Paper cuts, or why I'm swearing at Grace Lin

Grace Lin has some adorable Ling & Ting paper dolls up on her blog — the perfect activity to keep my daughters (ages 5 and 10) busy during these last few moments of school vacation week.

Grace recommends using cardstock, which we lacked, so our dolls were a little flimsy. I can’t blame that on Grace, but I did utter some quiet swears at her because Ling & Ting have really skinny arms and legs (feed those girls some more dump-Lings and dump-Tings, please). Parents, be careful when cutting out the dolls (and you will be doing the cutting, because your children are far too tired from all the coloring) — one wrong move (or sneeze) and you’ll lose an appendage, giving kids another way to tell Ling & Ting apart. (Ling: “And then the girls’ mommy cut your leg off by mistake.” Ting: “No, silly, that was your leg that got cut off!”)

Note to Grace: you are one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but in the future, please remember that paper doll clothes should all be attached — hat, coat, boots, all in one piece, not four. Or in the case of twins, eight. Times my two children = sixteen. (I forgive you, sweet Grace, because my girls are now busy with your website’s coloring pages — no cutting, gotta love it!)

-- Jennifer M. Brabander

Once you pop, you can't stop

Gloomy weather and an almost-empty office provided the perfect opportunity to try Pop-Up: Everything You Need to Know to Create Your Own Pop-Up Book by Ruth Wickings and Frances Castle (Candlewick). This book/activity kit introduces paper engineering mechanics from basic (angle folds and parallel folds) to complex (noisemakers and spirals), then demonstrates the concepts in four projects. Punch-out pieces with peel-off adhesive make the book nicely self-contained -- no scissors or glue required. Cindy, Katrina, brave intern Irene, and I sat down with a copy apiece and started building.

Four pop-ups and quite some time later, we sat back and surveyed our work. Each of us had assembled a dragon, castle, Frankenstein’s laboratory, and jungle scene -- with mixed success.

Some of our pop-ups worked better…

…than others.

Following the illustrated step-by-step instructions, we quickly learned that an unclear directive or ambiguous diagram could have disastrous results, as when one dragon's tongue ended up protruding from beneath its jaw. The perforated pieces were so beautifully detailed that we had a hard time punching them out; Irene exclaimed in frustration, "I need tiny fingers!" while at the other end of the table I inadvertently ripped the head off a castle guard. After each pop-up, a “mini master class” invites budding paper engineers to explore the techniques further. Cindy doubted that merely following directions for the four main projects would give enough understanding of the concepts to go entirely DIY. Overall, we thought the pop-ups provided a good rainy afternoon activity for kids about age nine (rather than the suggested seven) and up.

With a minimum of parts, easy-to-follow directions, and a satisfying noisemaker, Frankenstein's lab (featuring monster) was the biggest hit of the four projects.

Candlewick's catalog copy for Pop-Up reads, "Do you delight in seeing an ingenious pop-up 'pop' but feel utterly daunted at the thought of making one yourself?" After spending an enjoyable afternoon with the book, I still feel daunted -- but maybe not utterly so.

-- Katie Bircher