Art Projects (Art Ideas) Archives -

Kids’ Craft Book Review – The Kids’ Book of Paper Love

March 10, 2020
goodreadswithronna
Activity Book, Activity Book, Ages 7 and up, Children's Book Reviews, Coloring & Activity Book, Craft Book, Juvenile Nonfiction

THE KIDS’ BOOK OF PAPER LOVE
by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst
(Workman Publishing; $19.95, Ages 7-14)

Kids Book of Paper Love

If you have a child (ages 7-14) who likes to draw, craft, or create, check out The Kids’ Book of Paper Love. It pays homage to paper, that lovely substance we take for granted in our everyday lives. Young kids have art classes aplenty, but, as school becomes more of a focus, cutting and taping, creating and shaping moves aside. Bring it back to the table with this inspirational book.

int Pencil toppers — Excerpted from The Kids’ Book of Paper Love: Write. Craft. Play. Share. by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst (Workman). © 2019. Illustration by Anisa Makhoul.

Astrid van der Hulst (of Flow magazine) and Irene Smit’s book is packed with pages to pull out—just being able to tear up a book is a thrill! Find your section (Write, Craft, Play, and Share) and begin. If it’s a fun paper item, chances are it’s in there. Expect colorful pages, pull-outs, punch-outs, and even a three-foot-long “Dare to Dream” banner that magically accordions out. Some of the foldable items are a fortune-teller, box with lid, and very cool geometric bowl.

TKBOPL Finished penciltoppers — Excerpted from The Kids’ Book of Paper Love: Write. Craft. Play. Share. by Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst (Workman). © 2019. Illustration by Anisa Makhoul.

Stash away several copies of The Kids’ Book of Paper Love for those birthday gifts that sneak up on you. The book’s relatively small size packs surprises and is sure to please a wide variety of kids because it’s something different that can be used over and over again. One of my favorite pages is a template and instructions on how to make paper beads. Like many items, the beads are pleasingly simple. Finding one gem is satisfying, but having 180 pages of them is sheer delight. Channel your inner DIYer and have a blast—and don’t forget to include your kid too!

Reviewed by Christine Van Zandt (www.ChristineVanZandt.com), Write for Success (www.Write-for-Success.com), @ChristineVZ and @WFSediting,Christine@Write-for-Success.com

Click here to read about another recommended craft book.

Make Art a Part of Your Every Day Life

Debbie Glade reviews a creative and resourceful book about how to bring art into your child’s life.

Art is Every Day: Activities for the Home, Park, Museum, and City ($16.95, Zephyr Press, Adults) by Eileen S. Prince is your go-to guide for helping your child experience art in every day places. This meaty paperback outlines 65 unique projects for parents, grandparents and teachers to share with the children in their lives.

One of the projects in the book is creating a Photo Design Quilt. Essentially children take photos of patterns they see around the house, print them out on paper and create a quilt-like pattern. A few of the many other ideas include making vegetable prints by cutting veggies and using them like stamps, drawing noises and smells, drawing using only Primary colors and color rubbing leaves you find in a park.

The author writes a nice narrative for every project, explaining what skills that project will teach the child, as well as concepts to discuss with the child. I like the fact that the author suggests ways you might wish to modify the projects. This encourages creative thinking in the child and may inspire them to come up with their very own art projects.

Art is Every Day truly inspires kids to think like an artist no matter where they are. And with a book like this, readers quickly learn that creating art is simple, fun and affordable. After reading it, I felt like weaving paper with the stack of old magazines and catalogs I have.

The only suggestion I have that could make this book better would be adding more color photos.