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Play All Day: A Really Giant Book of Punch-Out-and-Play Games, Toys, Finger Puppets, Boxes and More!, by Taro Gomi, Chronicle Books, $19.99, all ages, 116 pages. Opening this book is like entering a wonderland of possibility, but where does a child ever begin? Watching your child figure that out is part of the magic of Gomi's clever new book of toys. Every folded page is so packed with playthings waiting to be made, little eyes will be darting about just trying to take it all in. Then once they land on the thing they just have to do first, clear the table and stand back. Will it be a garland strung with monkeys and a few long-tailed friends? Or a game of ring toss made from a Parisian themed punch-out -- three hot pink rings and a fold-together black cone? Or maybe a troupe of finger puppets that are sure to inspire a bigger project, such as a cardboard stage? By day's end, don't be surprised if Play All Day is all punched out, though with more than 60 playthings that slide together, fold and/or hang, your child is sure to be amused for days time to come.
As with her wildly popular Scribbles and Doodles coloring books, Gomi keeps instructions spare, as if to say: Be spontaneous and self-inspired! Yet the toy projects are all so straightforward that only the youngest crafters will need a helping hand, perhaps to slide in tabs to make a box, slip buildings into a cityscape or string their ornaments for the tree. Need an all-in-one activity to keep your child happy on a slow day? This is it! Now all we need is a Taro original, punch-out toy box.
As with her wildly popular Scribbles and Doodles coloring books, Gomi keeps instructions spare, as if to say: Be spontaneous and self-inspired! Yet the toy projects are all so straightforward that only the youngest crafters will need a helping hand, perhaps to slide in tabs to make a box, slip buildings into a cityscape or string their ornaments for the tree. Need an all-in-one activity to keep your child happy on a slow day? This is it! Now all we need is a Taro original, punch-out toy box.
Action Journal, by Becky Baines, art by Neal Ashby and Patrick Donohue, National Geographic, $12.95, ages 7 and up, 176 pages. The first thing you'll notice about this journal is that it has a mind of its own. On the first page, the book tells you to answer a simple question: Are you boring? If you are, you have no place in this book: "Do not," the journal warns. "I repeat, do not proceed past this page." OK, it got you, but what could be so exciting about an "action" journal? Well, for one, it's got a hip narrator. The journal doesn't mince words and it also assumes you don't want to go on and on about your day or your deepest thoughts. Every page is a silly, fun exercise in being yourself. One page allows you to smear on your favorite scent. Another asks you to go around your house and write down what you think a Barcalounger and other voiceless items might say. And one gives you four categories of words so you can string together a name for the band you're now going to form (now that you've been asked to come up with a name and all). Not every page of the journal is meant to stay put for future reflection. On one page there's a sign to cut out and hang on your history teacher's door, no-boring people allowed inside, and on another, there's a blank space for you to write a note to a stranger, then cut it out and stick it somewhere so
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