Ninjas earn their keep based on stealth and silence. Kids? Not so much.
It doesn’t matter because kids (and dads and moms) can join the clan of the darkly clad mercenaries with John Austin’s new book in his Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction series, Build and Master Ninja Weapons. Armed with little more than the book and a junk drawer full of materials, you will be on your way to building 37 different ninja weapons like blowguns, throwing stars, and Lilliputian siege weapons.
Your budding ninja may soon be the j?nin of household ninjutsu after building nunchucks from paper towel tubes, creating a sai from a coat hanger and cardboard, and crafting a katana from a cereal box. Instructions are simple to follow and well-illustrated, making construction of every item in this book simple, safe (with required adult supervision in some cases), and easy. Most items can be assembled in three to five steps.
Besides the super-cool (and very slimming) black ninja uniform, the silent and deadly weapons are the highlight of hiring on as a ninja — even if the hours aren’t great. Austin not only provides a huge variety of build-at-home weapons but, for many of the weapons, an assortment of construction methods and materials, which almost guarantees you can find a method that works for you and the stuff you have available.
Like all the Mini Weapons books, there are some safety precautions to keep in mind, which Austin dutifully reminds his reader about. Still, with the right steps, a little supervision, and an oath to safety dutifully signed by the junior ninja, a fun time is only a quick build away. Finally, to avoid the temptation to attack the family pet or a sibling, the book also includes build instructions for about half a dozen targets for your ninja projectiles.
After tackling spitball warfare, secret agent weapons, and siege weapons of the dark ages, Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build and Master Ninja Weapons is another great instruction manual from John Austin. Whether folding a throwing star from a sheet of notebook paper or fashioning a blowgun and dart from the newspaper, you’ll have hours of fun with this book.
Disclosure: GeekDad was sent a sample of this book for review.
