At the beginning of the book is the inevitable hefty list of materials, but don't worry, you won't need them all. Avoid the rubber stamps and expensive watercolour pens if you are on a budget and go straight for the printed sheets (my own personal favorite and what must make up at least 80% of all paper tole work).

More useful is the chapter on cutting out; learn how to reproduce fur and other fiddly details with the flick of a knife, shape and mount your work. Then, it is on with the projects, starting with a step-by-step sheet and then one that reproduces several images entirely, so it is up to the individual how they make up their picture. This was not explained in enough detail for me, and I felt that the sheet should have been gone through carefully, with the author explaining what things to omit from each successive print and why. A pleasant surprise was the chapter on making 3D pictures from peel-off stickers, and then there is another on making them from rubber stamps, and working with watercolour pens and blenders.

The tone of the book is predominantly cute animals and pretty flowers, and I wished for some more unusual subjects and something that would appeal to men, and perhaps teenagers. But for anybody wanting to have a go at this popular craft, it is one of the very few introductions on the market, and takes a good look at some less obvious ways of doing paper tole that most of the others omit.

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