I picked up The Strange Case of Origami Yoda during a recent search for origami related things to cover in my About Origami blog. While there’s not much in the way of actual origami in the story, Tom Angelberger has managed to create a cute tale for young readers.
Origami Yoda is a paper finger puppet folded by Dwight, the geekiest boy in sixth grade. In addition to providing random Star Wars info, Origami Yoda happens to be very good at giving Dwight’s classmates advice on topics ranging from how to avoid getting into trouble after accidentally breaking a teacher’s Shakespeare bust to when they need to start studying for a pop quiz.
The book is structured as a collection of short stories in a notebook with doodles that illustrate some of the main events. As an adult, the format was hard for me to get used to at first. But, I can see how it would make the book more appealing to young readers. (In case you were wondering, the only actual origami in the book is a brief tutorial for how to make as simple paper Yoda.)
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is recommended for children ages 8 and up. My son will be 8 soon. He reads very well for his age and loves Star Wars, so I was hoping he’d enjoy the story.
Although he had no trouble reading the book, the story itself didn’t quite hold his interest as well as I’d hoped. There are several references to crushes on girls, which he didn’t like at all In fact, his recommendation to the author was that the book focus more on Star Wars and less on how to get a girl to like you!
If you need a new addition to a fourth or fifth grader’s library, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is certainly worth a look. If your child likes the book, there are two additional stories in the series to read: Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book and The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee: An Origami Yoda Book.
Photo credit: Amazon.com
