• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7
• Reading age: 8 to 12

Parents, beware of this book. With 100% Pure Fake, the art of scaring the pants off friends and family reaches new levels of ease and sophistication. Pranksters can now amaze, alarm and totally disgust everyone with these easy-to-make Pure Fakes.

These 25 safe, kid-tested recipes that can be made with ingredients found in most households, including corn syrup, rolled oats, makeup and pasta. Other ingredients, such as school glue, food coloring, tempera paint and gelatin, are widely available in grocery or craft stores.

Each project is presented with step-by-step instructions and includes warnings for allergy and mess alerts, non-edible and edible projects, and when kids should get adult help.

A few 100% Pure Fakes:

Rotting Skin • Eggs, oats and other ingredients give kids a putridly convincing case of rotting skin.

S'not Snot • Gelatin, food coloring and other ingredients create slimy matter dripping from noses... 100% pure disgusting.

Chocolate Milk Spill • White school glue, brown tempera paint and other ingredients make a life-like spill that will deceive and annoy to the max!

Scot Ritchie is an award winning illustrator who lives in Vancouver British Columbia. He has illustrated over 40 children's books, (some of which he also wrote) including Let's Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here, Up, Up and Away and the Basics for Beginners series, Hockey, Baseball and Soccer.

Lyn Thomas' profile page

• Short-listed, Silver Birch Express Award, Ontario Library Association

100% Pure Fake

A totally unique recipe book, Lyn Thomas’ 100% Pure Fake is “dedicated to her daughter Emma who constantly reminded me of the fun times she had as a kid feeling grossed out with weird stuff.” Reviewing the book’s table of contents reveals recipes for such grossness as Shrunken Heads and Veggie Vomit. When shared with Grade 3 students, its appeal was instantaneous: “I could use that with my kid brother, oh man!” “This would be great for Halloween or next week’s drama production!” “Could we video this stuff and do a cool cooking show?” Lyn Thomas had no idea the many ways this little book might be used – or did she?

The cartoon characters directing the “What to do process” are engaging and the actual photographic representation of children modelling the fake items is laughter inducing. Each recipe is complete with a list of the stuff needed: kid-tested, safe and with ingredients to be found in everyone’s kitchen. I must admit to considering the technique for the “severed finger” as a book-talk introduction to The Thumb in the Box by Ken Roberts. Now what sort of librarian would do that? I’ll let you know! Some books have no intrinsic value other than to make children happy. This is one of them.