Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... [Paperback]

Chris Alexander (Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2012 | Age Range: 8 and up

Kids love origami—and what could be cooler than transforming a piece of paper into Boba Fett, Princess Leia, Yoda, or R2-D2? And not just any paper, but custom-designed paper illustrated with art from the movies. Star Wars® Origami marries the fun of paper folding with the obsession of Star Wars. Like The Joy of Origami and Origami on the Go, this book puts an original spin on an ancient art. And like Star Wars® Scanimation® and Star Wars® Fandex®, it’s a fresh take on Star Wars mania.

Chris Alexander is a master folder and founder of the popular website StarWarsOrigami.com, and here are 36 models, clearly explained, that range in difficulty from Youngling (easy) to Padawan (medium), Jedi Knight (difficult), and Jedi Master (tricky!). A front section introduces origami definitions and basic folds. Bound in the back is the book’s unique folding paper, two sheets for each figure. Illustrated with original art, it makes each creation—the essential lightsabers, the Death Star, and much more—true to the movies.

Star Wars Origami includes a foreword by Tom Angleberger, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back, and is scheduled to be published at the same time as Angleberger’s upcoming book, The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Look Inside Star Wars Origami

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About the Author

Chris Alexander began doing origami at the age of four. Since then he’s created dozens of original designs, many of them Star Wars themed. He has a large Star Wars fan base and tours the country folding at conventions and museums. He lives in Lancaster, California.

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; unknown edition (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761169431
• ISBN-13: 978-0761169437
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Performing Arts > Film
  • #2 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Papercrafts, Stamping & Stenciling > Origami
  • #6 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Crafts & Hobbies

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Folding Frenzy! August 9, 2012

By Alison's VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

It's a folding frenzy in my house!!

My two young Jedis are already pros at folding an Origami Yoda and Origami Vader, thanks to Tom Angleberger's books, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back. In fact there is a foreward by Tom Angelberger in which refers to himself as a Padawan, and Chris Alexander as the Jedi Master of Star Wars Origami.

As the Master will probably tell you, in order to make one of the 36 - yes, 36 - Star Wars origami figures in the book, you need to go over some of the basics. My young Jedis thought they could skip over this training chapter and jump right into folding the Millenium Falcon. Ten minutes later two very frustrated boys came up to me begging for my help. It takes more than the force to make a good paper light saber!

A fun book for the whole family, there are different levels of difficulty in the book. In the Index, there is a list of project separated by level of difficulty - starting with Han Solo, moving to Chewbacca, and eventually working toward a Naboo Starfighter.

One thing that makes STAR WARS ORIGAMI so special - aside from the obvious Star Wars connection - is the paper. In the back of the book, there are specially designed paper to use along with each folding project. There are two sheets of paper to go with each project. See the Boba Fetts up there? If they were folded with just white paper they would still be neat, no doubt, but how cool are they with their special paper?? Awesome, right?

Needless to say, we love this book.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun projects September 11, 2012

By Noname TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I went to see Chris Alexander at the Star Wars Origami panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, where he taught us a couple of origami projects from "Star Wars Origami." We made Boba Fett and a lightsaber. When I bought the book, I searched for the most difficult project and made Jabba the Hutt first. It wasn't bad. Then, I tried the X-Wing, which was one level down in difficulty, but I got a little lost and gave up on it.

Each project comes with a synopsis of the character, droid, or ship we are making, in case we are unfamiliar with its role in the saga. Many are well-known, like Princess Leia and the X-Wing, but some are lesser characters, like Taun We, or the Armored Assault Tank. Inserted between the pages every now and again are trivia pages to test your Jedi prowess. Do you know how many starships survived the battle of Yavin?

The projects are indexed by difficulty level. Many of them come with two pieces of printed origami paper, in case we want to repeat it. I would like it if the origami paper was labeled with the project name. I don't like searching and it's not always obvious.

Also, the origami paper has an arrow on the back of each page. I'm not sure how that is supposed to be oriented when we start working. I just fold and hope it's right. Luckily, it was good when I did Jabba the Hutt.

My son is eleven and he thought this book was too difficult. The children were frustrated at the panel we attended and so were many of the adult attendants. My husband wouldn't even try. He thought it was hard, and the lightsaber (the one we were being taught) is one of the easiest projects. I would say the book is definitely geared more for adults.... I can get most of the folds, but the sink fold is extremely difficult for me to do properly, even though I understand what needs to be done (hard to explain here, but the fold is inverted).

For the adult Star Wars fan, this is a wonderful book.

____________

UPDATE 2/3/13: Just to clarify my rating of this book as it was brought to my attention that it appears I'm complaining a lot about this book. It was my intention to alert the buyer that this is not easy for children to do. It is better for an adult or teen, one who is good at following visual instructions. I am able to do most of the projects that I attempt; and I did try to do the most difficult ones first, just to see how challenging that can be. It is a great book, if you know what you are getting into. Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Gift for Tween September 22, 2012

By jlm

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a gift for my 13 year old niece who is just discovering Star Wars and loves origami, so this was a perfect gift. The origami is a bit challenging, which is good. It includes special origami paper, so when folding the tie-fighter it has all the details on the paper. It has over 250 pages, so it is quite impressive. I recommend this book to all the Star Wars, Origami fans out there. Love it you will.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Star Wars Origami September 26, 2012

By epichomer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son loves to read the "Origami Yoda" books by Tom Angleberger (which is a great book for boys over eight by-the-way). So when I saw there was a Star Wars Origami book, I jumped in and ordered it. It is really fun and both my boys enjoy it. I'm buying a copy for my seven-year-old nephew for Christmas.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Too Difficult and Directions Aren't Clear December 29, 2012

By Book & Music Fan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Book is good in theory as it contains many of the Star Wars characters and ships along with origami paper in the back of the book. The problem is that the projects are too difficult for children ages 9 and up along with some adults. Most of the projects have confusing directions and do not follow a logical pattern. I would not recommend this for anyone other than someone who is skilled at origami!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book! October 26, 2012

By Cameron

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Star Wars origami is very entertaining! It also comes with designer paper to make your creations all the more interesting! :-)

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Too hard for beginners.... February 2, 2013

By BookMom

Format:Paperback

My son is a huge fan of Tom Angleberger's Origami Star Wars books, and he asked for this book for Christmas. While searching for a lost iPod, I came across the book with his attempt to make the Yoda origami. Unfortunately, I assumed that he hadn't suceeded because he hadn't read the directions or tried hard enough. Sounds pretty parental, right?

Anyway, in my superior Mom moment, I insisted that the poor kid read the instructions thoroughly and then try one of the easiest origami projects, the Sandcrawler. God Bless Him, he tried to tell me that it was too hard, but did I listen? Of course not! After watching him struggle unsuccessfully, my superiority started to crumble and a wave of compassion came over me. I decided to help the poor kid.

After about 10 minutes of helping and failing, I told him to work on his homework and tried to muddle through on my own. I thought that if I could figure it out, then I could go back and help him learn how to succeed. After a half and hour, I gave up.

I recommend this book only to those who already have a solid understanding of basic and intermediate origami folds. The two-dimensional instructions just don't work for beginners. Perhaps if I had spent some time watching the techniques on youtube.com, I might've figured it out, but when I bought the book, I wanted him to be able to do it himself without having to take a course at MIT first.

Editorially speaking, the book needs organizational help. If the projects vary in difficulty, please arrange them in the book from easiest to hardest. In addition, it was even hard to figure out which paper to use. There are no identifying marks on the origami paper linking it to the project itself.

When I started writing this review, I gave the book three stars.... While typing, the flood of frustrating feelings came back. I am going to drop it to a one star review especially considering that we really have no use for the book whatsoever.

After writing this review, my son and I tried the Klutz Origami Star Wars book. Wow! What a difference. The step by step, color-coded directions are fantastic. We easily completed the Naboo Starfighter in 10 minutes. I highly recommend the Klutz version!
Star Wars Folded Flyers: Make 30 Paper Starfighters (Klutz) Read more ›