Teach Your Child To Be Handy by Guy R. Williams.

Teach Your Child To Be Handy by Guy R. Williams.  Hardcover book published by Pearson 1964, 94 pages with black and white illustrations and a few black and white photographs.

 

For some bizarre reasoning involving school holidays (Australia) and bored kids, I felt sure that this book would sell over the last few weeks*.  This week they (the kids) are all back at school and no longer in need of the handiness that this book would have provided any child in need of handiness.  Think about it.  There would be no more, “I’m bored. What can I do” with this book firmly placed in their little hands. 

“Teach Your Child To Be Handy will banish boredom and, with your help, encourage the mastery of a craft, the joy of working in close co-operation with a loved and trusted adult and the satisfaction of a new position of responsibility in the household. Work with gummed and coloured paper, modelling with Plasticine and wire-and-paper pulp, the preparation of Christmas cards, woodwork, mending china, replacing a broken cord in a window-frame, laying concrete…”

Yes, you can teach your child to lay concrete.  Obviously in 1964, this was the done thing.  If you needed concrete laying, you get a kid to do it… and that should stop them from ever complaining again about being bored during the holidays.  Sadly due to the age of this book there is no information on how to get better scores on computer games or how to get rid of computer viruses… but who cares at least you’ll have a nice concrete garden path.

So if you’re in need of some garden pathing and often have bored kids, then I suggest that this book is a possible manual for their next school holidays… and good luck.

*It didn't.