When I was in my early twenties, I decided I wanted to learn to knit. I found a Klutz craft book, a series I’d loved as a teen, with step-by-step instructions, a set of knitting needles and even a yarn needle for sewing. A few weeks later, I’d made a scarf, a purse and even a little knitted rabbit toy! I’ve always thought Klutz books are a great choice for bringing out creativity for kids, teens and even adults in all kinds of ways and recently, the collection of craft books expanded to include a brand-new line for younger children four and up.
Klutz Jr. books and craft kits are perfect for smaller children that want to unleash their inner creativity and contain everything needed to create fun and unique crafts. So far, the Klutz Jr. collection consists of four fun-filled kits: My Sparkly Tiaras, My Clay Critters, My Egg Carton Animals and My Hand Art. I received a set of the four new titles to review for myself and with my boys home last Friday for a teacher’s development day, the timing was perfect to sit down and get creative with them!
Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
As soon as I saw The Very Hungry Bear, the newest picture book from Nick Bland, I knew we would be reading that one first. My boys love his previous books and so we sat down together to check out the new story. The tale of a hungry bear that went fishing and found a lost polar bear was so much fun and both the boys enjoyed it. And I appreciated the theme the story had of helping those in need, even if it means going without something yourself! 
Since Father’s Day had just passed, we decided to read Some Dads by Nick Bland first. This simple rhyming picture book has fun illustrations of animal dads and their children. From sporty dads to loud dads, every child is sure to find a dad described in the book that reminds them of their own father. My boys loved the pictures and especially enjoyed the “naughty dad,” who thought it was okay to throw water balloons in the house! 
