Recycled Crafts Box - Hardcover

Laura C. Martin has been writing about nature, crafts, and gardening for 25 years. She has served as garden editor for Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles and Georgia magazines. She is the author of 18 books, most recently The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers, which was featured on the Discovery Channel. Her lectures and workshops on crafts and gardening delight audiences across the United States.

Grade 1-6–From its cover with raised letters that look as though they are made of various recycled materials to the helpful back matter (including a list of books and Web sites on recycling), this title is attractive and informative. Divided into sections dealing with paper, plastic, metal, and fabric, the book tells how these materials are made, traces their history, and explains how they can be recycled, emphasizing benefits to the environment. Tips on how youngsters can make a difference appear throughout, and interviews with artists who work with recyclables are included as sidebars. Scattered circles contain information about the inability of various substances to break down. Several art projects are provided for each type of material. These activities produce items that children will enjoy making and using, such as jewelry crafted from paper beads, dolls created from plastic yogurt cups, stilts fashioned out of empty paint cans, and planters made from old shoes. The finished items are shown in full-page color photos. The procedural steps are clearly written, well numbered, and illustrated with clear pencil drawings. Great for Earth Day or any day, this colorful, inviting, and well-organized book is a wonderful choice for instilling environmental awareness or encouraging creativity. Bobbe Needham's Ecology Crafts for Kids (Sterling, 1998) is another excellent title.–Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJ
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