(3) 4-6 Edge Books: Drawing Mash-Ups series. Illustrated by Stefano Azzalin. Learn how to draw animals (cat, tortoise) and legendary monsters (minotaur, werewolf) that assume human or machine characteristics (gymnast cat, bread-baking werewolf). These how-to books include step-by-step instructional sketches for thirteen "mash-ups" each that progress from sketched shapes to detailed colored pictures. An introduction encourages creativity and experimentation and offers suggestions about different media to use including pastels or chalk. Reading list. Review covers these Edge Books: Drawing Mash-Ups titles: Draw Amazing Animal Mash-Ups and Draw Scary Monster Mash-Ups.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Edge Books: Drawing Mash-Ups series. Illustrated by Alan Brown. Learn how to draw animals (cat, tortoise) and legendary monsters (minotaur, werewolf) that assume human or machine characteristics (gymnast cat, bread-baking werewolf). These how-to books include step-by-step instructional sketches for thirteen "mash-ups" each that progress from sketched shapes to detailed colored pictures. An introduction encourages creativity and experimentation and offers suggestions about different media to use including pastels or chalk. Reading list. Review covers these Edge Books: Drawing Mash-Ups titles: Draw Amazing Animal Mash-Ups and Draw Scary Monster Mash-Ups.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) 4-6 Dabble Lab: Project Passion series. Practiced crafters can find here open-ended ideas that jump right into projects, skipping safety cautions, tools, and material lists. Photos of finished items, a few general steps, and suggested variations will get them started. The volumes offer abundant ideas for using crafting scraps to make mobiles, framed art, jewelry, and more, but project "steps" are hard to follow. Reading list. Review covers these Dabble Lab: Project Passion titles: Bit by Bit and Bought in Bulk.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) 4-6 Dabble Lab: Project Passion series. Practiced crafters can find here open-ended ideas that jump right into projects, skipping safety cautions, tools, and material lists. Photos of finished items, a few general steps, and suggested variations will get them started. The volumes offer abundant ideas for using crafting scraps to make mobiles, framed art, jewelry, and more, but project "steps" are hard to follow. Reading list. Review covers these Dabble Lab: Project Passion titles: Bit by Bit and Bought in Bulk.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) 4-6 You Choose: Haunted Places series. On guided tours of a historic hotel and a long-abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium, readers are given a choice of numerous scenarios and endings that portray the supposedly ghostly haunting of each. The slight Choose Your Own Adventure–style speculative narratives offer dozens of entertaining choices and multiple endings accompanied by archival photographs of the locales. An epilogue provides limited historical background. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these You Choose: Haunted Places titles: The Haunted Sanatorium and [cf]2Stanley Hotel.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) 4-6 Snap Books: Make It, Gift It series. Ideas for creative gift-wrapping opens this volume of homemade projects including edible items, jewelry, home-decorating projects, and more. Lists of supplies, step-by-step instructions, and color photos of some steps in creating final products are included; several projects require unusual ingredients (birthday cake–scented fragrance oil) and skills beyond average novice crafters (sewing and using a frosting piping bag). Reading list.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) 4-6 Snap Books: Make It, Gift It series. Ideas for packaging and wrapping edible gifts lead to directions for eleven interesting treats and themed gift baskets. Color photos show finished products and some of the listed steps for creating them. While adult help is suggested when using ovens, other steps may be difficult for even some adults (carving a strawberry into a rose; making pasta and marshmallows from scratch). Reading list.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) 4-6 Nickolas Flux History Chronicles series. Illustrated by Dante Ginevra. History-loving teen Nickolas has the ability to go back in time to important events. Mixing real figures with fiction, the graphic novels convey the gist of the Boston Tea Party and the Salem Witch Trials (Witchcraft relies on stereotypes a bit); sidebars and appended information provide more context. Although vocabulary levels are uneven, these are suited to reluctant readers. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Nickolas Flux History Chronicles titles: Arrested for Witchcraft! and Night of Rebellion!.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) 4-6 Snap Books: Paint It series. These useful books familiarize readers with two types of artists' paints. There's a bit of history (oil paints were first used in the 1300s), a little chemistry (watercolors contain pigments mixed with gum Arabic), information on surfaces and brushes, and much about techniques and effects. Though not overly complex, stepped projects will challenge and satisfy dedicated art students. Reading list. Review covers these Snap Books: Paint It titles: Oil Paints and Watercolors.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) 4-6 Snap Books: Paint It series. These useful books familiarize readers with two types of artists' paints. There's a bit of history (oil paints were first used in the 1300s), a little chemistry (watercolors contain pigments mixed with gum Arabic), information on surfaces and brushes, and much about techniques and effects. Though not overly complex, stepped projects will challenge and satisfy dedicated art students. Reading list. Review covers these Snap Books: Paint It titles: Oil Paints and Watercolors.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo