Craft Stick Mania

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Three titles that suggest using recyclable household items such as egg cartons and cardboard tubes for projects. A brief introduction discusses the amount of trash created in the U.S. every day, and encourages children to look around the house for things that they can use for their crafts. Each book contains 12 attractively illustrated projects, which range in difficulty from very simple to moderately complex. Written instructions are thorough and explicitly state that children should ask adults for help with certain tasks such as cutting. While some of the ideas are fresh and fun (e.g., a double-decker bus made from egg cartons), too many others lack imagination (a bracelet made from a circle of cardboard tubing). Occasionally, projects are presented without adequate explanation of what they are: for example, children might not be familiar with a trivet (Craft Stick) or the game Mancala (Egg Carton). Overall, these books are more attractive than inspiring, and stretch the concept of recycled crafts into several books when a single volume might have done just as well. As an alternative, try Nikki Connor's "Creative Crafts from" series (Copper Beech).-Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles