How to Make a Guitar - Must See Book!

My 12 year old son has learned how to play many instruments over the years (his first was the saxophone!), but by far his favorite is his guitar! I came across Patricia Lakin’s book called Made by Hand: Guitars and I KNEW we had to read it!

She has a whole line of other books in this STEM collection showing you how to make skateboard, bicycles and even steel drums!

Although this hardcover book is only 32 pages long, it’s got beautiful colors and pictures and is written for ages 8-12 – although I also enjoyed it immensely! I loved it so much that the Made By Hand: Skateboards book is definitely on my list as my son is also a skateboard fanatic!

Although the book was designed with kids in mind, I knew very little about the history and design of guitars. You’ll learn about the guitar’s history, exactly how a guitar actually works, be encouraged to make other products of vibration (like a telephone or harmonica!), about famous guitarists in history, and a pretty cool timeline breakdown of guitar changes in history.

red electric guitar with Guitar book — *My son’s first electric guitar with the Made By Hand: Guitars book*

My son has gone through stages of love for his guitars. He bought his first (electric) guitar for ONLY $10 at a thrift store and has been hooked ever since!!! Since then he has bought 3 used guitars for $5-10 each.

Pretty much if he sees a guitar for a good price he can’t pass it up! In fact we’re dedicating a whole wall to hang up his guitars!

parts of a guitar book illustration — *What is a Guitar? Parts of a Guitar*

More about the book:

Made by Hand: Guitars is the perfect book for him! It not only features behind-the-scenes gorgeous and unique guitars and how they are built, but the book teaches kids about the evolution of guitars.

They’ll learn about the different parts of a guitar, different types of tools and wood used to make guitars, and loads of other eye catching things in its bright illustrations allowing kids to both read and browse through the process!

For a kid like mine who likes to build and be creative, the author describes even the types of wood she uses which gives my son enough of a head start to try and gather his own materials!

For Christmas this year we are springing for a “make your own guitar kit” for him to do first but his next step will be to literally use Made by Hand: Guitars to try his hand at designing his own guitar!

I have found for kids into creative things it’s a process! They are always learning and discovering themselves as much as the world around them. This book is an amazing piece of art and information to help kids on their journey!