Pass It On
The idea: a fold is passed on — learn it well enough to teach it, and it goes on travelling.
Read it
One story, three ways: Sprout for a new reader, Grower in short chapters, Reader as a full chapter book. Same plot, same ending.
Who is in this book
-
Kami Paper becomes a new shape with every fold, and it only cuts where it is told from CreaseTots -
Lan a child of the Green Goes first; makes a friend in a minute -
Mark The lines tell you what to do — dashes fold, solid lines cut from CreasePals -
Cornelia Bring one corner to meet the other corner, exactly from CreaseTots -
Crinkle Smooth a crooked fold out and try again; the crease remembers from CreaseTots -
Presso Hold the paper still and press the fold flat so it stays from CreaseTots -
Inkling a child of the Green Names what she notices
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?
True
- On 6 October 1958 Lillian Oppenheimer started a monthly folding lesson in New York, at the Japan Society in Manhattan. Twenty-five people came to the first one. Source
- Her group became the Origami Center. She taught Scouts, Red Cross groups, people in nursing homes and patients in a New York hospital, and she wrote letters to folders all over the world. Source
- She chose the Japanese word origami instead of paper folding, and it became the word most English speakers use. Source
- The paper cup takes five folds: one in half, two corners across, and two flaps down, one in front and one behind.
Stretched
- In our story the woman at the front holds up a paper bird and never comes over to help. What we simplified: We kept the real Lillian Oppenheimer in the background, so Ruth and the cast solve the problem themselves. We do not know what she folded at that first lesson.
- In our story the blackboard shows the steps of the cup. What we simplified: We do not know what was on the walls that day, so we drew our own simple chalk pictures.
Made up
- Ruth, her brother Leo, Joe and the paper door are made up. Kami, Mark, Cornelia, Presso and Crinkle are our own characters.
Tell it back
Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then a paper cup that holds water, folded by a girl who learned it that afternoon goes on your belt.
On your belt: a paper cup that holds water, folded by a girl who learned it that afternoon.
Your belt lives on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ring the hammer for someone
Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.