My First Origami Book
(Cico Kidz)

My First Origami Book starts with a whole chapter of animals, which was perfect for us, as we’ve been studying animals!  Other chapters include “flying fun,” toys, decorations, and gifts/cards.  Although all of these are papercraft projects, not all of them are strictly “origami.”  (Many are, but not all.)

Each project is designated as one of three levels of difficulty, and these levels are explained in the introduction.  Each also includes a basic description of the project, and a list of needed materials and supplies.  (The book does not assume you have origami paper; it just tells you what size you need and, where applicable, what color.)

Step-by-step instructions include clear, full-color drawings.  They are written to the crafter, not to the parent.  Plenty of full-color photos are included, too.  There is at least one clear photo of each finished project, so it’s easy to see what the end result is supposed to be.

After all the project chapters, there is one more chapter containing basic techniques.  As is the case with the rest of the book, these include clear, easy-to-follow color drawings.

I can see us getting lots of use from this!  The gifts have obvious practical use.  The animals have enhanced our study of animals just by injecting a bit of fun.  The “flying fun” section should be helpful for physics – and potentially inventions, as well, as we talk about the airplane.  Several projects make good additions to certain cultural studies.  And my children love this stuff!

Disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of this book free of charge to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions are my own.