Extreme Pumpkin Carving : 20 Amazing Designs from Frightful to Fabulous

Rating:
Summary: Something for both beginners and advanced carvers...
Review: I had a tough time deciding on how many stars for this book. I really like the book but I was just a teensy bit disapointed. My reasons may be a little bit unfair but I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

They walk you thru step-by-step how to carve one pattern with nothing but a carving knife and another pattern step-by-step with how to carve with carving tools. The photos on this part are great and close-up in color. For the pumpkin carved only with the knife they used 86 pictures! For the pumpkin done with carving tools they showed 40 (because it's faster and easier to use carving tools hence it took fewer pics). This part is very much for the beginner which is exactly what I needed. Under each photo (which are about 4 to a page) they tell you what tool to use and explain what is happening in the photo. This part is amazing, they did not skip on the photos here!

I am slightly disapointed however, because they only show two pumpkin patterns step-by-step and I admit I am greedy and would have liked more.

The other 18 pumpkins they give shaded line patterns for and a color photo of each finished pumpkin. Depending on how dark the shading is on the drawing is how deep to carve that feature. This will no doubt not bother those more advanced at carving than myself but it does intimidate me.

This book is well worth the price just for the two step-by-step pumpkins they did. I will learn a lot and maybe by the time I do a couple I will feel comfortable tackling the others on my own.

Rating:
Summary: Super carving book
Review: This is the best book I've seen on carving pumpkin. There are patterns for everything from scary to comical faces. Carving is done only with knives or for those carvers with tools, good directions are available for a really terrific creation. I would not recommend unsupervised children doing this kind of carving, however. The tools must be very sharp.