Alter This!: Radical Ideas for Transforming Books Into Art
Grade 7 Up—Altered books are a hot craft trend, and this is the first how-to book on the subject for a young audience. The author starts with how to find materials (don't use library books), background preparation, a few words on design, and tools and materials. Appropriate warnings are given for using a craft knife and a box cutter. The bulk of the book consists of 39 techniques and projects ranging from collage to stamping, from using words already in the book to create poetry to making a purse or a clock. The step-by-step directions are clearly written, and the examples shown are accessible to teens, unlike some of those in books for adults. Creative crafters looking for more sophisticated techniques might try Barbara Matthiessen'sAltered Book Collage(Sterling, 2005) or Holly Harrison'sAltered Books, Collaborative Journals, and Other Adventures in Bookmaking(Rockport, 2003). Using discarded volumes after weeding to make altered books could be a great teen program.—Nancy Kunz, Tuckahoe Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.