The Wondrous Toy Workshop,
An exciting new book by Nancy B. Miller
published by Syren Book Company
5120 Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis, MN 55416
Foreward by David Werner
The Wondrous Toy Workshop is a practical how-to-do-it
book about making toys. It is also an inspiring story
about helping disadvantaged children build worthwhile
lives for themselves, realize their creative potential,
and gain self-esteem.
The heroine in this mesmerizing story
by Nancy Miller is a down-to-earth older woman named
Hanni Sager, who herself has a physical disability.
Perhaps because of her own impairment, Hanni developed
a remarkable understanding of human nature and human
needs, along with a deep empathy for young people
in difficult circumstances. I (David Werner) first
learned of Hanni’s toys long before I learned
of Hanni. Years ago, when a group of us from PROJIMO
visited Piña Palmera, we saw the eagerness
and artistic creativity with which the youngsters
there were making playful, stimulating toys. We took
back samples and set about making similar playthings,
with disabled children together with schoolchildren,
in PROJIMO’s own “Children’s Toy-Making
Workshop.” Everyone, young and old, loved the
way the imaginatively painted animals and birds, cowboys
and señoritas, flapped their wings or did summersaults.
It was hard to say which was more fun, making the
toys or playing with them.
This uplifting book provides simple,
clear instructions—complete with helpful line
drawings—on how to create a menagerie of popular
toys. Both the toys and the children making them are
brought to life in a kaleidoscope of colorful photos.
But equally moving is Hanni’s
own story which is beautifully told by her friend
Nancy Miller, who lovingly portrays the way Hanni
learned help the children discover their creative
potential, and how Hanni herself grew in the process.
Hanni’s refreshing insight into the “psychology
of vulnerable children” comes not from an academic
background but from opening up her heart to the children
and encouraging them to do the same with her and with
each other.
The beauty of Nancy Miller’s book—apart
from the simple charm of the toys themselves—is
the spectrum of stories she tells about the sundry
children involved. Although the focus is on making
toys, the empowering approach to working with disabled
and marginalized children makes The Wondrous Toy Workshop
a groundbreaking contribution to the “pedagogy
of the disadvantaged.”
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