Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 14:41:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Larry Moss <moss@fooledya.com>
To: Balloon Twister List <balloon@fooledya.com>,
Subject: Book Review: Balloon Magic - The Alphabet Book

I rarely cross post to the decorator and twister lists, but I'm not sure
which group will find this review more useful.

Balloon Magic - The Alphabet Book
by Marvin Hardy
Published by Pioneer Balloon Company, 1998
Soft cover, spiral bound, 126 pages

Not long ago I received a copy of this book in the mail with a request to
review it.  I have to admit, my initial reaction was to pass on it, and
maybe let someone else review it.  I honestly didn't see much point in a
book on making letters of the alphabet out of 260's.  After all, I thought,
there are no complex shapes or new twists likely to be needed in forming,
letters.  There's nothing to a letter other than simple line strokes. Anyone
that works with 260's at all should have no trouble forming these figures.

I'm happy to say that I didn't let my initial reaction stop me from picking
up the book.  There's much more value to a book of this sort than I would
have guessed.  Like any good font designer, Marvin took the time to create a
series of consistent looking alpha-numerics.  Balloon Magic - The Alphabet
Book provides a recipe style collection of the letters (capital only),
numbers, and symbols we use regularly.  An inexperienced balloon twister
that would like clear, step-by-step instructions to help create a banner, or
an experienced twister that would like to see a complete character set as a
guide for his own writing will find this book useful.

Like all of the books in the Balloon Magic series, the production quality
is top notch.  Black and white photos illustrate all of the instructions
throughout the book.  The written instructions are quite clear and easy to
follow.  The basic twists needed to make everything in the book are
described at the start.