Tree Dogs: Large format binding

‘Where the Tree Dogs Fly’ is a handmade limited edition book that I bound for illustrator Aileen Crossley.

Aileen created a series of vibrant large scale lithographs illustrating a love letter from mother nature to a troubled child, during which the reader is transported to Molly’s favourite places, with animals reimagined by how the Irish language describes them.

I was given 5 editions of these fine art prints to bind into 5 picture books. There were several considerations to make: the heavy weight paper, prioritising the image’s legibility over the binding structure, and lastly the large size of this picture book.

I decided to create a drum leaf binding to house Aileen’s colourful prints. This binding allows the pages to lie completely flat with no interruption in the gutter. It also uses minimal glue which means that minimal stretching of the heavy weight etching paper. It also has a clean pared-back feel to it that showcase the illustrations beautifully.

Aileen used these handmade books to showcase her picture book at Bologna Children’s Book Fair. More recently, a commercially produced version of Aileen’s book has been published in Irish.

This fine binding is a limited edition of 5 handbound copies.