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The Kids Can Press Jumbo Book of Crafts.
Judy Ann Sadler. Illustrated by Caroline Price.
Subject Heading:
Grades 4 and up / Ages 9 and up.
**1/2 /4
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excerpt:
Here are some super ideas for things you can make for your room. You can welcome [or keep away] others by hanging a collage nameplate on your door. Organize your room with magazine holders, bookends and a decorated bulletin board. Surround yourself with photographs of family and friends in handmade frames. Make your room cozy by stitching up bandanna neck rolls or cushions and t-shirt pillows. Make it restful too by hanging up a traditional dream catcher or a sun-splasher mobile.
Judy Ann Sadler has created a craftbook packed with more than 150 creative ideas. Many of the ideas are new while approximately 25% are taken from her previous popular crafting books, such as Corking (Kids Can Press, 1995) and Sewing (Kids Can Press, 1993).
Most of the crafts can be created with objects which can be found around the house, and there is no need for expensive equipment to make the items. Sadler's ideas utilize skills but also allow for creativity in their design. The book is divided into sections: crafts for the home; making gifts; projects for special days; items to wear; and some old-time crafts. Each craft is described via black and white illustrations, and readers are given a list of supplies for each project. The step-by-step instructions are very clear and concisely written.
The back cover suggests that the crafts are suitable for ages seven and older, but several of the projects are too difficult for young children. For example, in making the fabric frame, an exacto knife must be used, and Sadler does not indicate that children should get help from an adult in using the cutting knife. In other projects, such as paper making, Sadler gives good, practical advice in suggesting that the paper pulp not be poured down the drain. But, in making in the deckle frame, more attention could have been paid to small details like how to ensure that the corners of the deckle's frames are at right angles. In the section on party prints stamps, Sadler says that the rubber stamp should be carefully cut with an exacto so that there is no undercut. This is a good suggestion, but there is no explanation of what an "undercut" is and why it is important to cut at a bevel. It is also easier and safer for younger children to cut rubber stamps with linocut tools rather than an exacto.
Libraries and youth group leaders will find The Kids Can Press Jumbo Book of Crafts a useful source for ideas as many popular crafts, like dream catchers and pinatas, are included.
Recommended.
Lorraine Douglas is the Youth Services Coordinator at the Winnipeg Public Library, in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © 1997 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - NOVEMBER 14, 1997.
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