The Llama in the Hat has Landed! – or – Origami Yoda Arrives!

How’s this for the best Christmas present ever…

Charlie Christmas reads Origami Yoda

My awesome editor zipped this to me on Christmas Eve! It’s the paperback advance reader copy of Origami Yoda! She even wrapped it!

After so much work it was wild to open it up and see what it’s like — crammed with doodles and details! It sure pays off to have an incredible designer working on your project! And of course, that same designer made the spectacular cover. Man, I love it like Lobot loves headphones!

Well, this sure has made my Christmas merry and I hope yours is too!

My Big News … Origami Yoda

Well, my secret is out at last. A lot sooner than I expected. The good news that has had me atwitter lately is that my crazy dream is finally coming true and that, with the permission of Lucasfilm, “Origami Yoda” is going to be published. This is the project I’ve been discussing online with the codename “LLama in a Hat.” But it’s not a llama, it’s Yoda! Can you beleive it?

Here’s the blurb that has shown up on the web,,,,

Tom Angleberger’s* THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ORIGAMI YODA, in which a sixth-grade boy and his school friends are given advice about life, love, and friendship from an origami Yoda figure often found on the finger of their strange classmate….

It still blows my mind, but as I’ve said so many times… my love for Star Wars is pure and true and somehow Lucasfilm must have understood that. The truth is that I had actually given up hope. But my amazing editor at Abrams SECRETLY had not. When she emailed to say that Lucasfilm might actually approve it … that was not just a career highlight but a lifetime highlight.

 And, on top of that, getting published by Abrams — Diary of Wimpy Kid! — is a thrill. My editor is wonderful and, as I noted above, the book is already as much her doing as mine.

I’m sure I’ll be talking about it alot in the next year — I don’t think it will even be out until next Spring — so I’ll settle back down and hush for now…

*not sure what name will go on the book, actually.

A nation cries out for Origami instruction…

Yahoo ran this thing about post-Christmas searches for “instructions,” and while some people did want to find iPod, Lego, PSP, wireless gadgets and TV remote instructions, Origami Instructions topped the list, (followed by knitting.) And note that Duct Tape Wallet, which is Origami-related, made the Top 10, too:

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/85597/following-instructions

 It’s interesting that, despite constant reports that we’re all getting stupid, there are people out there in search of knowledge in the mind-opening, soul-expanding, peace-bringing art of Origami.

And none of the searches was for anything particularly destructive, violent or repugnant.

Origami Sock Monkey

I had told Cece that making an Origami Sock Monkey was probably beyond my abilities, what with needing to get a white tip to his head and then a white mouth lower down AND needing to get longish arms and legs.

But then I finally hit on a solution, using an asymmetrical fold for the white head and bringing a flap up from the bottom to create the mouth. Then the arms and legs were a matter of lots of fussing and fiddling, with each side being different because of the asymm. folding. It’s a lot of non-Hoyle stuff in the back, as usual for one of my folds.

Here’s the first attempt:

The second attempt was abandonded, due to a lack of legs, I think.

And here is the third, qualifiedly successful attempt:

 At one point he had ears, but then I tried to go for the white tip on the right ear and ended up with a big papery mess. And as I mentioned the back is in bad shape. So … he’s earless and rearless.

Sam & Cece’s Holiday Funland – Day 16 – Origami Santa Claus

Here are some little Origami Santa Clausi of my own design. Some of them have crossed the line into kirigami perhaps, since little snips or tears give a more whiskery look. (They also break Origami rules by being a big mess on the reverse side.)

Below is one made from a rectangle to give a bigger beard.

And for NO good reason, here’s a wrapping paper Vortex version…

Click to see full size…