As I was perusing the items for sale at the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) Saturday Flea Market next to the Farmers Market at Good Shepherd Plaza, I noticed a new vendor selling children’s book. I stopped and spoke with the designers of the handmade Busy Book, a group of Cornell Tech and Weill Cornell students who are also Roosevelt Island residents.
Dairui Yang and his fellow designers described their Busy Book project.
Mr Yang followed up the next day adding:
We are a group of students from Cornell Tech and Weill Cornell. Together, we have designed a handmade Busy Book for toddlers and young children. Our parents assist us in crafting each book with care and attention. Our mission is to encourage quality family time. Many parents have shared concerns about their children spending excessive time on screens and withdrawing from family interactions. We aim to address this issue. The Busy Book offers a screen-free, interactive experience. It promotes bonding between parents and children through shared activities. Research indicates that such interactions are vital for early brain development. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University emphasizes that responsive, back-and-forth exchanges between a young child and a caring adult—known as “serve and return” interactions—play a key role in shaping brain architecture.
We are currently working on a handmade busy book themed around Roosevelt Island. We created this special edition to express our appreciation for the wonderful support we have received from the Roosevelt Island community.
At last week’s Flea Market, we sold out of our busy books. Our parents are still working hard to make more, and we hope to bring the new ones to the market soon.
Check out the Busy Books on Saturdays at the Good Shepherd Plaza Flea Market and their Etsy online shop.