The Handmade Charlotte Playbook: Crafts, Games and Recipes for Families To Do Together Throughout the Year

In her first book, blogger Faucett collects more than 120 projects, including crafts, recipes, and games, designed for families to do together. Unfortunately, the author has gone for quantity over quality in this uneven collection. Some of the projects are simple yet imaginative (a unicorn puppet from pasta, pipe cleaners, and beads), but others are impractical (a xylophone that uses 27 identical glass vases) or of dubious appeal (mini-churro action figures). The book’s greatest weakness is its poor organization. The projects are arranged alphabetically, with indexes for project type, recipe type, and seasons and holidays. Badly needed is an index by age level, since the projects range in skill level and appeal from preschool to teen and adult. It would also benefit from indicating the difficulty level and time needed to complete each project so that readers could more easily navigate the large collection.