Making Origami Fish Step by Step

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-In each of these slim volumes, LaFosse offers eight easy models, all made in nine or fewer steps, most from a single sheet, and constructed solely with mountain and valley folds plus an occasional scissors cut. Shapes opens with a crocus that will be a breeze even for novice paper folders; closes with a three-piece, 3-D hexahedron; and in between offers picture frames, a heart, and other items both decorative and practical. The fish are all one- or two-piece models, the best of which is a shark with a moveable jaw. Unfortunately, in both books, the general quality, both of the models and of the directions, varies severely. The author suggests using adhesive tape for two models in Shapes (he is no traditionalist), but not for the square picture frame or the heart, neither of which has a folded lock to hold it together, and the Angelfish and the Carp are stylized beyond easy recognizability. More problematically, the diagrams for Sea Star and Fish don't match the directions. Both volumes close with a key to folding symbols that would have served needy beginners better at the beginning, as well as superfluous glossaries and indexes, and a commercial Web site. Though definitely additional purchases, both books contain at least some models that even young or utterly inexperienced folders will find doable.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.