Do Something!: A Handbook for Young Activists

mandy — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0000

By Vanessa Martir, Nancy Lublin, Julia Steers

Got kids? Do they have time and energy? Do they care about something? Anything? Then get them Do Something!: A Handbook for Young Activists. Buy it, give it to them, sit back, and feel good about having made a difference in the world. Or at least planting the seed.

Do Something! is a very smart book. Lublin begins by helping kids identify what it is they actually care about by having them take a series of quizzes in the first chapter. As long as your kids can read and count, they can make their way through the book entirely on their own. My eight year old daughter and her ten year old sister actually fought over the book, finally settling their dispute by assigning different colors of ink to determine whose answers were where.

Once your child has identified the area or areas they are most likely to be active in, they are given ways to figure out exactly how big the issues are in their own community, what specific kinds of issues there are, and how best to tackle them. Knowing her audience well, Lublin does this by asking the reader to draw brain maps and take surveys and play games throughout the book. She supplements with ideas of her own and examples of other kids who have worked on some of these very same problems. The book reads more like a journal than anything else, and kids will have fun completing the tasks as they come up with their own strategies to implement.

The chapters walk the reader through identifying their hot-button issues, researching the details, crafting a plan, implementing it, and assessing their results. The book can be used over and over again as a way to organize fundraisers or raise awareness of particular problems ranging from bullying to animal rights to disaster response. Lublin empowers kids to make a difference without being prescriptive. The genius of Do Something! is that it validates each child’s personal feelings about what is important and breaks down the steps of acting on those feelings to make activism of any kind perfectly accessible.

Written by: Kari O’Driscoll, January 14th 2011

Sew Everything Workshop

admin — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:25:00 +0000

By Diana Rupp

Workman Publishing Company

Handicrafts have made an incredible resurgence in the past few years; everyone I know (and their mama) knits or crochets. There are plenty of hip, modern knitting and crocheting books to go along with the trend, to show people things they actually might want to make. Sewing has come a long way as well, but unlike the other crafts, books for modern young women who want to sew their own clothes are few and far between (not considering books about reconstructing old clothes, of which there are lots of great ones). Thankfully, Diana Rupp, founder of the Make Workshop in Manhattan, has come out with _Sew Everything Work_shop, a one-stop-shop for those beginning sewers who want to learn everything they need to know, as well as more advanced sewers who want project ideas.

The first half of the book is aimed at getting beginners completely comfortable with all the sewing terms and skills needed to make anything. Sections on how to choose (and then get acquainted with) the right sewing machine, basic sewing skills (from threading your machine and stitching your first seam to more advanced skills like inserting a zipper and making buttonholes), to choosing the right fabric for your project are all essential for the beginning sewer, or to give the experienced sewer a refresher course for things you might have forgotten.

The rest of the book is given over to projects, and Rupp really goes all out with the amount and quality of things you can sew from the book. Four sections - clothing, accessories, home, and gifts - with easily identifiable difficulty levels, from very easy to advanced beginner, include projects like Cuddle-Up Cardigan, Tender is the Nightie, Naughty Secretary Skirt, Tokyo Tie Bag, and Handy No-Frills Apron. Some projects are described in the book, but eight projects come with multi-sized patterns, which Rupp explains how to use. Speaking of sizing, Rupp’s guidelines for S-M-L are fair, and she even tells you how to enlarge or shrink a pattern, if need be. Word to the wise, though, the guidelines for the sizes are true, so don’t be afraid to alter a pattern to your body.

Rupp’s motto is “Make things with love and what you make will be loveable.” After reading Sew Everything Workshop, even someone who is convinced they could never make their own shirt or purse will be sewing with ease and panache. As a sewer with over a year of experience, I found Rupp’s book and project ideas equally useful; I made the Flouncy Tank Top and Tote-ally Awesome bag and love them both. I plan on using the book even more in the future, and I thank Rupp for finally making a sew-it-yourself book for the modern sewer.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, May 18th 2008