I Can Make a Mask

November 1, 2014

Gr 1-3-New readers can work back and forth between simple instructional texts and large, detailed action photos as they construct one simple project per volume. Templates help ensure results that look like the picture. Mask and Flowers use common materials (paper, buttons, glue) and are by far more foolproof and more customizable than Truck, which calls for eight bottle tops in addition to straws and two boxes, each a specific size and shape. Monster may require the most adult assistance, as young artists cut and glue felt shapes onto a sock. The crafts are not the point here, though; rather, the emphasis is on little kids learning to read instructions and discover the magic process by which words turn into objects. Solid offerings for first-time crafters.

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2014
Grades 2-4 This entry in the What Can I Make Today? series instructs kids on how to construct a maskto be specific, two masks. The first is birdlike with a definite Mardi Gras feel. Bright, patient step-by-step photos on blue backgrounds take the budding reveler through each maneuver. First, assemble the expected material: card stock, pencil, scissors, and so on. Next, photocopy the templates at the back of the book. Then comes the fun part: cutting out the eyes and feathers, folding the beak, decorating it however one likes, and attaching the elastic band. The second mask, an owl, takes up only three pages, assuming that the reader can apply the lessons of the first mask (which they should be able to do). The result is quite colorful, though probably not especially sturdy. Still, it should last through a night or two of masked mayhem. Though the steps are unnumbered, the Comic Sans font is serviceable and the prose clean, which should lead to mostly happy crafters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)