Big Little Felt Universe: a review and giveaway!

What a week! I am very ready for something light and fun. Today's giveaway is just that. I'm asked to review a lot of books these days(awesome, right?), but this one arrived on my doorstep as a surprise. Editors, Kathleen and Linda, at Lark Crafts just had a feeling I'd be interested in Big Little Felt Universe. I have not dappled in the art of felt food, so I had a moment of skepticism. Any doubts flew away the moment I flipped through the first few pages. My six year old, who was at my side, began ooohing and ahhhhing instantly. In fact, she's never responded so enthusiastically to any of my "mama craft" books. We went through it cover to cover and were both equally inspired. Why? Big Little Felt Universe is beautifully organized into a wide variety of play accessories and soft toys that would excite any child and a clean, simple aesthetic that appealed to this very opinionated mother/crafter. The book contains 12 play sets with several components to make for each one.

The veggies are gorgeous, but there are also so many other fun felt toys I had never seen before and here is the list of sets:

1. cake
2. camping
3. sundae 
4. office
5. plants
6. holiday
7. veggies
8. doctor
9. grill
10. purse
11. fruits
12. tools

For instance, the camping set (that we LOVED!!) includes: logs and flames for a campfire, s'mores, compass, pocket knife and lantern.


Each felt piece (from the stethoscope to stapler) is cleverly designed and comes with very easy to understand step by step (photographed) instructions.  The templates are life size. That's the best part... you can just start making everything right away. No scaling or sizing... just get right to cutting felt. This would be an amazing book for a mother of young children who wanted to move away from plastic and increase the handmade toys in their home. It's also perfect for the dramatic play areas in classrooms with young children... especially because you can make multiples of everything. I also imagine older kids with simple hand sewing skills would be thrilled to pour through the pages knowing that they could make it all.

Author, Jeanette Lim,  has put the utmost thought and care into crafting a book that's enticing and accessible. She even slipped in a gift for her reviewer to enjoy... a watermelon slice directly from page 149.

And as much as I am the "book reviewer", my daughter's "jumping up and down" enthusiasm has played a huge role in how highly I'm recommending the Big Little Felt Universe!

So, you can imagine how happy I am that Lark sent an additional copy for me to give to one of you. Oh, yes! Please leave a comment here between now and Sunday night at 8pm EST. A random winner will be picked and announced on Monday morning. I'm happy to ship this book anywhere, so please join in... just be sure there is a way to contact you either in your profile or the comment itself. Thank you Lark and thank you Jeanette! Good luck!