teenytinylibrary's review against another edition
3.0
This was a refreshing take on the nonfiction craft book. I enjoyed the variety of activities that Mark Frauenfelder dreamed up to take advantage of with his daughters (could be sons too). I love that the author chose to focus these projects on his daughters - especially since they are power-tooly, getting-dirty kinds of projects. So often we see craft books for girls that are delicate, lace, and don't get your hands dirty. Women should definitely feel encouraged and empowered to do the same kinds of creating as men. The projects presented here were reminiscent of those in MAKE magazine (only fitting since Mark is the editor-in-chief of MAKE) - use of circuits and arduinos in every day kinds of projects. I did read this on my iPad - as it was a net galley so there were times when I would read the instructions for a project and not be able to visualize what exactly I would need to do for each step. Usually pictures on subsequent pages would clarify. I had two gripes with the book - one, there were usually no end product pictures at the end of the tutorials and two, there weren't difficulty ratings on the activities themselves. There was a list of difficulties at the very beginning of the book, but it would be helpful to have the difficulty present on the tutorial itself. Overall, I think that this is the best kind of craft book around - new, exciting, and full of engaging crafts for everyone.
etoiline's review against another edition
4.0
Full disclosure: I am not a dad, but someday I might be a mom, and I feel like a mom could want to do the sort of experiments with her kid(s) that are featured in MAKER DAD just as much as a dad would (or help a dad out). There are dozens of activities here, some of which I couldn't do, since I don't have the typical masculine tools like a band saw or a solder sucker (I can wield a mean hammer, though). But all the activities look eminently doable and are presented in a very appealing way. The easy activities need little in the way of materials or time, but the more challenging ones could take many trips to the hardware store and a few days. It says father-daughter on the cover, but many of the activities are gender-neutral, good for introducing your DIY-savvy little ones to STEM education in a fun way. When I have kids, I will be glad I know about this book. My only gripe is that some of the activities don't interest me enough to outlay the time and money to get the necessary materials.
Received as a free digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Received as a free digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
patthebook's review against another edition
5.0
Too age-advanced for me to make use of with my daughter, but so many great ideas that we'll undoubtedly come back to when the time is right!
andizor's review
3.0
This was a refreshing take on the nonfiction craft book. I enjoyed the variety of activities that Mark Frauenfelder dreamed up to take advantage of with his daughters (could be sons too). I love that the author chose to focus these projects on his daughters - especially since they are power-tooly, getting-dirty kinds of projects. So often we see craft books for girls that are delicate, lace, and don't get your hands dirty. Women should definitely feel encouraged and empowered to do the same kinds of creating as men. The projects presented here were reminiscent of those in MAKE magazine (only fitting since Mark is the editor-in-chief of MAKE) - use of circuits and arduinos in every day kinds of projects. I did read this on my iPad - as it was a net galley so there were times when I would read the instructions for a project and not be able to visualize what exactly I would need to do for each step. Usually pictures on subsequent pages would clarify. I had two gripes with the book - one, there were usually no end product pictures at the end of the tutorials and two, there weren't difficulty ratings on the activities themselves. There was a list of difficulties at the very beginning of the book, but it would be helpful to have the difficulty present on the tutorial itself. Overall, I think that this is the best kind of craft book around - new, exciting, and full of engaging crafts for everyone.
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