This book isn't safe by Colin Furze

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Puffin Books, 2017. ISBN 9780141386959
(Age: 7-13) Highly recommended. In a world where children watch videos of other children opening toys for fun, it is not a strange occurrence that a YouTube star should write a book. Colin Furze is a self confessed crazy inventor who makes a living designing inventions such as vacuuming shoes, building the worlds fastest mobility scooter and creating a 360 degree swing as big as a house. His YouTube channel states "this channel is the home of crazy inventions, brilliant world records and constant disregard to health and safety," basically all the thing young kids love to watch!
This book showcases his life and crazy creations, while giving instructions for 10 inventions the reader can make at home.
I have to admit that I had never heard of Colin Furze before (and immediately googled him!!!) and found that he has a huge following - over 5 million - and that many of his projects are funded by television and gaming companies.
This book is set out in a way that children of about 7-13 years old would love, with lots of photos and easy to read explanations. There are also multiple fonts on a page, bright colours and a combination of hand written and typed information.
I liked this book for a number of reasons:
1) It is written with humour and appealed to both myself and my 7 year old. It is so good to be able to read a book and BOTH laugh.
2) The inventions the author explains step by step are all feasible for kids and their parents which is important as it would be disappointing to read this book and not be able to do any of them!
3) The author explains how to safely learn to drill holes, saw wood and measure things. I think these are all really important skills to have and to include them in this way will hopefully mean children take note and learn how to do them correctly.
There was not anything I didn't like about this book, it would make a great gift for a young child who loved to build, make and create!
Lauren Fountain

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