The Kids' Building Workshop: 15 Woodworking Projects for Kids and Parents to Build Together »

Craig Robertson has been a carpenter and contractor for 12 years. He lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts with his wife Barbara.

Barbara Robertson is Director of Education at Williams College Museum of Art and designer of Kidspace @ MASS MoCA. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts with her husband Craig.

Boys and girls love woodworking projects! But most kids (and most parents) lack woodworking skills. That's where Kids' Building Workshop steps in. Craig Robertson, a master carpenter and renowned designer and builder of furniture, and Barbara Robertson, an art educator who specializes in teaching children, have developed an inspired method for teaching kids and their parents the basics of woodworking.

In this lively, fully photographed and illustrated book, the Robertsons present fun projects that teach essential woodworking skills. For example, the Spider-Web String Art project teaches kids how to wield a hammer, and the Drilled Name Plaque project teaches kids the safe and proper way to use a drill.

Building on these basic skills, the book moves on to intermediate-level projects. Kids learn how to make a sawhorse, a tool box, a step stool--all things that every carpenter must have to build bigger and more elaborate projects.

Finally, the kids are ready to take on seriously hip projects: a cricket cage, a book house, a dollhouse (and dollhouse furniture!), a lemonade stand, and a kids' play table.

The Kids' Building Workshop is a great primer that passes the hammer to a new generation of woodworking kids (and their parents).

School Library Journal

Gr 3-7-The Robertsons and their daughters, ages 11 and 9 when this book was begun, test-built the 15 safe and fun woodworking projects illustrated here. The first section, "Setting Up Shop: Getting to Know Your Tools," includes a basic introduction to hammering, sawing, drilling, block planing, and measuring. Next, "Down to Business: Building Your Own Projects" puts these tools and techniques to work in simple, yet cleverly designed, kid-friendly projects that increase in complexity. They require competent and willing parents/adults who will work beside, guide, and help youngsters learn woodworking skills by completing the suggested projects, such as bird houses, a tool box, a cricket cage, and a stool. Clear instructions, black-and-white photos, and cutting diagrams are included for each one. The amount of detail provided increases as needed. Adults are advised to take over on dangerous, repetitive, or boring steps. Emphasis throughout is on helping the kids have fun. Some vocabulary is introduced in context, but the lack of a glossary rankled in some instances in which words were mentioned, then not illustrated until pages, or even chapters, later. Of necessity for a book of this type, matters are simplified: in the discussion of hammers, for example, there is no mention of varying claw types, head designs, variously weighted heads, or handle materials. A practical and enjoyable introduction to the subject.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.