Lucky Bamboo Book of Crafts

Overview

China's amazing ancient history, folk traditions, and festive celebrations come alive in this imaginative album filled with fun ideas and creative crafts all about Chinese culture and traditional arts. Each craft can be completed with the reproducible templates and graphics included, along with just a few basic art and craft supplies, paper, and recycled materials. Easy-to-follow, illustrated step-by-step instructions accompany the description and history of each craft. An eight-page cover-weight foldout includes an overview of China with at-a-glance facts and appealing images. The additional project resources include simple Mandarin vocabulary and Chinese character references, along with partial Mandarin translations throughout. Jam-packed with projects for all ages, the book's sturdy presentation has an attractive spine concealed in "bamboo" and handy inside-cover pockets for notes and ideas.

Reviews

"This book is truly a wonderful gem. A beautifully illustrated book that describes the "how to" of making numerous Chinese crafts and a guide to their historical significance. This book is an excellent source for teachers and a true book of inspiration to crafters of all ages!" —5-star review, MKB, Amazon, 4/9/13"I bought this book on Chinese crafts recently for my niece for her birthday. She was adopted as a baby from China. She LOVED it, and it was the perfect gift! I gave it to her with a box full of all of the items we would need to make the banner shown, and the lantern! I also gave her a beautiful bamboo plant along with the book, because of the picture of one on the spine! We had so much fun doing the projects together and looking through the book. It is so well done, extremely easy to use, and so informative concerning the Chinese traditions, symbolism, geography, and other interesting facts. I know she will find all of the projects fun to do. I could not be happier with my purchase of this book, and wish you much success with it, it is fabulous! My sister and brother-in-law were also so interested in your story with your own daughter; it was nice to see your photo on the author page! Thank you again so much!" —Theresa Lane, Casco, Maine, customer, 6/20/13"What a beautiful book! The layout is concise, logical and very easy to follow. A feast for the eyes and a cultural immersion experience ideal for anybody who wants to learn more about Chinese traditions. Educators, adoptive families, crafty people- all would enjoy diving into this book and letting their creativity soar. I haven't seen anything like this out there. Follow the illustrated step-by-step instructions to create culturally accurate and meaningful craft projects. Highly recommended!" —5-star review, Karen, Amazon, 4/5/13"I love this book. My four kids enjoy the craft projects, and in the process they learn about Chinese culture. I would recommend this book to anyone (parent/educator) who wants a new and interesting way to expose young minds to the art and culture of China or who simply want a fun and stimulating excuse to spend more time together." —5-star review, Chris, Amazon, 4/15/13"....Overall I would highly recommend this book for families and teachers who want to expose children to Chinese culture. Kids love crafts and they’ll be having so much fun with the projects, they won’t even know they’re learning!" —review, Bicultural Mama; Celebrating the Best of Both Worlds blog, 6/7/13

Author Biography

Jennifer DeCristoforo is an author, illustrator, teacher, designer, and crafter who has worked in illustration, gift product design, art education, and educational publishing. She has made many trips to Asia and is inspired daily by her daughter, adopted from Jiangxi Province, China. She lives in Yarmouth, Maine.