Carpentry for Children
Walker
1982
My general rule of thumb for kids nonfiction is that it shouldn’t be older than the age of the kid. Please don’t write us about all your examples of the exceptions. I get it. There are probably thousands of exceptions. But I digress…
This book was brought to me by one of my co-workers. Topic is fine, but this particular book was old and tired looking. (As I am old and tired looking, I feel qualified to judge.)
In this example, the date published makes me question the following:
- Is the instructional component and other content appropriate for the age group?
- Are the tools/equipment/materials available and safe? (Beware of products/materials that are no longer available.)
- Do any of the projects or commentary use outmoded or inappropriate language when describing people or things?
- Are the projects something kids would be interested in now? (Not 40 years ago.)
Again, I am not saying that just because it’s old, doesn’t make it an automatic weed, however it does mean we need to check further.
