I continue to be amazed by the creativity of book artists. Two wizards of the genre, Peter and Donna Thomas, recently completed a pair of wonderful accordion books with fascinating musical connections.

The first is an accordion-style artist’s book, commissioned by the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Libraries. “The Real Tejano Conjunto Accordion Book” is the perfect marriage of form and content, as the book describes the history of accordions, accordion books, and the music that developed in and around San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley.

“We commissioned ‘The Real Tejano Conjunto Accordion Book’ to highlight the importance of the accordion and accordionists in Tejano music,” commented Steph Noell, UTSA special collections librarian, in a press release. “While the format of the book will excite and intrigue people, the content is just as important as it highlights a segment of music and musicians who are major figures in Tejano music but are rarely talked about.”

The book will join more than 250 other artists’ books at UTSA. “Some are readable, and some are just art, but they all stretch the imagination of what we consider a book,” Noell said.

The one pictured below was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American band Los Lobos, known for its eclectic mix of rock, Tejano, and folk.