In 2002, we discovered an exhibition of altered books at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in Washington, DC. This exhibition included the works of dozens of artists and the variety of ways shown to alter books was amazing!

My personal favorite is: Dinner with Mr. Dewey by Molly Van Nice.
Here books have been fashioned into a tureen of soup, corn on the cob, a fish skeleton, a slice of cake, an apple with cheese, plus several other food items for a fantastic banquet of books.
A small photo of this piece can be found by following this link: http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa228.htm

In bygone times, books were scarce and revered, but that is no longer the case. In this age of information overload, there is an excess of books out there with obsolete information waiting for a make over!
Many artists use their talents, imagination and skills to alter old books into new books; altered books are works of art.

Visit your local library or bookstore, go online and surf the web, talk to others... experiment with old books and have fun with the possibilities. There are thousands of different ways to alter a book.... And many thousands of extra books waiting to be altered....

I was moved to alter my first book after seeing an idea in the book New Directions in Altered Books by Gabe Cyr. I was intrigued by the unorthodox use of a paper shredder! I selected a book with crimson end papers and took the liberty of tipping in more red pages to the center section to be shredded. I was hooked on making altered books!