Housebuilding for Children

by Lester Walker

Step-by-step illustrated instructions for building six different houses with a description of the necessary tools and equipment.

Genres: Architecture, Childrens

174 pages, Hardcover

First published June 20, 1977

About the author

Lester Walker is an award-winning architect and author of numerous books related to houses and architecture, including Little House of My Own, Housebuilding for Children and Block Building for Children. He lives in Woodstock, New York, where his architectural firm is based.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

so i need to have a shelf where this can go alongside the Fancy Coffins to Make Yourself book and other books that teach you how to do things that in a stronger economy, you would pay someone to do for you. in this book, you don't even have to do it yourself, you can create your own little child labor force. it's really great - it is supposed to be for building "playhouses", but just let them stay out there a couple hours more and you will have a fine house for a family of four. this book fascinates me. these children from the seventies are playing with hammers and saws and making some incredibly solid-looking houses. some of them are barefoot and all of them are holding either pointy or heavy things. and i guarantee you there were no lawsuits arising from this book. the kids in this book are now self-sufficient adults and not weak and puling textmessagers afraid of a hot cup of coffee. if you actually have kids you want to set to work, i suggest this book. it starts out with small projects to teach the use of tools, and then suddenly they are making condos for the whole family while you relax in a hammock with a book. the great american dream realized...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

YES!

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another fabulous book by Mr. Walker. If I had children, this book would be part of our family library. By reading this book, children can learn to build their own play houses by themselves, with little-to-no adult supervision. Fabulous. Originally this was published in 1977 it is chock full of cute pictures of 1970s tykes (both boys and girls!) building six different play structures. In an age where children can't do anything by themselves, for fear of whatever, this is a great book.

[Caron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend even for adults who have never built anything themselves!

We loved the line drawn illustrations (and the photos). An encouraging book that makes it all do-able.

This book leaves enough to the imagination that it doesn't encourage bothersome, over-engineered, parent-meddling!