Everywear (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Everywear Elizabeth Bush Warwick, Ellen. Everywear; illus. by Bernice Lum. Kids Can, 200880p ISBN 978-1-55337-799-3$14.95 R Gr. 5-8 Poorly accessorized? Underbaubled? Insufficiently bejeweled? Warwick rushes to the rescue with more than a dozen DIY projects and related riffs to bolster flagging middle-school cool. After several opening pages that introduce supplies (how to tell a crimp from an end cap; why cap snaps are more posh than traditional snaps; a caveat that not all glue guns are created equal), very basic stitching skills, and terminology, girls turn to the supremely important issue of hair: woven-ribbon bands, jazzed-up chopsticks; fabric-flower-bedecked combs; reversible ponytail wraps. Next come body adornments: vinyl snap-on wristbands, rolled-paper beading, bangles built over sections of mailing tube, Plexiglas rings, double-sided belts, a jaunty six-gored hat . . . you get the picture; followed by stuff to stow it in, of clutched, dangled, and toted varieties. Each project features a list of supplies (reasonably affordable and easy to locate), clearly numbered steps with cartoon-styled illustrations (only the newspaper and clear-duct-tape tote bag instructions seem rather byzantine), and a full-color photograph of the finished item. Ring binding keeps pages flat for easy reference, and the generous white space of the layouts makes the whole venture easy on the eyes. If your collection is top-heavy with Girl Scout projects from the '80s, refresh your shelves with genuine sleepover appeal. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Used by permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers.