Friday book review

Before I get started on this week's Friday book review I wanted to say a quick sorry for not managing to get one up last week. I have a good reason though - I spent the time putting together a separate page to index all my Friday reviews on to make them easier to browse through. Why not go and have a look once you've finished reading through the review for this week?

"The Cute Book" by Aranzi Aronzo
ISBN: 978-1932234688

The cute book was one of the first of a growing number of simple styled craft books by Aranzi Aronzo that have relatively recently been published in English. The Aranzi Aronzo name is well known in Japan where the characters have been well loved for some time and because they were so popular the original makers decided to write books so that everyone could make them.

The cute book contains 19 different patterns for some exceptionally cute little felt mascots. These little toys are only a couple of inches tall but are overflowing with kawaii (Japanese cute) and so many of them are just begging me to have a go... In fact I did have a go back in February 2008 when I made the two little cute critters on the right. They turned out really well, but at the time I was taken a back by how tricky they were to put together and that was enough to put me off having another go.

Now when I look through the book again there are still so many that I want to try, like the beautiful little squirrel with the very cute flower dress, and the fluffy little lambs, oh and I really must have a go at making the slightly worried looking monkey. As well as a host of very cute characters there are some much more sinister creatures in here too, perhaps to help offset all the cuteness? These interest me and are fun to read about, but I'm not too sure who I would make the 'kidnapper' for, or for that matter the 'liar'...

This book is beautifully presented and very simple to follow, everything that you need to know is clearly explained with just the right amount of detail. It is very cute throughout with lovely photographs and sweet little drawings. It has a style all of its own and if you too love the Japanese style of cuteness then this is most definitely the book for you.