Carpentry for Children

by Lester Walker

Book Overview

A step-by-step guide to carrying out such carpentry projects as a birdhouse, candle chandelier, doll cradle, puppet theater, and coaster car. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879519908
• ISBN13: 9780879519902
• Release Date: September 1985
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.4" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A good second book

This book offers projects for a range of skill levels, from simple toys on up through a lemonade stand cut from a whole sheet of plywood. Different projects suit different levels of skill and strength - cutting some of those pieces with a hand saw will take a while. There's a lot to like here. It starts with an introduction to basic hand tools, including short lessons on using each one. The list includes a brace and bit, the classic hand drill (not the egg-beater kind). I agree completely with this 1985 book in recommending that to a kid but, since this book came out, it verges on extinction as cordless drills encroach on its former habitat. This book distinguishes itself in offering kids larger-scale projects than other books, starting with the very first: the workbench on which the rest will be made. Perhaps the floating toys represent the range best. A little wooden tugboat, suitable as a bathtub toy, lies at the small end of the scale. At the other end, a real raft (holds one or two kids) requires several five-foot logs, eight inches in diameter. Other projects, including a few with girl appeal, lie between those extremes. Walker makes sure there's fun in the finished work, too, not just in the making. An easel, a puppet theater, and a gravity race car all promise years of fun (and maybe a few good healthy bruises). Although the scale of some projects might be a bit much for smaller carpenters and living spaces, the range offers something for many skill levels, and offers the beginner a lot to look forward to. Not every project will work for every kid, but it looks like a lot of fun. -- wiredweird

"A good book" by David Stull, age 14

Carpentry for Children, by Les Walker is an incredible book with enlightening and challenging projects that will delight children for hours upon hours