Neanderthal childrens' books?

[Clay Parrish]

I have a toddler boy who loves tools and hanging out in the garage with me. Can anyone recommend galoot-zone books for kids that feature woodworking, tools, historical crafts, old machine shops, you know - stuff like we all enjoy? Hurry, guys. Daddy needs to order his Christmas gifts!

[Jim Koepke]

Roy Underhill has a few books and he is always mentioning old woodworking text books from the late 19th early 20th century.

Look at lost arts press. I think there are a few there that might interest a young woodworker.

There are also books on making whirligigs and toys.

jtk

[Michael Fross]

Hello Clay,

This Lost Art Press book specifically is supposed to be quite good for children. I do not have it so others will have to confirm, but if I had a young toddler I would give this a shot.

http://lostartpress.com/products/grandpas-workshop

Michael

[Warren Mickley]

I would recommend Mill and Cathedral by David Maccaulay. These are books are written for a child, but so well researched that they are enjoyable to a craftsman as well. Terrific drawings and explanations of how these buildings were constructed. There are other books in the series ;these two are memorable.

[Christian Thompson]

Hello Clay,

This Lost Art Press book specifically is supposed to be quite good for children. I do not have it so others will have to confirm, but if I had a young toddler I would give this a shot.

http://lostartpress.com/products/grandpas-workshop

Michael

I got this book for my son a few years ago. I think he was around 6 and it was too scary for him at the time. It's a great book - lots of stories about tools, wonderful illustrations, and a kind of magical story quality to it. But it also has some "adult themes": a guy who killed his brother with a hammer, some pretty scary monsters, another guy who died falling off a roof, and a carpenter who spends all his earnings on drunken binges.

My son is now 9 and I've seen him reading it a few times and he seems to really enjoy it. So in my opinion it might be too much for a toddler but would be great a few years from now.

[Mark Wells]

When my son was younger I was looking for something similar, so I wrote a bedtime story called Daddy, Can We Play in the Workshop? about hand tool woodworking. It is about a father who only uses power tools, but discovers the joy of hand tools after he wants to be in the shop with his son. It is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Daddy-Can-We-P.../dp/1449918573

Putting the self promotion aside, check out books by Eric Sloane. The text is probably a little too advanced for a toddler, but the illustrations are outstanding and he will grow into the text. Try to find the old hardbacks, not the crummy paperback reprints. Some of our favorites are
* Diary of an Early American Boy
* A Reverence for Wood
* A Museum of Early American Tools
* The Weather Book

When he is ready to actually work in the shop, I recommend Carpentry for Children by by Les Walker. The text of that book is designed to be read by the child. My son read that book and was able to build the coaster car on his own.

For you I recommend Woodshop for Kids by Jack McKee. The instructions are targeted at parents of kids just a year or two older than your son. I also recommend Woodworking with Kids by Richard Starr. Starr is a wood shop teacher who wrote a book for parents who want to teach woodworking to their kids. This book covers kids from kindergarten to high school.

Finally, I have a suggestion for a gift I have given to many kids who all enjoyed it. Take a board 1.5" thick (a 2x something) and write your son's name on it lightly in pencil in big letters. Then drill pilot holes in the shape of the letters. Then plane off the pencil marks. Give him 1.25" nails and a 7 oz hammer and he will have a blast driving nails in the board. Until all my son's friends had one, I made many of those for birthday gifts.

Happy shop time!

Mark

[Matthew Hills]

Woodworking Wit and Wisdom

There isn't a continuity of story, but the illustrations sure are great and each has a short article to illustrate a point.


Matt