LaFosse & Alexander's Essential Book of Origami

The Complete Guide for Everyone

LaFosse & Alexander’s Essential Book of Origami begins with a traditional Japanese crane that takes twenty-two steps to complete and includes other playful and lovely forms, from a 3-D heart to a two-color cat with a whopping sixty steps, and from a leatherback sea turtle to a great white shark made from a two-dollar bill.

The diagrams for each step are clear and often show the results of folds that are difficult to describe in words, but having some origami experience before attempting these projects would be helpful.

For people who are comfortable with the craft, this is an excellent guide to the art of origami, with thoughts from these two renowned artists on paper selection, folding techniques, displaying, and preserving folded objects, among other issues.

The accompanying DVD, with four hours of instructions, takes origami students through folding techniques and paper preparation, as well as guiding viewers through each of the origami forms presented in the book. The diagrams and videos work together to allow practitioners to meet the authors’ goal of producing more artful folding with confidence and enjoyment.

Reviewed by Sarah E. White

Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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