Illustrating a child's story - NEED HELP

[Silent Hunter]

Hey everybody. (wow, it's been forever since i've been on CAA)

I have been asked to make illustrations for a child's story that my friend has written. It's for her nephew, and it is in the form of a long poem (sort of like a Dr. Seuss type thing, but with a godly moral at the end). She wants to have the artwork by this weekend, which i'm pretty sure I can handle.

Here's where i need help: I have never made a book. She wanted to know what size paper I was going to be using for the final stuff, b/c she is hoping to get a binding on the book. I have NO clue about what paper to get or who to talk to about having it ready for getting bound or reprinted or whatever in the world i'm supposed to do. I know how to draw things, and that's about it.

So i've kinda made may way out into the water without a paddle. .. any help would be great, preferrably from those who have had at least a little experience in this sort of thing.

THANK YOU
_-S.H.-_

[Esoteric]

This is for a gift then? If she really wants something that looks professional, I would suggest looking at vanity publishers, like Lulu or maybe even CafePress...some place that will print the book for you, however many copies you want. They usually have set sizes, so that will tell you what format to plan for. That will also solve paper issues. But if she's just thinking of taking the pages down to Kinkos to have them bound, maybe you should inquire with them about formats they can bind. It's always best to know what your format is before you layout the pages.
And this could also solve paper problems...if Kinkos makes color copies of the artwork, then everything will be consistent in terms of size and materials...because depending on what art medium you are using, the paper maybe not be conducive to binding. For example, if you're using watercolor paper, or bristol, they won't bind well, so color copies or prints are a good way to go. If you're working with digital media, it's even easier. You should be able to take down a disc with the layouts on it and have them printed.
In terms of preparing files for book format, there is software for this, but if you don't know how to do this, you might just want to have who ever binds the book deal with this too.

[Silent Hunter]

Thank YOU Thank You. This is REAAALLLY going to help me. I have had no previous involvement with something like this, so i didn't even know where to start. Um, ya. It's going to be a gift for someone, so i doubt she's going to be needing lots of copies. but ya, this really helps. i feel better about it all. Well. I'd better get back to working on those illustrations. THank you again. God bless