Carpentry for Children

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

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