The Children's Kraft Shop

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Adelia Belle Beard's inventive children's craft book turns scraps, paper, spools, corks, and thread into toys that really move. Polly and Donald work side by side in a cheerful "kraftshop," where every project becomes a lesson in measuring, folding, cutting, and clever improvisation. Their first creations include spinning pinwheels, a paper windmill, and a box-bodied wind wagon with spool wheels, hatpin axles, twigs, sails, masts, and pennants. From there, the children tackle a homemade motor car, shaping bristolboard into a convincing body with doors, seats, hood, lamps, mud guards, painted wheels, a steering wheel, and a hanging license number. Each step is shown with practical detail and a playful spirit, as the finished car is tested for speed. The book then lifts off with a bird-like airship, complete with a balloon, wings, tail rudder, passenger car, and pinwheel propeller, before ending on a sunny beach where Polly and Donald build a sand wheel from a cocoa can and other simple materials. Full of teamwork, ingenuity, and make-believe, this charming guide invites children to build with confidence and delight.