The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself [Paperback]

Marilyn Scott-Waters (Author)

Book Description

The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself contains the following toys, a Sun Box, Spinners, Marble Mice, Tooth Fairy Gazebo, The Happy Bus, A Bug Box, A Bear Wagon, Florimel the Magnificent, A Butterfly Basket, A Window to Fairyland, A Penny Aeroplane, The Toy Shop, A Dream Theater, two Penny Butterflies and a Cootie Catcher with instructions. The toys are simple enough for younger children yet whimsical to intrigue older kids, as well as the young at heart.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marilyn Scott-Waters is a graphic designer, author and illustrator with a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Irvine. Her studies also included Elementary Art Education. Ms. Scott-Waters resides in Costa Mesa, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 20 pages
• Publisher: Scott-Waters Design (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975988409
• ISBN-13: 978-0975988404
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,175,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marilyn Scott-Waters loves making things out of paper. Her popular website, www.thetoymaker.com, receives 2,000 to 7,000 visitors each day, who have downloaded more than six million of her easy-to-make paper toys. Her goal is to help parents and children spend time together making things. Her first self published book, The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself, was a best selling paper toy book on Amazon.com, sold out two print runs, and was picked up as a series by Sterling Publishing in 2010.

Marilyn Scott-Waters is the creator of a paper toy craft book series The Toymaker's Christmas: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling, 2010), and The Toymaker's Workshop: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling, 2011). She is also the co-creator with J. H. Everett of the fully illustrated middle grade nonfiction series, Haunted Histories, forthcoming from Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. Ms. Scott-Waters illustrated The Search For Vile Things (Scholastic), and created paper engineering for Pop & Sniff Fruit (Piggy Toes Press). She was recently featured on "Career Day", a nationally syndicated program for children produced by Entertainment Studios. She is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, www.andreabrownlit.com.

Marilyn lives in Costa Mesa, California, with her teacher husband and teenage son.

To read about the quirky life of a children's book illustrator and paper engineer, visit her blog at http://thetoymakersjournal.blogspot.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical World of Paper Toys to Amuse & Delight, December 3, 2004

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself (Paperback)

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." ~Sir James Barrie

I love the colors on the paper toys in this book. These are toys you can cut out and make yourself in a few very easy steps. There are many ways you could use this book and it would be perfect for parties or rainy days. It would also be perfect for birthday presents and Christmas. A few of the boxes could hold delicious miniature cookies. You could make tiny sugar cookies, decorate them, and then give them away in the beautiful boxes.

Here is a list of the items you can make in this book:

A Sun Box - A variety of sun pictures are on each side of the box. Then, there is a little piece with a bear holding hearts and flowers that can be placed inside the box.

Spinners - 6 different "Thaumatropes or Turning Wonders" that can be made with a piece of heavy thread and some glue. A picture magically appears when you spin the paper.

Marble Mice - You will need a marble and glue for this item. The mouse can then slide around like a computer mouse.

Tooth Fairy Gazebo - A much better place to leave teeth, for sure.

Happy Bus - Bears are featured on this bus and they are on the way to the beach.

Box - A box in which to keep seashells and wishes.

Bear Wagon - Similar to the bus, but it has two polar bears.

Florimel The Magnificent - A puppet theatre with a detailed backdrop, ships and water.

Butterfly Basket - One of the beautiful Victorian-style projects that requires very little glue and is very easy to cut out. This basket could hold items while sitting on a desk.

Window to Fairyland - My favorite project because the colors are sage, maroon and dark green.

Penny Aeroplane/Airplane - A more sophisticated version of the "aeroplanes" we tried to make as children. What they needed was a penny.

Toy Shop - This looks like a little cottage. You will need to cut around the door so it can open and you can see the items inside.

Dream Theater - The theatre is in four pieces and is very easy to cut out and glue.

Penny Butterfly - After making these butterflies you can balance them on your fingers.

Catcher - The catcher reminds me of items we used to make as children, but we used to write little sentences on the inside so when you opened them up, you had secret messages that were revealed.

Each playful project in this book is perfect for children of all ages and many of the little boxes can be used for hiding objects and have a "mysterious" element children will enjoy. The pages are made from high-quality paper and the entire book is quite magical. Marilyn Scott-Walters has created an entire world of imaginative toys that can be made in a matter of minutes and will last for years. I would have loved to have had a book like this as a child and finally it has appeared.

~The Rebecca Review

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enchanting throwback to yesteryear, December 19, 2005

By 

Homeschooling Single Mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself (Paperback)

Making toys, boxes and knick knacks out of sturdy cardstock, with pre-printed illustrations, used to be how my grandmother and her siblings passed their free time when they were children. My grandmother said they would spend hours building entire cities out of paper, and I can see why - there's nothing quite so satisfying to a child as being able to play with his own handiwork.

That's where this book comes in. Mrs. Scott-Waters' book is unique both in content and in presentation. Her artistic style reflects 1920s and 1930s style line-art and water color, finely detailed and filled with little embellishments. The pictures found in this book are whimsical and delicate all at the same time, and the finished products are, to a child's mind, extremely practical. Children love having boxes and things with mysterious compartments, and the toys and contraptions that result from this book's projects don't disappoint in that regard.

Most of the included projects are so simple to put together that any child old enough to handle a pair of scissors can at least help out, and with a little help, most anyone can bring forth a relatively sophisticated end result =) But they're so intricate-looking and there is so much detail in the artwork and the mechanisms that even adults will find them interesting and entertaining. They're definitely a breath of fresh air for parents or caregivers seeking to do a worthwhile, enriching arts-and-crafts project together with children!

My only complaint is that on her web site, Mrs. Scott-Waters has a brilliant paper-doll-driven fairytale about otters, a carousel, fairies and a flying fish car on the way to a toymaker's ball. This needs to be published in a second book! It's at least as amazing as the projects in this one!

I do disagree with other reviewers that it's fun for "a" rainy afternoon - it's impossible to do all of them in one sitting, and it's just as well. You will want the fun that this slim little volume contains to last a good long while.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself, September 12, 2005

By 

Lynners (Hollis, NH USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Toymaker: Paper Toys That You Can Make Yourself (Paperback)

I love this book, and you, whether adult or child, will love it too! I found Marilyn Scott-Waters' web site first, and fell in love with her creative spirit! Very nicely made book, beautiful designs - Very well thought out! Not your ordinary paper cut-outs! I'm sure Amazon has written a good description of the book itself, so I'll just tell you that I've had a lot of fun putting the pieces together and displaying them. All the children who come to the house are fascinated by them and want to make their own. Take a look! Enjoy!