I don’t actually hate crafts, but wanted a quick option for things, when I want to do or create, with Ada, but don’t have a lot of time to do it or plan. This book gives you not only fast options, but also some ideas you may not have done before. I really think a lot of families will love this!

To begin, I’d like to thank Penguin Random House UK for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And thank you to Emma Scott-Child for the very detailed instructions!

Firstly, I just want to say that I’m a big reviewer of fiction and I believe this is my first “instructional book” review - however, as I’m currently in lock-down with 2 little girls I thought this was the perfect book for now!

So, if you’re a parent who doesn’t mind the house littered with paper puppets and stick airplanes then this is a great book for you! Step my step instructions with photos to guide you at every single stage. It really is super easy to follow! I would have liked each tutorial to begin with a photo of the finished product though because it would’ve helped me to see what I was hoping to achieve by following the steps. It wasn’t a great hardship to skip to the end of each tutorial first to see what I was making but it would have been easier if the photo was at the start.

I was pleased to see that all of the tutorials involved common craft supplies (no glue guns or specific craft shop items required!)... so that was a win. Also the “no glitter” rule! Absolute godsend!! You should be able to pick this book up and make something - even if your supplies are limited!

However, I’m NOT a parent who enjoys paper puppets and stick planes littered around (my children have a strong NEED to keep every single picture they draw and stick it on the fridge so I’d never be able to sneakily dispose of the paper crafts). So in that sense this book wasn’t greatly helpful to my specific needs, however the chapters on useable things (the pyjama holder, bunting, tassels, teddy capes, silhouette pictures), that will come in handy for up cycling and general party decorations so I’ll be keeping this book purely for that chapter because it really was useful to me and it’s easy to see how these designs could be adapted for other needs.

Those aspects were a definite 5 star for me but the rest of the book was a 3 star (due to it mostly creating clutter rather than useable crafts). So I’ll settle on 4 star to be fair to the book as a whole! Parents who just need to pick up a book for inspiration and easy tutorials will love this book! If you’re looking for more useable crafts then google is still your best bet, but be aware that this route will most always involve glue guns and glitter.