Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook

After eschewing the family craft for an engineering apprenticeship, events led Leach back to his kin’s near-century-old relationship with the kiln. In 2007, he began posting videos of conversations about pottery on YouTube. Over 800 postings later, he has produced a definitive guide for every step of pottery making, from styling small tools to building one’s own kiln. The beginner would likely be overwhelmed at the directions for use of kick vs. electric vs. treadle wheels, or the act of digging one’s own clay from random rural samples. Those novices can consider this an inclusive dive into a not-so-exclusive club, where some members make their aunt a birthday bowl, and others ponder the ins and outs of decorating and glazing, cylinder variations, and pyrometric cone charts. A four-hour-long DVD completes the package. (May 7)