The Easy Woodworking Blog

Many say that there is no loss greater than losing a child. Kris Munsch of Bonner Springs, Kansas, has dealt with that loss by co-writing a book to help others in the process with an easy woodworking project. Kris Munsch, who lost his son in a car accident, has written a book entitled “The Birdhouse Project” which is meant to help others consumed with grief by building a birdhouse, symbolizing new birth out of crisis.

Kris Munsch, a woodworking teacher at Bonner Springs High School in Kansas, lost his son, Blake, in a devastating car accident on December 23, 2005. He tells that painful story in his soon to be released book “The Birdhouse Project,” which he co-wrote with Jeff Fouquet, an English teacher at Bonner Springs High School. The book goes on to address the healing process in the reader.

The birdhouse in the book will consist of six pre-cut pieces, each of which will be given symbolism and an assigned task in the grieving process. The reader will write his or her thoughts and feelings down on the inside parts of the pieces. Then, when they are assembled, the words will be on the inside and something new will be born out of the grief. The idea is for it to represent more than just walls and a roof by getting readers to explore themselves and expose thoughts and feelings that they had not known existed. The book will come with the six pre-cut pieces for the birdhouse.

Munsch reports plans to turn “The Birdhouse Project” into a series. While the first book deals with the adult grieving process, he plans to write others for children, teens, and families, all of which will center on the birdhouse theme. He says that the project has “started to take on a life of its own.”

Kris Munsch has coped with the death of his son by creating an easy woodworking project which symbolizes new birth out of tragedy and plans to take the concept further. “The Birdhouse Project” has helped him and will help others let go and expose themselves in the walls of a birdhouse.