The commonplace book, or copy book, is the way that the literate of past and present recorded their remembrances. While the commonplace now means that which is without merit, in the past the "commonplace" could be the very mode of literature. A writer would record those items worthy of remembering in their own culture. Thus the religious would record prayers and saints, the churchwarden might keep the church accounts, the craftsman would record recipes, patterns or sizes; the superstitious would inscribe curses and spells, the litigious or careful would keep a note of legal contracts. The grammar school student would record passages from the Greek and Latin writers. Other items might include poems and geographical information and all this might be in the same volume with no particular organisation. Perhaps today the "blog" on the internet fufills a similar role.

The book would have started out as a a few pages sewn together as a "section" or pamplet for the owner to make notes upon. As they filled one they would have started another. These pamhlets might have passed fron hand to hand and generation to generation just like we might have great-grandma's handwritten recipe book still in the family today. Eventually they might have been bound together in a book to preserve them from wear and tear.

Our commoplace book is a permanent record that each pupil keeps of their experience of our presentation. The children: make the book by first folding the sheets provided; they sew the pages together using pre-threaded needles; print with the wooden and rubber blocks and type provided; write their name on the cover using a quill pen and ink; and if there is time, they colour some of the pictures. At later date, with the guidance of their teacher, the children record their experiences of the event, share them with classmates and answer questions on what they saw and heard.

There are pictures to colour, quizes to answer, drawings to identify and stories to write.