Customer Reviews

Bugs and Birds in Origami (Dover Origami Papercraft)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As usual I have always looked forward to Montroll's books.

Even after getting this one, I cannot help but wonder what he will come up with next.

A general comment is that is book's models is of intermediate standard, similar in standard and style to Montroll's recent books. The birds can be classified as slightly below the intermediate standard suitable for beginners who wants to try something a bit more difficult. Compared to his first book "Origami for the Enthusiasts" and "Animal Origami for the Enthusiasts", Montroll's two outstanding books, the models within are of slightly lower standard. I believe Montroll is capable of doing better that is why I keep looking forward to his new books and purchasing every one in the market.

In this book, Montroll tackle the subject on insects which he has yet to do so in other books. Although the final product's standard is below what I expected, nevertheless, the insects have all the necessary body parts and they are not too difficult to fold. I have seen some of Montroll's insects and I had high hopes when I saw the title of his new book.

For birds, you will find models on goose, cardinal, crow, snipe, ibis, flamingo, ostrich, pheasant, quetzal, pelican, turkey, woodpecker, goose with outstretched wings, pigeon, humming bird, vulture, robin, crane, parrot and stork. None of these models caught my eye and cause me to sit down immediately to fold it. My favourites are pheasant, humming bird, pigeon and cardinal. I like folding birds.

For insects, you find scavenger beetle, ladybird, fly, spider, wasp, long-horned beetle, earwing and butterfly. Again nothing here caught my eye. Sorry if I am difficult to please. I cannot help but compare this to Kawahata's Insects.

Overall, if I were to compare this book with other Montroll's books, I will give this 3.5 out of 5 but compare with other origami books in the market, I will give this a 4.5 out of 5. Hence I rate this with 5 stars.

This book is still a good investment for origami enthusiasts.

I buy every new Montroll origami book sight unseen and I've never been disappointed. This book is no exception.

Historically, Montroll's bird models are among the best because: - They are pretty reasonable to fold, and don't rely on lots of "feather detail" which usually just means lots of tedious pleats.

- They can stand up! Many bird models will simply not stand when when complete. Most of Montroll's will and that, in my mind makes the model alot more appealing.

The birds in this book have closed backs and enough substance on their legs to stand, you will be very pleased with the results.

As far as the bugs go, if you have ever tried to fold any of the bugs from Lang's "Origami Insects and their Kin." you will be quite happy with what Montroll has to offer here. Using nothing more than 10-inch kami, an intermediate folder should be able to handle anything in this book.

I breezed through the author's beginner origami books so I thought I would be ready for this intermediate book. Wrong. Even the "easy" designs (one or two stars on a scale of one to four) were frustrating. I would cruise through a third or half way through the design and then hit a step that I could spend more than an hour on and still not figure it out. Very frustrating because I was excited to do some of the bug designs for my sons.

If you are an advanced intermediate, you will probably enjoy this book very much because it has many cool designs for birds and bugs. But if you struggle at all at the intermediate level, avoid this book unless you don't mind approaching an expert or watching a video to get you over the humps you will undoubtly encounter.

As you probably guessed Bugs and Birds in Origami is book of nifty but more challenging patterns to try out once you have already done some basic origami. The birds designs are intermediate difficulty. The bugs range towards hard, but are conversation pieces once you fold them. (Use Amazon's Look Inside feature and the pics will tell you clearly how cool these designs are.)

Diagrams were as clear as possible, given that the designs are often complex (sometime there are like 8 arrows on the same step telling you to fold all at once - gack). I was able to work through these given enough time.

I recommend this book only if you know you have the patience to try and work through each pattern very carefully. These are very nice designs but also complex and not for beginners.

Another excellent origami book from John, albeit a somewhat strange pairing. His bird models are all excellent, and reasonably easy for any intermediate folder to handle. I particularly like the number of birds that he includes with outstretched wings for additional realism. All the birds very well match their intended species.

Moving on to the "bugs" we only get 8 models to fold, but they are all very well done, and none did I find too difficult to get through. Having often been frustrated by the butterfly in Robert Lang's Origami Insects I was particularly happy to get through John's butterfly on the first try without a hitch. You may want to use fairly large origami paper to fold the insects, particularly your first time, as you will often find yourself dealing with many layers at once needing to be folded for things like legs and antennae.

Overall, another excellent book and probably one of my favorites of John's in more recent years. I would have liked to have seen a better balance in the number of models between the birds and bugs, but it's still an excellent book and one I would highly recommend.