Quirk Books Entertains Your Kids

Interesting Concept, Mostly Mediocre Content

Given this book contains projects such as a (soda) bottle rocket launcher and a mattress raft to push down stairs while riding atop it, I can't say I recommend this book for children. Even if their parents say no, the ideas will have been planted in their heads and grievous injury could be sustained.

For adults, I can't say there's much to warrant recommending the book, either. Some of the advice - such as lying to children that sunscreen is “magic lotion” or pretending to “cast a spell on them” to prevent them from leaving a room before cleaning it - is just plain bad and potentially damaging. Other advice is super common and likely known by most parents already.

The recipes are alright but mostly junky and unhealthy. The crafts are generally advanced for kids, but most of them seem fun... albeit also fairly expensive if you aren't already a crafty family with special supplies at hand. The activities are mediocre at best with only a couple worth trying.

For a free book, I can't really complain. It was quick and succinct and there were a couple of things I liked. But as a means to try out what this series of books have to offer, I think it failed. After seeing what's considered a representative sampling of these books' contents, I can't say I'm impressed.

I also hated the focus in sections on conning kids into things like doing chores or applying sunscreen. While many thankfully weren't truly conniving or even outright lying, some were. It's just not good parenting, in my eyes.