Book Holiday is a 15-day e-course which allows you to immerse yourself in the joy of books, arts and crafts, with a view to improving mental health and wellbeing.

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It will help you to calm your mind, lower your anxiety and make space for your own needs.

I had a very difficult upbringing and endured multiple traumas. Over the years, I have engaged with many different therapies in an effort to improve my mental health. When I came up with the idea for Book Holiday, I was super-stressed, and a friend told me to just take a week off and do nothing but read books. 

I loved that idea of taking a vacation from life – and from my own head, really – and so Book Holiday was born. 

As an author, paper artist and book sculptor, I wanted to expand the course beyond merely encouraging you to read and give you the opportunity to use books as springboards for craft, illustration and word-play as a form of creative care.

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An instructor at New York's Center for Book Arts, I have been shortlisted in the World Illustration Awards twice and have an illustrated book out worldwide called Papercut This Book, with another self-illustrated title, First Art Kit, to be released by Simon & Schuster in 2021.

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By immersing myself in books, arts and crafts, I found a way to calm my mind, lower anxiety and make space for my own needs. During this course, I will teach you how to do the same, and:

*Give yourself permission to indulge in creativity

*Build and use your own Creative Care Plan 

*Experience a sense of mastery from your achievements

*Reach an absorbing ‘flow state’, where you don’t notice time passing

*Learn to incorporate Book Holiday skills into your daily life

*Build a creative toolkit to allow you to de-stress anywhere, any time, when you finish the course. 

*Learn and improve your book-arts skills

*Find encouragement and support from @thebookholiday community on Instagram

Book Holiday is, of course, laid out like a book. Each chapter contains an introduction, then a craft or a prompt for you to make or do something without direction.

Throughout Book Holiday, there are also book-related articles, reading lists, advice and tips from experts, spoken-word, dressing-up… and even food and drink!

Book Holiday, like the best kind of vacation, allows you to unwind and de-stress, but also to try something new, inspire, delight and make you smile. 

There’s no pressure on this Book Holiday – just do everything in your own time at a pace that’s pleasurable for you, whether it’s the absorption of all day, every day, or once a week. You choose: it’s your holiday.

Some of Book Holiday is portable, so you have a de-stress kit to hand whether you’re riding on public transport, sitting at work, or stuck at home. 

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Wherever you are, I want you to take a break for creative care and visit new places in you mind that will soothe your soul.

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Book Holiday © Boo Paterson

Photo by Alex Robson

ABOUT BOOK HOLIDAY AND BOO PATERSON