Fabulous Paperfolds You Can Make in Just 10 Steps!: Origami Book with 26 Projects: Perfect for Origami Beginners, Children or Adults
Starred review from January 1, 2010
The kind of mathematical precision demanded by origamior the Japanese art of paper foldingis tailor-made for the profession of architecture, which is the vocation of California-based second-time author (Follow the Universe: Origami from Angelfish to Zen, 1994) Engel. Emphasizing the playfulness of his (and others) creations, he also embeds his text with the exactness required by the art: three easily identifiable icons for level of difficulty (easy, intermediate, advanced); a first-chapter grounding in the how-tos, concentrating on the symbolic abbreviations and basic folds; and 26 designs that include excellent illustrations and a narrative to ensure that directions are clear and consistent. His art subjects range from the wonderfully whimsical to the eminently practical, an outcome to be expected from his philosophical explanation of the appeal of origami (a playful art and an artful form of play). Who could resist a plateful of sunny-side up eggs and bacon or the stolidly silent black-and-white penguin? Or not be tempted to use a brightly patterned picture frame or decorative party pinwheels? A minimalism that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe would appreciate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)
October 15, 2009
Kirigami differs from origami in having cut-paper shapes rather than a single paper with many folds. In Engel's ("Folding the Universe: Origami from Angelfish to Zen") book, ten major folds form the animals and other objects in his projects. Hayakawa's delightful animals start out with cutout shapes that are folded and joined together with slits and tabs. Both types have a folded-paper aesthetic, although Hayakawa's are more lifelike. All projects are graded by difficulty.
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.