cover image Collage of Crafts CL

Collage of Crafts CL

Charlie Guerrier. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $12.95 (56pp) ISBN 978-0-395-68377-4

From the Young Artisan series come two eye-catching, well-organized volumes brimming with instructions and ideas for a collection of easy-to-make, inexpensive crafts and games. As in the publisher's Young Gourmet books (reviewed above), both volumes feature an abundance of cheerful, strikingly composed photographs--here, shots of tools, materials and elegant finished projects are likely to intrigue even the most reluctant do-it-yourselfers. Games explains, clearly and succinctly, how to make dice tables, checkers sets, solitaire boards, etc., as well as the rules of play for each game. Crafts offers ideas for using such readily obtainable materials as corrugated cardboard, newspaper, sand and seashells to decorate picture frames, boxes and so forth. In each book, sections devoted to practical instructions are followed by concise explorations of the history of the given game or craft. For example, paragraphs on the Egyptian game of senet (a symbolic journey to the underworld) are supplemented by photographs of ancient dice and a game board shaped like a coiled snake. An inviting and inventive approach. Ages 8-up. (Mar.)