HOW TO BE A COLOR WIZARD

Wizardly advice and instructions for creating inks and art from common and found ingredients.

Promising young hands-on types lots of “secret recipes, magic formulas, and wild experiments,” professional ink maker Logan begins with notes on safety and such necessary gear as a notebook (because a “secret recipe that you never write down will eventually become secret even to you”), plus a personality test titled “What Kind of Wizard Are You Today?” He then sends would-be wizards and chemists off to gather common ingredients from around the house and the outdoors for reasonably easy projects ranging from a “Wizard’s paintbrush wand” to simple demonstrations of rainbow making and chromatography, enhanced by thumbnail tributes to historical “Color Heroes” such as Isaac Newton and Shěn Kuó. He also offers clear, step-by-step instructions for transforming materials from leaves and berries to old pennies and rusted nails into inks and paints, mostly water-based, in a wide variety of colors and then using them to make art and party decorations. Brightly hued photos both on their own and in montages feature close-up views of supplies in raw and finished states. They also depict busy, focused, diverse young children. “Dress to get dirty,” the author writes, also cautioning that “the path to real magic is not straight but winding.” Wise words.

Practical, imaginative, magical fun.