Quill and Quire

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I Can Make Jewelry (i Can Make Series)

by Mary Wallace

Kindergarten children are a tough crafting audience not only because of their limited dexterity and high expectations, but also because parents of this age group demand happiness all around for effort exerted. Mary Wallace hits the mark with some very clever, appealing ideas for girls of this age, such as earrings made from decorated, short pieces of drinking straws cut lengthwise to clip onto the rim of the ear, and a simple hair scrunchie made from a kid’s sock (toe cut off), threaded and tied with elastic. Another winner is a pair of linked hands cut from a margarine lid. These hands are worn on the shoelaces of two friends to signify their devotion.

In the same way that girls in an earlier era would sit corking or embroidering for hours, girls today are fanatical about weaving beaded friendship bracelets. The beading pages are well done and could be the basis of a full book. But the author missed a golden opportunity by dedicating a meagre four pages to beading, while many other projects act as filler of the time-wasting egg-crate craft variety. Some projects have problems, like the ladybug brooch with full-sized drinking straw legs that’s much too large, and a plastic headband wrapped in string beads that looks painful to wear. Some have instruction problems like the cut-out jewelry stand that is supposed to be cut with scissors into a hand shape (complete with fingers) from corrugated cardboard (I challenge the grown-up called for to perform this task). The accompanying photo shows purple corrugated plastic – no cardboard in sight – which looks crisply cut by a utility knife.

The photos by Mary Wallace are bright and clear, but the design by Julia Naimska leaves something to be desired. The wavy headline type can make you seasick, there are no page borders, and the photos are all close cut and distributed helter skelter on the page, giving the book a scattered, falling-off-the-page look.

 

Reviewer: Sheila Mcgraw

Publisher: Owl Books

DETAILS

Price: $6.95

Page Count: 32 pp

Format: Paper

ISBN: 1-895688-63-9

Released: Feb.

Issue Date: 1997-3

Categories:

Age Range: ages 4–6