annieb123
Written on Aug 30, 2020
A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids is a fun and practical tutorial guide for planning and creating terraria with the whole family. Due out 15th Sept 2020 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 112 pages and will be available in paperback format.
The layout is appealing and unfussy - easy to understand and accessible. It's full of very colorful photos and step by step tutorial graphics showing kids making their own terraria (with some help).
The introduction covers some of the benefits of making a terrarium, selecting plants, and caring for them. The first chapters include a good introduction to selecting a container, preparing the terrarium and selecting planting substrate and other ingredients, plant selection and maintenance and aftercare.
The bulk of the book is taken up with 15 specific project tutorials (including succulent terrarium, marimo moss ball aquarium, carnivorous planting, and more). Each of the tutorials includes a materials list with items listed bullet style in a sidebar, a description, and step by step tutorials with photos. They are all very attractive and appealing and the photos are clear and easy to follow. Most of the plants have both the common and botanical (Latin) names listed for clarity.
The author has also included a short bio, resource list for sourcing plants and containers, and an index. This would make a superlative choice for a family with kids or home study unit, schoolroom or library activity (when/where allowed), makers groups and similar.
Five stars. This is also a great choice for a kid-friendly lockdown activity.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.