Mary Wallace has really good ideas, and her craft books in the So Easy To Make series – I Can Make Toys, Puppets, Gifts, etc. – are original and appealing. She knows the craft genre inside out, and each one of the projects she suggests in I Can Make Costumes is fun to do, and acts as a springboard to inventive variations. Artist, craftsperson, and former elementary school teacher, she teaches at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts; and her combined experience with children and crafts is what makes these books work so well.

These are not elaborate duplicates of store-bought costumes. The required materials – cardboard, old sweatshirts or tin foil – are economical and easily available; the instructions are straightforward; and the book design is spacious and clear. A gardening glove, glitter glue, and leftover film canisters are transformed into a dramatic astronaut glove. (And did you know film canisters make perfect knobs for a dinosaur spine?) A brown paper bag is crumpled until soft and then cut into a one-piece decorated vest. Cardboard and gold ribbon become Roman sandals. Any of these costumes are quick to make and good for classroom theatre and role-playing. An absorbing after-school or summer camp activity would be constructing the space helmet or jester outfit in the first half and acting out the characters in the second. The orange-peel monster teeth are brilliant.

This book isn’t just for kids, but for their teachers, parents, babysitters, and camp counsellors. It would be a useful and interesting addition to any school library. Add glue, scissors, construction paper – and time to play.