Tool time! Two projects from 'Girls Who Build'

Girls Who Build (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers ) could not have arrived at a better time.

With the pandemic giving us all more time at home and much less to do, my 12-year-old daughter has already been envisioning the holiday gifts she’ll craft and concoct.

Written by Katie Hughes, founder of the Portland nonprofit Girls Build, this 272-page book was right up my daughter’s alley.

She’s fascinated by the sketches, the tools (“They’re actual tools!”) and the profiles of the featured girls.

And I’m impressed by how the book takes girls (and safety) seriously and does not pander to them with “cutesy” projects.

Here are two projects older children can try out, with proper adult oversight, of course, as well as safety gloves and safety googles: Attalia’s tea light holders and Anfal’s candleholder.