World's Best Origami [Paperback]

There are many origami book titles that proclaim they are either complete, greatest or the best origami books ever. The titles are often chosen by the publisher not the author, and the books often don't live up to their titles. I'm happy to say that this book does live up to its title because enclosed within is a collection of the best origami done by a diverse range of origami creators. It's a shame that the cover (again not a choice of the authors) doesn't live up to the contents of the book but this 320 page book contains 113 excellent well chosen origami models from around the world.
After an excellent introduction by Robert Neale the book is divided into 10 chapters starting with a detailed Origami Basics chapter and proceeding through chapters containing Birds, Animals, Flowers, People, Containers, Geometric, Modular, Practical and Fun. The Origami Basics chapter is superb and gives a thorough overview of origami and how to fold. Included is a section on what paper to use and a helpful range of alternative sources other that bought origami paper. The author details how to make various starting shapes such as pentagons and octagons even though no models starting from these shapes are included in the book, thus this chapter can serve as a reference for the novice folder to explore further ideas. Indeed throughout the book the author suggest different ideas to try and explore creating and developing origami to give this book a longer shelf life than just an introduction to this art.
As to be expected from this author the diagrams are excellent. It's a shame that no colour is included in the book and that there are no photos of finished models included (other than on the front and back cover) but this doesn't detract from the attractiveness of the book. Unusually for an origami book the diagrams have been checked by a professional designer and artist as well as by an experienced folder and this attention to detail shows in the overall appearance of the book. The diagrams are clear, detailed and easy to follow. The folding sequences are elegant and enhance the folding of the designs. As is customary with origami books the simpler models are at the front of the book and increasingly difficult ones come at the end. This practice is continued in the chapters which start out with easier models progressing with increasing difficulty through the chapter. Whilst it is true to say that no super complex models will be found in this book even the experienced folder can't fail to find something new or challenging in this book.
It is difficult to select highlights from such an excellent collection of models but these would include Roman Diaz's excellent Puma's Head, Javier Caboblanco's beautifully simple Hungry Chick and the Kettle by Adolfo Cerceda. Other models which stand out are Mick Guy's Whale's Tail, Great Horned Owl by Giovanni Maltagliati, Nick Robinson's Santa and Edwin Corrie's Koala. However it must be said that, unlike a lot of origami books, none of the included models are "fillers" and all are worth folding. The author has included a wide range of models both old and new but even the older designs included such as the traditional Spanish Box, Trees on a Hillside by Eric Kenneway and Shuzo Fujimoto's Apple are not well known and worth folding again.
Apart from the colour issue mentioned earlier there is little to find fault with in this book. The one mistake this reviewer could find (Fumio Inoue's excellent Curly Box is wrongly attributed as being a traditional design) was already known (belatedly) to the author and will be corrected in future editions of the book.
This book deserves to be a modern classic and should be owned by every folder experienced or new. It is unhesitatingly recommended to everyone and should be on every origami teachers list as a book to recommend as both an introduction to origami and as a book that even the experienced folder will dip into again and again.

I would just like to echo the other reviewers words here. This really is a fabulous book on the subject. Most of the models presented here I had not seen before and all were a joy to fold. This is down to Nick Robinson's excellent diagramming skill.

I love this book and it has become one of my top ten favourites.

If you love origami then buy it now!