I am still working on clearing my review shelf, so the roundups continue this week! Today we are looking at some great craft books for kids (and adults). These books range in abilities and topics. If you have a creative child in your life these books will make great gifts. We will start with the book for the youngest age 5 to 9. It is The Kids' Book of Craft Love by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst.
From the Publisher:
There's a colorfully illustrated, brand-new surprise on every page!The newest book in Flow Magazine’s creativity series for kids, The Kids' Book of Craft Love is filled to the brim with engaging activities that invite the reader (ages 7 & up) to tear out pages, cut and paste, assemble, sticker, build, and turn the two-dimensional sheets into three-dimensional wonders. Cut and fold a paper pencil pouch to hold all your art utensils. Fold a DIY adventure log notebook to take on your next adventure. Loop together a paper daisy chain to decorate your room. Construct two crocodile clothespin puppets, then have them challenge each other to a lip-sync battle! Make gift boxes, a paper flower bouquet, a woodland scene for your desk, a basket, paper lanterns, a crown, an origami friendship bracelet, and so much more.
From Me:
This is a book I would have loved when I was young. In fact, it reminds me of a book I got for my eighth birthday. I know I would have loved this one as much as I loved that one. This book is colorful and has different crafts and activities. It includes things like coloring, drawing, writing, and creating. It has origami, paper chains and so much more. It is a book for those kids who love to create and a book to give when they complain about being bored.
It has a little bit of everything in it. The pages are meant to pull out and there are even more things inside and on the pages. There are animal cards, scavenger hunts and so many things to do and create. This is the perfect book to give kids when you are wanting them off screens. There is a paper forest to create and boxes to fold as well as animals to create and/or dress. It will get them using their imaginations as well as exploring. It is perfect for an at home resource as the book will be "destroyed" as the pages are pulled out. It is the perfect gift for young crafters and creative kids.
Our next book is a drawing and activity book. The suggested ages are 5 to 18. I would say it is more 7 to 10 with a few drawing tutorials older kids may enjoy. The book is The Kawaii Princess Drawing and Activity Book by Poplar Publishing.
From the Publisher:
An irresistibly cute guide to drawing princesses, packed with fun activities!Have hours of fun learning to draw cute manga-style princesses by tracing the outlines provided, coloring them in, and then drawing them yourself on the practice pages. Take a princess quiz, cut out adorable cards and envelopes, learn princess spells and much more!
This exciting children's activity book features:
- Dozens of drawings of princesses and other cute characters to trace and copy
- Step-by-step guides to drawing faces, hairstyles and dresses. A delicious candy dress, a fashionable skirt and top for taking center stage, and an adorable witch outfit complete with bow-tied broom are just a few of the pictures to choose from
- Kawaii fruit, animals, holiday items, flower and more to trace and color.
- 150 full-color stickers of flowers, jewels, bows and crowns to decorate your drawings with
- Pretty greeting cards to cut and paste, a princess quiz, a doll whose dress you can change by flipping the pages, and many other fun activities!
Young artists will enjoy developing their creative skills and letting their imaginations run free in this super cute princess world!
From Me:
Kawaii is a Japanese phenomenon that incorporates cuteness, charm, and childlike innocence. It is extremely popular right now. This book helps kids learn to draw manga which is also very popular. It gives easy to follow drawing lessons as well as some fun activity pages like a princess quiz and dress up doll. The manga and Kawaii theme will attract an older crowd, but the princess theme will definitely have young girls loving it as well. I think most five-year-olds will struggle with the drawing lessons in this book though and suggest it for slightly older kids.
I love how the book goes through each body part and accessory and has tutorials for drawing them. The pages are done with lessons and then the readers turn to try. Some of the "Your Turns!" have pre-drawn starting images for the reader as well. I also know Hazel would have loved the activities in the book when she was young. I also have high school students who love Kawaii style as well as manga which is why I say it may attract some older kids. I personally am attracted to all the pink! It has activities and notecards and more in the back part. This is a perfect book for kids who are artistic and love princesses and Kawaii.
Our next book is an origami book. It is also a bit of an adventure book. It is Origami Monsters and Magic by Isamu Sasagawa. It is recommended for ages 12 to 18.
From the Publisher:
Spine-chilling monsters, magical weapons, ferocious dragons and a fabulous prize—this book has it all! Do you dare to face the perils and claim the prize? Open this book and find out. Your destiny awaits you!On every page of Origami Monsters & Magic you'll encounter unexpected activities and instructions to make an entire world of enchanted paper models. And by folding these, you will help keep the dark forces of magic at bay as you battle an army of supernatural creatures and zombies!
Origami Monsters & Magic comes with a checklist for kids to record their achievements as they level-up—from adventurer to knight to master to hero! Young folders ages 10 and up will have great fun following the narrative in the book as they use origami to defeat imps in the Magical Forest, conjure defenses in the School of Magic, prepare weaponry in the Armory, do battle in the Graveyard and ultimately defeat a fearsome foe hoarding a valuable prize in the Dungeon!
The 53 eerie, otherworldly origami models in this book encompass a broad range of items and themes:
- Scary Creatures from an intimidating Werebear and slimy Loch Ness Monster to the Deadly Spider!
- Spooky Objects including the Evil Tree Stump, the Enchanted Shroud and the Creepy Hands
- Ghastly Remains like the Disembodied Head and the horrifying Skeleton!
- The Undead Horde includes the Zombie, The Face of Dracula and the unnerving Poltergeist
- Magical Tools & Talismans that you can wield, like the powerful Witch's Hat, the Shield of Invisibility and the classic Magic Wand!
- Magic Tricks & Novelties that will cut the tension with silly gags like the Springing Eyeballs and Wagging Tongue
- The Medieval Armory is stocked with necessary gear like a razor-sharp Sword, a hefty War Hammer and a blazing Torch
- Enchanted Creatures prove that not everything is out to get you—the Cat Familiar and Unicorn can be trusted companions
- The Treasure Vault is where you'll finally receive the reward for your persistence—a Treasure Chest brimming with Gems!
These imaginative models are the perfect way to get kids excited about origami—an activity that promotes creativity and develops spatial skills, patience and manual dexterity. These models are great fun to fold, to play with and to display—even to trade or give away as gifts!
From Me:
This book screams Dungeons and Dragons or Harry Potter to me. The adventure awaits and the book includes a map of an enchanted island. The reader's job is to fold the various projects in the book and eventually get to the dragon as well as the treasure chest. It is a unique idea for an origami book, and I can see kids loving it!
Kids are invited to join the adventure in the introduction. They get to meet their fellow adventurers who are featured throughout the book--Oriko and Gamio. The projects share different properties of each project item. This is what makes me think of it as a game like Dungeons and Dragons. The properties change depending on what the item of is.
This book is perfect for the creative adventurer. Someone who loves the fantasy world of magic with gnomes, monsters, dragons and more. They should know some origami as many of the projects are not the easiest projects for beginners. However, the book itself could be a game where friends create the projects together or in competition and explore the enchanted island. There are so many fun ways to expand this and create your own game. It is a wonderful gift for kids who love Dungeons and Dragons and magic as well as origami.
Our final book is not really a children's book. It is an embroidery book that will work for many ages! It is Cat Mania Embroidery: Zany and Fun Feline Motifs by Jeon Ji Sun.
From the Publisher:
Using the most common embroidery stitches, Cat Mania Embroidery places your feline friends in wacky situations of the kind they'd probably get themselves into, given half the chance. Wide-eyed "Who—me?" cats; dancing, frolicking cats; cats in the air and in the water(!); and cats full of attitude who'll try just about anything once. Whatever the setting or situation, they have never been more adorable!
With this book you can make nearly 70 quirky cat motifs, and almost 30 different projects, including:
- Decorative items featuring adventurous cats in bottles, teapots and other tight spaces
- A wind chime of under-the-sea cats—even a mermaid cat (oops—a mercat?)
- A rather surprised airborne cat on a little pouch
- Cats making themselves useful for once, as bookmarks
- Cats in the bathtub, flying to the moon, dancing the hula, and up to all kinds of lighthearted antics
From Me:
Now this is an adult craft book, but I remember learning embroidery at a pretty young age. My mother is a sewer, quilter and used to do some embroidery. She taught us needlework at a young age. I remember getting to pick out embroidery designs from a book of iron-ons when we were young. It was so much fun. This book does things a little differently. It has you trace the patterns onto the fabric. Once I found my fabric lead and got it into a pencil, I was ready to start. Since Hazel came home the week before Thanksgiving with Covid, I thought I would have time Thanksgiving week to embroider. I was wrong. Since Covid turned into pneumonia, we spent the week going back and forth to the doctor's office, x-rays and even Children's Hospital. However, I did start an adorable project. My plan is to make the cat look like our Fidget (gray and white). I was thinking of making it into a Christmas ornament. It won't be done in time though. I was also thinking I would complete the set with ones that look like the other two cats.
Here is the finished example in the book with the other matching ones. I love the idea of the cats with teacups and a teapot.
The projects in the book are fun. They have cats doing all sorts of things. I love the one in the tutu. The projects are all different sizes and ideas. There are Wappen patches and bookmarks to pillboxes and pouches as well as decor. The instructions are easy to follow, and the tracing makes it easy to customize it to your cat or a cat of your choosing. Below is a pattern page from the book. You can see how there are suggestions for types of stitches and colors of thread.
At the beginning of the book are tutorials for the different stitches used in the book. I will say I learned some new ones reading it and trying my project. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow and have photographs for the different steps. It is a fun and easy book to use, and I could see kids beginning to embroider enjoy the projects in it. I love that most of the projects are on the smaller size, so it won't take as long to complete as some I have seen. If you have a cat lover who enjoys embroidery in your life this book is the perfect gift or if you like embroidery it is the perfect book to create gifts for all of the cat lovers you know!
