~ MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE
MONDAY S.T.E.A.M. FEATURE ~
-- 'ASIAN KITES FOR KIDS' --
AUTHOR WAYNE HOSKING
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NOW, HERE'S MY MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE MONDAY FEATURE FOR THIS WEEK:
Asian Kites for Kids: Make Fly Your Own Asian Kites - Easy Step-by-Step Instructions for 15 Colorful Kites
Kids will learn how to make colorful kites while exploring Asian culture and history with this easy-to-follow craft book for kids.
Fun to build and exciting to fly, kites are a universal expression of joy and wonder for enthusiasts of all ages. Asian Kites for Kids features kite building projects that are beautiful and functional—ideal for teachers, camp counselors, parents, and budding young kite makers themselves.
Kite making is a traditional Asian craft and an essential aspect of folklore that uses everyday materials to create beautiful works of art. In fact, kites are just as much fun to build as they are to fly! The colorful, easy-to-follow instructions will have readers building and flying fifteen different models from across Asia including China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Korea.
With Asian Kites for Kids readers will learn to build:
A Butterfly kite from China
A Cobra kite from Thailand
A Mini kite from Malaysia
A Shield kite from Korea
An Octopus kite from Japan
and much more!
This book includes sections on safety, the anatomy of kites, troubleshooting tips, as well as an index of online retailers and resources. Spend hours of fun with your kids and friends crafting handmade Asian kites and exploring the great outdoors while watching your original creations soar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR {from Tuttle Publishing's Website}:
Wayne Hosking is a world-renowned kite authority, collector, and designer. The author of several books on kites and kite making, Hosking has displayed his kite collection in museums, schools, and universities and continues to teach kite making and give demonstrations throughout the country. Most recently, his collection of Japanese kites was on display at the Morikami Museum in Delray Beach, Florida.
MY THOUGHTS:
I loved flying kites when I was a young person!
The husband of one of the teachers at the school where I taught visited the school each spring and brought along several of his kites. I do not remember if he built the kites himself, but his kites were large and were not your run-of-the-mill dime store type kites.
He talked to the students about kites and kite-flying before he launched a big box kite on the open space of the playground. I still smile when I think of the sweet memory of how those six and seven year olds oooooed and ahhhhed as the kites took flight, tails fluttering in the wind. The kite-flyer would move his hands this way and that and make the kites twist and turn in the wind. It was an amazing sight to behold. The kids were spellbound.
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This book is filled with the science, math, engineering, and art behind kite making and kite flying. The author is an authority on kites and teaches kite making across the United States.
The book begins with a detailed history of kites from around the world. Being a history buff, I enjoyed this part of the book immensely. If working with children, this would be a great time to get out a globe or a world map and discuss geography. Here the author shares folk tales from China and Polynesia relating to kites. The author's conclusion about the origin of kites is that the official birthplace of the kite is unclear.
The next section of the book involves making Asian kites and includes the various 'parts' of a kite and the materials needed to make a kite. He includes the knots needed to construct a kite and ways to include noisemakers on the kite for auditory enjoyment.
He moves through how to fly a kite and even includes a sidebar about the 'Wind Scale' listing each step of wind speed and what it means. For example: 'Light Air: 2-3 mph (3-5 km/h). Smoke drifts and flags show little movement; ripples on water.' {page 13}
The remainder of the book is divided into sections by country {Kites from China, etc.}, and includes detailed instructions for fifteen kites from Asia. The author presents lots of great historical information here, too. Highlights (in my humble opinion) are the projects named: Butterfly kite from China; Thai Fish kite from Thailand; Bug kit from Japan; and the Sleeve kite from Japan. They are simply beautiful.
The back matter includes a note to parents and teachers from the author on how to present kite workshops to young learners, a list of online resources, and a bibliography.
Highly-recommended to learners of all ages with an interest in kites, science, history, engineering, crafts, mathematics, art, Asian art, Asian history, and/or a desire to have some good, old-fashioned fun! This would be a fantastic book to use at a youth/scout camp, school, science club, family or neighborhood gathering, or at a community festival.
I borrowed this book from the non-fiction shelves in the children's collection of the local public library. **************** Learn about more great middle-grade reads by visiting Greg Pattridge's 'Always in the Middle' blog to find the links to other blog posts celebrating Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday!
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I too loved to fly kites as a kid. A nearby community has a kite festival in the summer and I'll recommend this book to one of the organizers.
ReplyDeleteThis would have been my favorite book as a child -- I loved designing and making my own kites. What fun! Excellent review.
ReplyDeleteHere's another book I could have used when my daughter was younger. She's adopted from China and our adoption support group was always looking for craft ideas. This one would have been perfect.
ReplyDeleteOooooh. How fun is this? Thanks for telling me about it.
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