Origami Paper Airplanes

Science News

Fully illustrated with step-by-step color diagrams, easy-to-follow instructions, and a full-size color picture of the final product.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The directions are generally clear and succinct, and stylish color photographs of the completed aircraft can often help.

Voya

These books boast beautiful photograph, well written introductions, and topics of interest to all ages.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The directions are generally clear and succinct, and stylish color photographs of the completed aircraft can often help.

VOYA

These two books, Origami Paper Airplanes and Origami Paper Animals, boast beautiful photographs, well-written introductions, and topics of interest to all ages. For the patient adult who always reads instructions twice before starting a project and who expects confusion even at the beginner level, there will be no disappointment with these titles. Younger aspiring paper pilots and origami artists or those less fastidious in direction reading might be so frustrated that they crash the books into the trash. To begin with, the instructions are not intuitive. Although steps in both books are illustrated clearly with a key to folding symbols at the beginning of the book, the directions are not presented in a logical order. For the first airplane, the directions do not read left to right or up and down but jump all over the page. The airplane book is divided into sections, but the sections are listed only in small print on the top of each right-hand page. Reading the description under the large font title "Ready to Land," one learns "the paper airplanes are original contemporary creations." This is the start of the section, New Creations. "Ready to Land" is the first plane, but this is not immediately obvious. The author also sometimes forgets to tell what size paper to use. For the instructional diagrams, both books use arrows and fold lines to illustrate which way to twist and fold the paper. Yet this reviewer needed to turn back and forth constantly to the diagram instructions at the front of each book—a difficult prospect in itself when holding a partially folded creature in one's hand—and even more frequently backtracked to refold projects in the opposite direction from which the arrowseemed to point. In addition, levels are discretionary in both books. The advanced bird was relatively simple because its many steps were well illustrated, but how to get from step six to step seven on the intermediate penguin remains a mystery. If there is a high demand for origami in the library, try Animals. The numbering is more consistent within projects (although it still jumps around a bit), and there are no confusing section divisions. It would not be prudent to recommend this title to inexperienced folders unless they possess incredible patience. Teachers and librarians might wish to learn the projects first and hold an introductory paper-folding workshop before handing the book to unsuspecting youth. Illus. Photos. VOYA CODES: 2Q 4P S (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Firefly, 64p. PLB
— Beth Karpas <%ISBN%>1552096262

School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up-In each of these titles, Boursin, a paper artist, offers more than two dozen models, rather arbitrarily rated for difficulty. With few exceptions, the constructions in Airplanes are all either original or variations on modern designs: winged fliers; display models; and flying objects, such as an eight-piece Frisbee. Instructions for creating a mix of birds, fish, mammals, and insects can be found in Animals. Both books open with instructions for several "base" folds; Boursin uses standard origami notation in his clearly drawn step diagrams, and also provides handsome color photographs of the intended results. Airplanes will please origami novices and veterans alike. Animals is likely to be less successful-not only because some models require delicate scissors work, but also because the dove looks as predatory as the eagle; the hen, the giraffe, and the sheep will require distinctively patterned paper for identifiable results; and, in general, Boursin's animals are so stylized as to be unrecognizable. Furthermore, even some designs rated "beginner" use challenging reverse folds or crimps. While Airplanes will fly out of any library, consider Animals only for deeper subject collections.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.