From Amazon.com
Busy grownups generally appreciate quick ideas for kids to be creative. In
20-Minute Crafts, part of Kathie Stull's Hand-On Crafts for Kids series, parents learn they can provide a few general supplies like foam sheeting, wooden cutout shapes, craft sticks, paints, Styrofoam balls, and chenille stems, then let youngsters go to town constructing an assortment of useful and just-for-fun projects. Masks, frames, fans, pencil toppers, decorative magnets, holiday and party decorations, and many other kid-friendly ideas abound. The volume could have used better organization: the table of contents is bewildering, and there is no immediately discernible sequence of projects. The overtly commercial angle is a bit off-putting too: each project is "sponsored" by a major craft manufacturer, though the materials lists do call only for generic supplies. Also, the book claims to be geared to 7- to 12-year-olds, but most kids at the upper part of this age range will consider themselves too sophisticated for most of these projects. Younger ones, however, will probably enjoy them, and even a well-coordinated 5-year-old can handle many of them with adult supervision.
--Amy Handy
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grades 2-6--This book is full of interesting animal and nature-themed projects as well as several items to make for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. The 48 activities all include lists of materials needed, full-sized patterns, and color photographs of the completed objects. The table of contents has a confusing layout and the introductory information is written more for parents than for kids, but most of the crafts can be completed without too much adult assistance once everything has been assembled. Some of the necessities may be found in the home, but many projects require things like foam sheeting. The acknowledgments list suppliers with their addresses, phone numbers, and URLs. Although it sometimes seems like a vehicle for marketing specific supplies-indeed, each project carries the name of a supplier as sponsor-this book can be a good choice for those who want easy-to-complete, professional-looking crafts. But if you're looking for inexpensive, rainy day, spur-of-the-moment ideas, Kathy Ross's books (Millbrook) and the "Kids Create" and "Little Hands" series (both Williamson) are better sources.
Genevieve Gallagher, New York Public LibraryCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
