Book excerpt: The companion to The Call of the Wild + Free: styled in the lush aesthetic of the Wild + Free brand, a four-color book offering crafts, activities, and essays, that parents, educators, and caregivers can use to inspire their children. Wild + Free Handcrafts is a beautiful, four-color resource book for parents, educators, and caregivers to enjoy doing hands-on activities with kids. A handcraft engages one’s hands, requires a level of learned skill, encourages children to do their best work, and produces an end product that is useful. It has been used in homeschool settings for decades as one way to encourage them to work with their hands and discover a skillful craft they love to practice. It also is a great way for traditionally educated kids who are home for the summer, or in afterschool programs, or with their families on the weekends, to do fun activities that will stimulate their imaginations and creativity. This book will feature crafts such as: Felted acorns Paper beads Nature wreaths Cocoa mint lip balm Woven willow hearts Finger knit bracelets Eco-dyed kitchen towels Fairy tale treehouse Flower crowns Bug hotel With the same lush photography as The Call of the Wild + Free, this book includes step-by-step pictures that show parents how to do the craft, and essays on the usefulness and purpose of handcrafts as a tool to spark children’s curiosity and wonder.