The Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Making Pop-Ups & Novelty Cards: A how-to guide to the art of paper engineering, featuring over 100 techniques and ... 1000 fantastic photographs and illustrations Hardcover – November 16, 2011

First, let me start off by stating I am a beginner. I now have 3 very different books on pop-ups, as I wanted to set it up as a Middle School activity for kids to make Christmas cards during our Home base time (30 minutes, every day). What I write is based on a Not-An-Art-Teacher trying to figure out how to do this, and then translate it into something teachable to 11-12 year old kids in groups of 20 or so.It is a beautiful book, with gorgeous pictures, as well as well done and nicely photographed steps of instruction.This book starts off with a look at books with movable parts, throughout Western European history. It goes through several types, and shows you pictures of these historical objects. I found myself fascinated with the descriptions as well as the pictures - it is very well done, and takes up 26 pages of this 12x9.5" book.P33-41 covers Materials, Tools, & Techniques. There are 2 pages of the different types of paper & their uses, plus some downsides of using certain ones. A very useful section covers the definitions of terminology.Pop-Up Projects are organized as Beginners (P44 to 87), Intermediate (P88-170), Combination (p172-198), and Advanced (p200-250). It is extremely well done. There is always a page (sometimes more) on the technique, with step by step instructions always showing a picture, and the opposite page is a project. The first one (p46) shows you a simply V fold, and opposite is an Angel card you can make using it.Each project builds on what has come before, getting more complex as you go through.That is not to say that I couldn't jump from the first page of the technique to one several pages in - you easily could. It would be far more difficult to try one at the back, if you hadn't worked through some of the techniques to get there (at least, for us beginners).At the end of each section is a gallery, showing what has been done using those techniques.CONCLUSION: This is the best book I have seen. A lot of this is do-able by my Middle School kids. I can easily figure out enough to lead them through it, as the instructions are _Very_ clear.Also, it makes me want to keep working on different cards, well after this Christmas project is done. I want to try to learn so much of this, and try some of these cards. Unlike another book I now have (Pop-Up Cards: 19 Spectacular 3D Greeting Cards ), which has some spectacular cards but not anywhere near the instructions (at least, not for real beginners), I find myself really wanting to follow the oh-so-clear instructions of this 'engineering' book and start making them.On the other hand, if all you want is to get some basics with enough diagrams to start, especially for kids, then How to Make Super Pop-Ups (Dover Origami Papercraft) will give you that, as it is a very basic book.

As others said, there are no template pages but there are small photos of most templates showing how they are used and clearly written instructions on what to do and how to measure and mark your cardstock by hand. I think it is a very good pop-up book for card makers. This book starts with a brief history, goes to what tools you will need or want, then begins with very basic structural engineering. Each card builds upon the last card so each card or project is sequentially more challenging. I'd recommend for the beginner (like me) up to intermediate. If you're better than intermediate you probably don't need the quality instruction this book provides. With all the dies available to day, cardmakers can take any rubberstamp and die and follow the directions in this book and have lots of fun and enjoyment making pop-up greeting cards or books.

This is a well written book. It has well detailed explanations with pictures to follow along. As you know, making pop up cards can be quiet tricky especially if you are a novice like myself. The illustrations are wonderful. The beginning chapters give a detailed history about pop ups. The author clearly did a lot of research for this part of the book. I liked this book because the explanations were easy to follow along with the pictures. The author also took the time to give very detailed information as he thought would be needed to create the pop up, including troubleshooting tips (in case us novices get stuck wondering why the pop up does not work).The only downside of this book was that it did not include templates for the drawings. Most pop up books I have purchased included them. Making pop ups is time consuming so it took more time for me because I had to draw the illustration correctly to fit in the pop up.

This pop-up book has some clever ideas that are well explained. I purchased it for my sister who in turn made one of the cards for me and it was beautiful- a keeper.

MANY techniques are explained clearly here and the examples shown are inspiration for even the rank beginner. My lower school kids love it as do I, and our cards are successful. But it is a professional book, not a kid's craft book for the summer. A book to grow with.

This is one of the better pop up books that I have acquired. It illustrates many principles that I will be able to apply to my projects.

The instructions are clear and concise. The variety of cards allows me to be creative in making and trying new ideas. The SKY is the limit. Take time to be patient while making cards because it can be frustrating when you first begin but once you make one you will enjoy making more.

Directions were terrible. Paper sizes not given, or types of paper to use.