12 Books for Kids About Making Things

Please welcome my guest author today, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, with her list about 12 Books About Making Things.

We are also giving away her book, With My Hands: Poems About Making Things. Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.

p.s. Here is one more true story about making things.

Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, illustrated by Anna López Real

During the Great Depression, Ernestine and her family had a difficult life. Because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program, they received free food. Ernestine wanted to thank the president for the assistance so she decided to make something from the wooden crates that contained the free food. Because Ernestine had helped her father with his carpentry work, she knew how to use the tools. It took 156 intricate pieces of carved wood to make her gift. She sent her gift with a letter and received one back from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, her clock building is on exhibit at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. [picture book biography, ages 5 and up]

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It is natural and necessary to make things with our hands, and in these screen-focused days, celebrating making is more important and joyous than ever.  These books teach and tell stories about the power of using our hands to build, sculpt, and create. Make something! Help children become makers. It is a gift to work with our hands…

12 Books for Kids About Making Things

1. With My Hands: Poems About Making Things by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson

This collection of poems whimsically honors the way our hands create something from nothing. From soap carving to painting to baking cookies, each poem dives into the surprise and joy that comes from the human act of making.  School Library Journal writes, “This is art about art.” [picture book, ages 4 and up]

2. Grow: A Family Guide to Growing Fruits and Vegetables by Ben Raskin

This book of growing projects, written and illustrated by a horticulturist, details several simple family gardening projects, from making compost to planting easy-to-grow fruits and vegetables. With bright illustrations and even stickers and gardening games, these pages will bring hands big and small closer to the earth. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

3. ish by Peter H. Reynolds

When his brother laughs at a new drawing, young art-loving Ramon is frustrated that his artwork does not exactly represent real life and almost gives up.  Fortunately, his sister Marisol sees that his vase does, indeed look “vase-ish.” With this bit of encouragement, Ramon sees the “ish” in all of his creations and lives “ishfully ever after.”  A testimony to the beauty of imperfection and art. [picture book, ages 5 and up]

4. The Best of Making Things: A Hand Book of Creative Discovery by Ann Sayre Wiseman

This is a classic book from the 1970s, all hand-drawn and full of things to make with materials you have right at home. To try something new, to get away from your computer, to explore using simple materials, to find the satisfaction one receives from making…just open the cover and choose a project. This book is one you will keep forever. [project book, all ages]

5. Hands: Growing Up to Be an Artist by Lois Ehlert

A small, bold book full of beautiful, bright photographs tells the story of Lois Ehlert’s maker parents’ projects, including how they welcomed her into the world of art and creation.  Several pages in this book are cut into shapes of gloves, hands, pockets, and other artist-relate objects. The author’s note at the book’s end tells more about Ehlert’s maker childhood. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

6. Kids Cook! by Good Housekeeping

From Watermelon Pizza to Peach Melba Breakfast Pops to Triple Decker Tortilla Pie, this beginner cookbook is full of tasty favorites.  Simple ingredients and easy-to-read instructions as well as some twists on old favorites make this an easy weeknight go-to project for families or older children.  This book is filled with mouth-watering photographs and includes a foreword with chef tips on Knife Skills, Cook’s Lingo, and more. [cookbook, ages 8 and up]

7. Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzburg

8. Maker Lab Outdoors: 28 Super Cool Projects by Jack Challoner, foreword by Jack Andraka

Companion to Challoner’s Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects, this book offers well-explained projects, each detailed with photographs on a two-page spread. Among other things, children will learn how to make a wormery, a paper sundial, and a twirling helicopter. Categories of projects include Nature Watch, World of Weather, Water Power, and Earth and Sky. [project book, ages 8 and up]

9. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Here is a story of a girl named Annabelle who finds a box full of yarn.  Each time she knits something new, she still has extra yarn, so she keeps knitting…for everyone and everything.  There are robbers and a threat, but ultimately a happy ending. This book is full of enchanting illustrations and delightful lines such as, “‘No thank you,’ said Annabelle, who was knitting a sweater for a pickup truck.” [poetry picture book, ages 3 and up]

10. Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Lowell, illustrated by Rafael López

Based on the true story of how Rafael and Candice López artistically transformed the East Village near downtown San Diego, California, this exquisitely illustrated book tells the story of a girl named Mira who paints and paints with her community, making it beautiful through art. A testimony to the power of and need for art in our lives which includes a fabulous note from the authors. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

11. This is My Dollhouse by Giselle Potter

A creative and exuberant little girl makes her own dollhouse as well as all of the furniture and food to go with it.  But when her friend (a friend with a store-bought dollhouse) comes to visit, she is embarrassed to share her own creations. Once she does, she opens up a world of making and pretending and discovery to her friend and comes to appreciate her own homemade world in a brand new way as well. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

12. Mud Book: How to Make Pies and Cakes by John Cage, illustrated by Lois Long

This is a cookbook for outdoor cooking, but not for eating!  A classic from the 1950s, Mud Bookis back to all of us in our backyards and forests, helping us get messy in the world of baking with dirt, water, dandelions, and other natural ingredients. Fun primitive paintings along with hand-lettered pages make this book feel like something a child could make, and this makes it even more charming. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

With My Hands: Poems About Making Things GIVEAWAY!

We are also giving away her book, With My Hands: Poems About Making Things. Please fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. We can only mail to U.S. addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is the author of children’s books including Forest Has a Song, Every Day Birds, Read! Read! Read!, Dreaming of You, and With My Hands.  She is a former fifth-grade teacher, a nineteen-year writing teacher, and the author of the professional book Poems Are Teachers: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres. Amy lives in Holland, NY with her family, blogs for young writers at The Poem Farm and Sharing Our Notebooks, and posts on Twitter and Instagram as @amylvpoemfarm.

p.s. Related posts:

Stick Toys: A Stick is an Excellent Thing

Korean and Japanese Sword Making

Lego STEM Creativity: Building Lego Models

Making Pie for Pi Day: 3.14.16 (rounding up!)

Making 3D Hologram Projector: STEM for Kids

Art Project for Kids: Making Paint Like Impressionists

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My books:

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• • • Junior Library Guild Gold selection
    • Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
    • Starred review from School Library Journal
    • Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
    • 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
    • Green Earth Book Award longlist
    • Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me