Logo Instagram

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 SUSCRIBERS

(Click on the images to access the corresponding social network!)

There are also some changes on the social networks side, which regularly relay each publication from the WordPress blog (and soon Tumblr), and had a fairly fixed number of publications per day… Now we blow up the locks, get free, and we post, we share, we react live!

We are as well increasing the emphasis on mages… For the pure pleasure of the eyes!

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So, are you ready to choose your favorite platform(s)? Subscribe, and don’t be shy: Participate! 😄

Interview: hiMe printed the book of her story as a Refugee

Posted on by Team Blookup

Summer is light and joyful, but many things can happen under the sun. Some are less light, but are also essential to know, essential to History and Memory. It might take a while, but things do get lighter and sunnier when you begin to write them down.

hiMe, from the blog A Refugee’s Journey, shares all that with you today: Her journey, her blog, her blook.

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First, tell us about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I was a refugee and resettled in Melbourne, Australia in 1984 after ​ spending four years trying to escape the communist regime in Vietnam​ . While trying to flee, I experienced ​ being hunted, shot at​, ​ imprisoned and one of the many witnesses to the rape of my female defectors​.

I love ​ singing​, ​ acting​ and ​ writing​.

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Before the Fall of Saigon in 1975, I was voted the Head of Press, in charge of the production of my class’ wall newspaper every semester in high school.

In the 1990s, I used to write satire poems for a Vietnamese newspaper in Sydney for years before I got married.

I joined Vietnamese and Australian community choirs as well as theatre groups.

My other hobby is to translate English songs and novels into Vietnamese.

 

What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
I was encouraged to turn my attention to writing because of its emotional therapeutic effect.

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‘A Refugee’s Journey’, a blook waiting to be read!

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From what I encountered since arriving in Australia as a lonely, young and naive refugee and was ​ “taken into care” by the Church​, I have a need to tell my story to the public.

There was also a heavy past with life under the communist regime as well as ​ my escape ​ and the refugee camp​ that I want to document.

Not to forget are memories of ​ my life before the Communist took over​ and situations I faced in my new life in Australia: ​ living with the enemy​, ​ unjust age discrimination at work, ​ being coached to make fraudulent claim in the workplace​, ​ sexual harassment​…

I desire to ​ express my gratitude to my new country – Australia –​ as well as ​ the Australian soldiers who fell during the Vietnam war​.

I would like to have a say about what I find as ​ unacceptable​ or ​unfair in the Vietnamese culture​ comparing to the Australian one and I wish there will be a change in the Vietnamese culture. The ​discrimination I come into contact with in Australia​ made me recount what ​ the Chinese in Vietnam being discriminated against​.

I want the memories, the history to be written down for my children and the younger generations of Vietnamese, Australian and the others to read for years to come when I will no longer be on earth.

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After printing the first part of my blog, I want to continue blogging for the upcoming second book which will include topics about: global economic downturn, terrorism, mass immigration and capitalised communist countries (including Vietnam) that has changed Australia and the world’s view about refugees in general and the Vietnamese boat people in particular.

My future project also includes creating a twin blog which will be a translation into Vietnamese of my current blog A Refugee Journey – Vietnam to Australia.

What contents (articles, illustrations) are you the most proud of?
I love writing small poems to accompany each of my stories. I feel excited at the challenge to write poems in different styles. Until now, I have written 61 different forms of poems.

I collect ​ facts, pictures and videos​ to support my stories. Below are some of the illustrations in that category.

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AP and the news of Chinese business man Tạ Vinh executed in 1966.

 

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Delegate interviewed refugees with the aid of Vietnamese interpreters
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The path from zone C to zone D on Pulau Bidong island

 

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Political prisoners in a “re-education camp”
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Punishment for prisoners who tried to escape

 

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A labour dayto build canals in 1978 for high school students at the barren land of Lê Minh
Xuân, at the outskirts of Saigon.
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A North Vietnamese soldier cutting men’s anti-cultural long hair.

 

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Saigon before the Communists took over
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The CBC music band

 

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Daughter of the Vietnamese Communist Prime Minister – Nguyen Thanh Phuong – married
to Henry Nguyen Bao Hoang – an American citizen.
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Henry Nguyen Bao Hoang brought McDonald to Vietnam in 2014.

 

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Mrs Khuc Minh Tho who advocated for the release of political prisoners and assist them in reuniting with their families and loved ones in the United States or in other countries.
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President Ronald Reagan and Mrs Khuc Minh Tho

 

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Vietnamese Vice Prime Minister bought this house on 3/6/2005 at $790,000 USD (in 2014 estimated to worth over 1 million) at 636 South Halliday street, Anaheim, CA 92804.
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Miss Cao Thi Nhip who led the first North Vietnamese Communist tank into the South Vietnam Presidential Palace in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war now lives in America.

 

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Thai pirates attacked a Vietnamese refugee boat in the 70s
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Boat people hid in caves on deserted island to avoid rape, murder…

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What moment of your blogger life was the most memorable for you so far?
When SBS Insight (Australia’s leading forum for debate and powerful first person stories) contacted me in regard to my “Foot Voting” story. The survivor guilt mentioned in my account was the theme they wanted to research for a TV broadcast.

Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
I want to have all my writings on a long-lasting, Internet-independent, computer-independent media that can be kept for years and readily to be read.

a-refugees-journey-flowers

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How did you find out about BlookUp?
I am glad that BlookUp followed my blog and that was how I found out about it.

What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?
With BlookUp, it was very easy to make my book. I had many trials in making my book with different publishing web sites. I found the publishing softwares those sites provided were complicated to use and rejected some of my pictures for not of high resolution. Unlike
BlookUp, the other publishing websites made the price of the book high.

I would love if BlookUp can offer more color choices as well as designs for the book cover. It would be nice if there are more different internal format for the book.

ai-hime-reading-blook-water

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Do you enjoy the final result? What does your family and friends think about your blook?
I am very happy with the final result. The pictures are sharp, the colorsilk are lively and the texts are clear and crisp. My family and friends really appreciate the book.

Would you recommend BlookUp?
I certainly will highly recommend BlookUp to other bloggers.

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Thank you hiMe for taking the time to answer our questions with such details, for your documented work and precious testimony!

Also follow hiMe on: 

 Logo Facebook 

Turning a cookbook into lasagna (yummy)!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Do you like lasagna made with fresh pasta? You do, but you don’t know the recipe and don’t always have all the ingredients at hand’s reach?

Stop everything you’re doing right now! You’ll have no more excuses preventing you from cooking succulent homemade lasagnas!

German design agency Korefe created for the publishing house Gerstenberg a unique recipe book, a special edition subtly titled “The Real Cookbook” (“Das Echte Und Einzige Kochbuch”)!

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Anybody here to eat the pages, or can I have them just for me ? *_*

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This unusual piece is entirely composed of fresh pasta and each page is engraved with instructions on how to cook your lasagna. Once you’ve followed the recipe, you’ll just have to use the pages as layers for the dish, slipping them between two good ladles of Bolognese sauce, grated Gruyère, onions and ground meat.
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Littéraly no waste, every page will have its use!

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History does not tell us what the garnish is made of, but you will always be able to improvise if you prefer salmon or if you want to try a vegetarian version; Be careful with the recipe though because once the pages are soaked in sauce, you may won’t be able to read them again and check that you have not forgotten an ingredient!
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Once you’re done, put it in the oven…

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Alas, it seems that this limited edition has been drawn only to a single copy for the publishing house (probably the one used for the photos), and that we are far from finding the concept of an edible book in our neighborhood bookshops, shopping malls or online libraries…
livre-lasagnes-a
And here’s the final result! Quite teasing!

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What do you think? Real concept to develop or just a marketing thing? in any case, we are are now HUNGRY.

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Source  | Images credits : Korefe

Growing trees out of books!

Posted on by Team Blookup

A small publishing house in Argentina recently made a totally organic book that gives back to nature what it took from it by growing into a tree (Which might remind you of our previous article about the Japanese blooming newspapers). What’s their secret? Well first, unlike the majority of books, this one is made using organic ink along with acid-free pages that allow it to be planted without harming the soils. Seeds are put inside the paper during the making process and will wait until their time comes to grow into a magnificent tree!

cover-book-tree
This book tells the story of a man wandering inside the equatorial jungle as seen through the eyes of his son.

 

Pequeño Editor, the publishing house specialized in books for children,  wanted to deliver a message to their young readers: “Books come from trees. Today, a tree comes from a book.”

Even though changing the way we make books on a global scale seems difficult (If not impossible), we have to salute the effort made by the people of this publishing house who do not only show us an eco friendly alternative but also educate children in the process!

“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children” – Confucius

If you want to know more about Pequeño Editor and their work, be sure to check out their Facebook and Twitter page!

Source

 

[Update] The Book and Bed hotel in Tokyo : an original concept !

Posted on by Team Blookup

Japanese people are known for having crazy ideas, and at BlookUp we love a concept that stands out!

In Tokyo, the owners of this hostel just made every book lover’s dream come true: An accommodation bookshop. Don’t let the name fool you though, the books are not for sale; however you can read as many of them as you want while being comfortably seated on one of the sofas!

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As for the beds, customers can choose between sleeping in bunks if their budget is tight or inside a bookshelf and being surrounded by hundreds of books: The ultimate bookworm’s nest! However, comfort might not be the first words to come to your mind while looking at the mattresses, and the staff is well aware of that.

The staff focused their efforts into providing the most unique experience as they could, the idea behind the accommodation bookshop was to create a space where people would be able to do what they enjoy the most until they ultimately fall asleep. And for those among you that always drink something while reading, well you are sorted because you can get coffee and other drinks at the bar inside the hostel!

beds_photo_1Tokyo is not the only city to have a Book and Bed hotel, Fukuoka and Kyoto also have their own. If you cannot make it all the way to japan, you can check out their Instagram and get a glimpse of the magic of this place!

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20 of abandoned books leading to open a free library in Bogota!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Twenty years ago in Bogota, a man decided to save as many abandoned books as he could. José Alberto Guitierrez, to call him by his full name, drives a Garbage truck around the columbian city and found out that people threw away their books so he decided to save them by taking them to his house, this initiative got him the title of “Lord of the books”.

José Alberto driving his truck in the streets of Bogota. Credits : Guillermo Legaria/AFP

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With the house slowly being filled with abandoned books, José Alberto, along with his wife Luz Mery and their three children turned the ground floor of their house into a free library they called “La Fuerza de las palabras” (The Power of words in English). The library became famous very quickly, to the point that volunteers from all around the country (and even from abroad) came to Bogota in order to help José Alberto and his family. In addition to this library, Luz Mery came up with the idea of opening a “Hospital” for old and damaged books that she would fix with her sewing skills.

José Alberto became so popular in South America that he was invited to the International Book Fairs in Bogota, Monterrey (Mexico) and Santiago (Chile). Shortly after, book donations came from all over the continent to the point that their library now contains more than 25 000 books. With space becoming an issue for the family (The surface of the library being 90m² or almost 108 square yards), the reading sessions they held for the kids of the neighborhood stopped and the library only opened when someone knocked at the door to get a book.

José Alberto reading to the children of the neighborhood. Credits : La Fuerza des las Palabras fundacion

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The news of the Guitierrez’ free library reached one of the disarmament zones of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), who recently signed a peace treaty with the government thus ending 50 years of conflicts. One of the rebels reached out to José Alberto and his family to ask them for books so that they could prepare for their reintegration into the society.

Through “The Power of words” José Alberto wanted to show the world that not only people waste food but also books, and that this loss of intellectual nourishment was almost as deplorable as Food wastage. He also stated: “Books transformed me. So I thought that in places like these, it would be a symbol of hope, a symbol of peace”

If you want to know more about José Alberto and his family’s work, we invite you to visit their website!

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Source

 

Sarah printed the book of her cottage’s every day life!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Sarah of the blog wetandwindycottage.wordpress.com decided to print the book of her blog, where she describes her life between her job and her cosy house surrounded by fields, flowers, and animals.

As we never shared any story of this kind before, we wanted to make you discover this quiet and lovely universe ! Make yourself at home and enjoy the story of her blog and her blook!

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First, tell us about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…

I am a qualified lawyer, I fell into the job really as a means of earning a reasonable wage and being able to live in the lake district where pay is low as the majority of jobs are in the leisure industry.

That said I love my job, I can make a difference to peoples days. I am in civil litigation and education law.

I am married, we haven’t been able to have children, but I have 2 horses, a donkey, 2 cats, a nearly grown up puppy 2 ducks and lots of chickens. I live in a beautiful house in the middle of fields with views all around,

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Aren’t those cutties?

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I know I am so lucky but even when everything is beautiful but sometimes it is still difficult to stay positive.

In winter I am up at 6 to feed muck out horses sort out the chicken, ducks and dog, then be clean and not smelling of poo by 8am to drive off to work, I then get home from work at 6 and start again with the horses etc, in the middle of this is keeping a house a garden reasonably tidy.

We moved into the house 4 years ago, there was a small garden only but we had been able to buy the fields around, we were successful in obtaining planning permission which allowed us to build the barn and stables, extend the garden and convert a small barn into more living accommodation.

We have build the barn and stables, started on the garden but don’t yet have the funds to convert the barn into more living.

sarah-garden
A little glimpse of Sarah’s garden

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What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
I started my blog as a new years resolution to be more positive and do something for myself. The aim was to treat it like a diary of what was happening in and around me and mainly my home. As one of the aims was to be positive, I don’t really focus on the negatives which can make life look idyllic, but that I admit to that so I think it is ok. I am not pretending life is perfect, I am choosing just to show the good bits.

I made areas I was going to cover such as garden, polytunnel monthly update to keep me focused.

The areas have changed as I have done different things, I make more reference to walks now as I take Ellie my springer spaniel on walks in and around the lakes.

I also cover more cooking that I thought I would, but this again makes me more creative.

Also if I see something, like a birds nest in an artificial Christmas tree (a post from this year), I like to tell myself about it when I re-read when I am sat in a rocking chair in my 80’s trying to remember what I did.

choc-chip-cookies
Yummy chocolate chip coooookieeeees!

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What contents (articles, illustrations) are you the most proud of?

I am not a skilled writer or photographer, my first posts were really just practice runs on what to do, from last December so 12 months in I did a post on starling murmurations, I love the photographs.

To be honest I didn’t think of “proud” of what I had done, I hadn’t advertised, few of my friends or family know about it, it really was just for me.

But I bought myself for Christmas the Blook of my first years blog, and was really chuffed at how it looked; especially as that had not be the aim.

What moment of your blogger life was the most memorable for you so far?

As above, getting my blook through the post and thinking really, I did that!!

choc-chip-ingredients
I couldn’t show you Chocolate Chip cookies without showing you their ingredients, could I? Click on the image to see the whole recipe!

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Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?

I didn’t know I did, I saw the advert around Christmas and in previous years I have produced picture books of our progress at the cottage for my husband and thought actually I might like this as a present for me.

 How did you find out about BlookUp?
I think Blookup “liked” one of my posts and as I don’t get many likes I always look to see who they are and realised it was an advertisement.

blook-sarah-front-cover

What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?

It highlights spelling mistakes, which being a lawyer I shouldn’t do, but apart from that is a physical record of the good bits in the year.

blook-sarah-inner-layout

Do you enjoy the final result? What does your family and friends think about your blook?

My husband(!!) has shown it to a few friends and family who have visited, they didn’t know about my blog and are really supportive

Would you recommend BlookUp?

Yes, it is a great physical memento of a lot of hard work, I plan to get one done every January, again it keeps me focused on blogging.

The Parthenon of Books, Art vs Censorship

Posted on by Team Blookup

It has been over two weeks since Documenta 14 officially started in Kassel, Germany. The people visiting the city for this 14th edition will have a chance to see a temple, similar to the Parthenon of Athens except that this one is made out of books!

Parthénon-Livres-Construction
Volunteers helping for the construction of the Parthenon of books. Credits John Macdougall – AFP

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The artist behind the Parthenon of books Marta Minujin, famous in the south-american pop-art scene, wanted her creation to be a symbol of resistance against all forms of censorship; which is why only books that have been censored or banned at anytime throughout History have been used for its construction. Students from the University of Kassel helped the artist by picking 170 different books out of 70 000 (You can find the lists here)and asked for people to donate copies of the said books. Moreover, the location of the temple has not been chosen randomly since it is being built at the exact same spot where the nazis burned books of Marxists and Jewish authors in 1933.

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The artist refused to use any book encouraging racial or religious hatred such as Mein Kampft or others. Credits John Macdougall – AFP

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The Parthenon of books required the crazy amount of 100 000 books for its construction and is identical in size to the original one in Athens. Each book is put into a plastic bag in order to protect it from the weather. At the end of the event, the staff will be giving away all the books to whomever wants one. 

– Update – If you want to know more about the books that were used for the Parthenon of books we invite you to visit Documenta 14’s website where you will find the list of banned books.

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Credits – DPA

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Source

5th graders make a blog and turn it into a yearbook!

Posted on by Team Blookup

This week we had the pleasure of meeting with Sylvanie Girault who is a teacher at the elementary school Sainte-Marie de Mérignac in France.

She came up with the idea of starting a blog for her group of fifth graders to maintain and decided later on to turn it into a yearbook that each of them could get as a souvenir (at a very fair price 😉). She accepted to answer our questions and share her experience with us!

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Tell us a little bit about yourself: you, your hobbies, your projects…

My name is Sylvanie Girault, mother of three children and have been teaching at the private elementary school Sainte-Marie de Mérignac for 4 years now. My group of fifth graders is made of 30 pupils, all 11 years old. I came up with the idea of making a blog that they will maintain 4 years ago.  I wanted them to be familiar with computers and writing in general. What I had in mind was a blog in which the children would be the authors so that they’d be more familiar with writing and would also have a public reading them. The content of the blog is written by them and them only. I only interact with them through the comments. This year’s group is the fourth to maintain the blog.

Picture of Sylvanie holding a blook in front of a picture of her group

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What is the blog about?

This blog is about highlighting the major events of the year (a yearbook of some sort), such as school trips like our yearly trip to London or even smaller visits in the region: of the City Hall, the Courthouse, Museums, of the Cathedral Saint-Pierre, and many more. These activities are very important for the pedagogical process because they discover and learn things that they would not if they stayed at school, moreover some of them are not familiar with their surroundings. Our school trips are in keeping with the school program and motivate some students that are usually discouraged by the academic way of learning. But more important than that, they can use these trips as a source of inspiration to write articles on the blog about what they saw, felt or understood. Writing allows them to cultivate their curiosity and awareness to their surroundings, and doing that through a computerized tool motivates them as well. Every single one of my pupils has written at least one article on the blog during the year, each of them with their own writing style; this diversity of styles is what makes this blog stand out from a blog maintained by an individual. Since the blog opened, we have published about 70 articles and more than 6 000 pages have been viewed by the students but also their parents. The blog is entirely accessible to the public and anyone can read about the adventures of the group.

A picture of the 40 blooks ready to be picked up

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What articles are you the most proud of?

The articles about our yearly trip to England last October, without a doubt. Every year the group goes to London for 5 days and discovers the English culture. It is without the doubt the highlight of the year that all the students are looking forward to. During these 5 days they will be immersed in the English culture together, discover the gastronomy, local habits, the lifestyle…that is a strong collective experience!

The fifth grade is very dense in term of things to learn and master before going to middle-school. This school trip allows us to get together and strengthen the group’s dynamic hundreds of kilometers away from home. The articles published at that time are more profound because they crystallize this moment they had together.

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Why did you choose to make a book out of it?

I wanted every student to be able to keep a written record of this moment of their life in England with all their friends. During the making of of the book on BlookUp’s platform, I only kept the articles and pictures of the trip to London in order to have a smaller book that would be entirely dedicated to this trip. Besides it makes sense for my students to have a physical object reminding them of the group because fifth grade is the last step before entering middle-school. Some students have known each other for 7 years, since they were in kindergarten; they grew up together and will, for some of them, be separated from each other once they get to middle-school. Having by their side a book reminiscent of their time in elementary school is something truly unique and precious. A few days away from the end of the school year, every student will go home with a book signed by their classmates. I just received the 40 books and will be signing them as well as writing a personal note, if the pupils and their parents ask me to do so.

An example of a blook signed by the teacher and classmates!

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What are the qualities of the platform? What would you improve?

I found it easy to create a blook, the platform is intuitive. I have one regret however, it is the standardized size of the pictures. Of course you can choose between three different sizes but once you picked one, all the pictures will be of the same size, which sometimes results in blank spaces on the pages. I think it would be nice to give people the opportunity to play around with the spaces between the pictures to reduce these empty spaces. Other than that, the quality of the book is impeccable, and the cover lamination is really good.

(This interview was originally in French, but we loved the idea so much we decided to translate it to English and tried to make it as true to the original as possible.)