Children's Books discussion

March is National Craft Month in the US and we'll celebrate by reading picture books featuring a crafting theme.

This is now the Master List and General Discussion for Craft Books.

I'm really happy this theme won as my son (almost 3) is really getting into crafts and I don't have much background in crafting or know many craft-y books.

I'll nominate The Patchwork Quilt -- I've always loved it :-)

Two for families that look best of the ones that I found in various Listopias:

All Year Round: Christian Calendar of Celebrations

The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art and Creativity--Includes over 60 Art Projects for Children Ages 1 to 8

I found Forest Fairy Crafts: Enchanting Fairies & Felt Friends from Simple Supplies 28+ Projects to Create & Share on Amazon, looks awfully cute, even for boys, and especially for those of us who want to learn more skills.

NON FICTION

Pioneer Crafts Barbara Greenwood
Native Americans Ting Morris
Native Crafts: Inspired by North America's First Peoples Maxine Trottier
Clothes & Crafts in the Middle Ages Imogen Dawson
Fairy World Crafts Kathy Ross
Ukrainian Egg Decoration: A Holiday Tradition Ann Stalcup
I Touched the Moon: Stories and Crafts for Kids Tina Forrester
All New Holiday Crafts for Mother's and Father's Day Kathy Ross
The Crafts and Culture of a Medieval Town Joann Jovinelly
The Crafts and Culture of a Medieval Manor joann Jovinelly

FICTION

Polka Dot Penguin Pottery Lenore Look
I Had a Favorite Hat Boni Ashburn
Fiona's Lace Patricia Polacco
Jeremy's Dreidel Ellie Gellman
Crafty Chloe Kelly diPucchio
Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt Barbara Smucker
Beautiful Hands Bret Baumgarten
Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends Yumi Heo
Room for the Baby Michelle Edwards
Lovey Bunny Kristine A. Lombardi
The Trees of the Dancing Goats Patricia Polacco
Anna May's Cloak Christiane Cicioli
I Had a Favorite Dress Boni Ashburn
Crafty Chloe: Dress-Up Mess-Up Kelly diPucchio

Here's one from my library's catalog:
Pearl's Passover: A Family Celebration through Stories, Recipes, Crafts, and Songs

Cheryl wrote: "I found Forest Fairy Crafts: Enchanting Fairies & Felt Friends from Simple Supplies 28+ Projects to Create & Share on Amazon, looks awfully cute, even for boys, and especially for t..."

I checked the links for these books, and they all seem to have over one hundred pages. Nothing against that, but are they not a trifle too long for the picture book club?

Well, I was assuming that how-to books meant for families with children would be appropriate for the master list, at least. If Kathryn rules that they aren't for the discussion thread, that's fine, of course.

I do think how-to books for families are appropriate for a master list about Crafts.

On the other hand, I agree that many of those night fall beyond the scope of the PBC in terms of length and discussion possibilities. I'm just not sure how easily we could discuss a how-to book especially one of length?

For that gorgeous looking fairy book Cheryl listed, for example. I think the extent of my comments would be something like, "oh how beautiful and I so wish I had the time and talent to make one of them!" ;-)

Thus, I was leaning toward more story-based books that may also include craft instructions. I think these might be easier for group discussion?

That said, some of the shorter how-to books might be okay I'm just not sure how much we could "discuss" them unless we wrote about our experiences trying the crafts.

Kathryn wrote: "I'm just not sure how much we could "discuss" them unless we wrote about our experiences trying the crafts. ..."

I think this would be a hugely valuable discussion - but again, perhaps outside the scope of the discussion thread and better kept to the master list.

Cheryl wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I'm just not sure how much we could "discuss" them unless we wrote about our experiences trying the crafts. ..."

I think this would be a hugely valuable discussion - but again, per..."

I think one of the main points of discussion for these how to books is how easy to follow are the instructions, for both children and adults.

I'm loving the discussion of craft books. One thing I do in real life is to stock a bookcase at the family center that is run by our school district and county health department. I mostly stock it with used books in good condition, but sometimes buy new books if they seem perfect for the center.

Children are allowed to take a book home with them if they would like to. I try to keep one shelf full of craft and activity books. It would be so helpful to me to know how easy the instructions are to follow, and whether any expensive materials are required.

The longer books might not exactly fit the discussions this group has. But it would be valuable to me, personally, if they were included!

I'm so grateful for all this input because I have virtually no experience with craft books!

So, just to clarify, for this nomination list (to become the master list) let's welcome craft books of *any* length provided the crafts are suitable for families with children.

However, when it comes time to vote, let's try to focus on books that are typical picture book length so that it will be easier to share and discuss. These could be fiction or non-fiction.

I agree that it would be fun and informative to share our experiences crafting especially if we do choose some non-fiction! I'm glad to know we have some experienced crafters out there! I have such little experience I feel that my comments won't be particularly insightful--but maybe I can be the voice of whether the instructions are overwhelming (or not) for an extreme novice! ;-)

Kathryn wrote: "I'm so grateful for all this input because I have virtually no experience with craft books!

So, just to clarify, for this nomination list (to become the master list) let's welcome craft books of *..."

I think easy to follow instructions even for those of us not used to crafting or not adept at crafting is essential.

Okay, I'm unsure whether to add this one, because it is about cooking, not necessarily crafting. Although, some could argue that cooking is a craft. So, I'm going to put my two cents in and if it fits the subject, great, and if not, then you guys can all read a great cooking book and we can move it to some other thread, or disregard it here.
I loved A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat. It talks about the way different families would have cooked the same dessert through four different centuries - highlighting the differences in cooking utensils and shopping and refrigeration. My 6 year old cried when she found out I took it back to the library, because she loved reading it so much! Included in the back is the recipe.

Sam wrote: "Okay, I'm unsure whether to add this one, because it is about cooking, not necessarily crafting. Although, some could argue that cooking is a craft. So, I'm going to put my two cents in and if it f..."

It is a fine book, indeed.

Sam wrote: "Okay, I'm unsure whether to add this one, because it is about cooking, not necessarily crafting. Although, some could argue that cooking is a craft. So, I'm going to put my two cents in and if it f..."

That looks fabulous. It makes me think we should reserve this month for paper, clay, textile, etc. crafts, just in order so we can have a cooking theme another month.

In any case I'm going to get A Fine Dessert from my library asap. Thank you for posting it!

Chicken Sunday

Oma's Quilt

I think both of them have been discussed before in the club, but do fit the bill as crafts (Easter egg decoration, and quilting) are prominently featured.

Think Big is a very simple rhyming story that shows children participating in all types of art...painting, sculpting, sewing, etc.

Super Simple Mexican Art: Fun and Easy Art from Around the World. This is only 32 pages and features a variety of crafts (the description says easy, step by step crafts) from Mexico.

My local library has a whole series of books of crafts from different cultures. It appears they are all relatively short.
Asian-American Crafts Kids Can Do!
Middle Eastern Crafts Kids Can Do!
American Indian Crafts Kids Can Do!
Hispanic-American Crafts Kids Can Do!

Ruby Gets Crafty
Grandma, It's for You!
Hands: growing up to be an artist

Jenny, those all look like titles I want to check out! Thank you!

Dance of the Eggshells/Baile de los Cascarones by Carla Aragon could be considered a craft-related book, I think. It's about a tradition from Mexico/New Mexico of decorating blown eggshells and filling them with confetti. At a dance during the week after Easter, you invite someone to dance by cracking the egg over their head.

Making cascarones could be an easy and fun craft to do. Much easier than Pysanky eggs!

Dance of the Eggshells/Baile de Los Cascarones - sounds like a fun tradition and craft!

mmm.... not sure if I will join. Crafts are not my thing, I may try it but I have to think about it

Thanks for all the wonderful nominations! It's now time to VOTE. Please choose from the nominations (keeping in mind the picture-book length for any how-to books) and list your top five choices in a comment below. votes will be accepted until Feb 21st. Thank you!

Vavita wrote: "mmm.... not sure if I will join. Crafts are not my thing, I may try it but I have to think about it"

If not, please join us another month as I'm sure we will soon find something you'll enjoy ;-)

I vote for:
I Had a Favorite Dress - Boni Ashburn
Fiona's Lace - Patricia Polacco
Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends - Yumi Heo
Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt - Barbara Smucker
A Fine Dessert - Emily Jenkins

I Had a Favorite Dress
Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends
Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt
Chicken Sunday
Polka Dot Penguin Pottery

Here are my votes:
Super Simple Mexican Art: Fun and Easy Art from Around the World
Fiona's Lace
Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt
Grandma, It's for You!
Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends

Cheryl wrote: "That looks fabulous. It makes me think we should reserve this month for paper, clay, textile, etc. crafts, just in order so we can have a cooking theme another month."

Cheryl, we actually did "Culinary Delights" as a theme back in June 2010! :-) Be sure to check that out.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm actually considering revisiting some of the themes from prior years since this is the 6th (!!!) year of the PBC and we've had so many wonderful themes, far too many great books to leave off at just five, plus many members have joined since the club's beginning and never participated in the first go-around. I'll post this in Group Business and see what members think! :-)

Kathryn wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "That looks fabulous. It makes me think we should reserve this month for paper, clay, textile, etc. crafts, just in order so we can have a cooking theme another month."

Cheryl, we ac..."

I think that would be a very very good idea, and perhaps we can also then read some of the many books that were nominated but not chosen the first time around.

Crafty Chloe
Ruby Gets Crafty
A Fine Dessert
Fiona's Lace
Lady Hahn and her Seven Friends

Chicken Sunday
Dance of the Eggshells/Baile de los Cascarones
A Fine Dessert
Fiona's Lace
Grandma It's for You

The votes are in. Here are the books we will read together in March:

I Had a Favorite Dress
Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends
Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt
A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat
Chicken Sunday
Fiona's Lace

We don't have a great deal of diversity in style of crafts--votes came in heavily toward sewing/clothing-based crafts and we had two Patricia Polacco books in the top--but I think it looks like a wonderful line-up. For those celebrating Easter and/or St. Patrick's Day in March, the Polacco books are especially apt!

Since no how-to craft books ended up getting top votes, I want to encourage anyone who does try some out to please, please post back here in the Master List and let us know your thoughts on the books and experiences with the crafts. My oldest son is just starting to get into crafts and so far I'm trying to just give him his freedom with creating things, but I might check out a few how-to books just to give myself some ideas and I'd love to have the references for future use, too ;-)

Just remembered a charming book similar to I Had a Favorite Dress (which made the cut): My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert.

I read Crafty Chloe and thought it was darling. Here's my review: Chloe isn't good at sports or dancing...but she is good at sewing and crafting. One day she goes shopping for a gift for her friend Emma's birthday. She finds the perfect gift but (snotty) London has already bought the same gift for Emma. So Chloe decides she will make Emma the perfect gift. If only she can come up with an idea of what to make. Finally, she has an idea and gets busy... Darling story and there is a website with step by step instructions to make different craft projects inspired by the books: craftychloe.com.

Jenny, that sounds delightful! When my kids were small, I sometimes felt bad because I didn't do enough crafty things with them. (I'm not at all crafty, and never have been!) The website is a wonderful gift to people like me.

Native Crafts: Inspired by North America's First Peoples

A basic craft book featuring sixteen projects inspired by North America's First Nations (from bead jewelry to diverse drums), what I find most impressive is the fact that the instructions are uncluttered, gloriously simple, easy to understand. I am rather uncoordinated and untalented craft-wise, and sometimes have issues following and not being distracted by excessively intricate and involved instructions, but all of the instructions featured are clearly delineated and explained, with a step-by-step methodology suitable for both children and amateur, novice crafters. And while I personally would have appreciated additional historical details and a list for further reading, this is just a personal quibble (for a craft book, the information provided is informative and more than adequate). And I just love that Maxine Trottier has dedicated Native Crafts to the memory of a First Nations ancestor (Marguerite Ouabankikove).

Polka Dot Penguin Pottery

With an engaging and uplifting narrative (that while promoting essential truths and messages, never feels stale or heavy-handed), there is much to enjoy about Polka Dot Penguin Pottery, and much to make one smile with both humour and understanding. I know from personal experience that sometimes, when one is blocked with regard to an activity (like the protagonist/narrator is with her writer's block), the only way to become unstuck is to take a break and do something else (perhaps related, but it usually has to be something different, like the paint your own pottery studio the grandparents encourage Aspen Colorado Kim Chee Lee to try).

I appreciate the fact that Aspen does not immediately succeed, that her first attempts at painting her pottery egg are a struggle and frustrating. It is actually rather ironic in retrospect that I caught myself getting rather annoyed with Aspen's antics and impatience, until I realised that I was (in reality) annoyed at her because she was behaving so much like me, like I often have the tendency to act when things do not go right, when I feel incompetent (reality can be disconcerting). And yes, it is so true that to succeed, to make a masterpiece, to make anything, one has to be wiling to make a mess, one has to be willing to accept initial problems, even failures.

For me, Polka Dot Penguin Pottery especially and appreciatingly stands out with regard to its easy and natural portrayal of multi-ethnicity; the cast of characters is depicted and presented first and foremost as people, not as ethnic types, simply as human beings. The ethnicities and backgrounds of the charcters might be physically visible with regard to the illustrations, or that Aspen calls her grandparents gungung, for grandpa, and pohpoh, for grandma, but the text NEVER focusses on this. It focusses entirely on Aspen's sojourn at Yumi's Polka Dot Penguin Pottery studio, and her movement, her slow but steady transformation from frustration to delight (and finally, the end of her writer's block). The interchanges between Aspen and the other clients of Yumi, the other individuals painting pottery, are friendly, natural, and ALL that is basically being discussed are the issues at hand (that Aspen should relax, not be so hard on herself and that messes can be and often are both good and necessary for success).

As to Yumi Heo's illustrations (and I do wonder if the Yumi who manages and runs the pottery paintng studio is based on her, or is meant to actually be her), while on their own, I would not consider them all that much to my liking, they work well enough with the text, echoing the fun, the colour of Lenore Look's text, and also showing Aspen's initial frustration (as well as the joy, as her erstwhile messy egg starts sprouting trees and flowers). That being said, I do not particularly care for the fact that the book is written and illustrated in a vertical manner, spine side up (it makes reading, but especially flipping the pages, awkward and really quite annoying).

Those both look interesting; thanks for posting!

Pioneer Crafts

With seventeen pioneer craft activities (from simple toys to more demanding and elaborate projects such as making dyes), the easy to follow, yet nevertheless detailed step-by-step instructions and diagrams featured in Barbara Greenwood's (author) and Heather Collins' (illustrator) Pioneer Crafts might even tempt a rather uncoordinated and woefully untalented "craftophobe" like myself to consider trying some of the more straightforward suggestions (not sure if I am ready to consider sewing, but the splatter paintings and punched-tin lanterns do look rather appealing). Pioneer Crafts is fun for the whole family, as well as a valuable lesson in pioneer culture and life, namely that while for us, these are fun pastimes, for pioneers (both adults and children), sewing, carving, making dyes, making dyes and lanterns were generally an essential part of everyday life, and if children wanted dolls or toys, these generally had to be sewn or carved by hand.

Cheryl wrote: "Those both look interesting; thanks for posting!"

They are both quite good and in my opinion worth trying out.

Another wonderful, and again, Canadian offering about quilts and how quilts can assuage sadness and homesickness, is Oma's Quilt, where a grandmother is comforted and reconciled about moving to a retirement home by a homemade quilt of colourful scraps of memories (as one of the grandmother's main points of sadnes was not being able to take many of her belongings, her memories, with her to her new, but smaller residence).

Oh, yes, that's a wonderful book.

I'm glad to see this list is growing!

Christmas with the Mousekins I didn't add this to the list before, it being a holiday title, but it deserves to be on the Master List. Just adorable! Full of all the warmth and snuggly-ness and festiveness I love about Christmas. It just really spoke to me about what I feel about Christmas and family. The story could be enjoyed as a read-aloud picture book, and the included craft ideas and recipes are fun especially because you see how they play out in the story and if your kids are inspired to make the same things that the Mouskins do, they are able to. There's also a sweet message about sharing and giving. Just charming!