《书目》(Booklist)书评

Gr. 4-7. The 13 projects in each of these four books in the World Wide Crafts series enable children to make hands-on, creative explorations of cultural traditions around the world. Animal includes projects for making a cardboard snake that wiggles, jointed paper creatures, and lucky animal floor decorations based on a Pakistani tradition; Costume for making silhouette portraits, decorated paper hand patterns based on hand decoration practiced in India, and a Zulu-inspired necklace. Festival shows how to make papier-mch Mardi Gras maracas, a paper dragon to decorate a boat in the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, sugar-iced skulls for the Mexican celebration of All Souls' Day, etc. Food explores crafts that use food for materials--for example, a South American rainmaker filled with dried corn, and a Mexican piata stuffed with candy, fruit, and nuts. Although Costume and Festival best fit the series' multicultural focus, all of the books are successful as sources of interesting craft projects presented in an appealing and attractive format. Each book begins with general instructions and concludes with "More things to think about" and suggested resources. In between, crisp, colorful, double-page photographs show the assembly stages and completed crafts, and inset boxed text explains the cultural background for each craft and gives numbered, step-by-step instructions. The crafts vary in difficulty and will sometimes require adult supervision, as is stated in the instructions. The required materials can be easily obtained from craft stores and other obvious sources. These books are both curriculum oriented and child friendly; purchase accordingly. --Annie Ayres