Crochet Taxidermy: 30 Quirky Animal Projects, from Mouse to Moose

Half of Hart’s book serves as a full-page portrait gallery of her crocheted critters; the other half provides ways to create them. Hart, who crochets for a living and writes about her crafts on the Nothing But a Pigeon blog, sorts each animal (somewhat inconsistently) by environment: woodland (deer, moose, bear), farm (pig, duck, fowl), Africa (elephant, hippo, lion), sea (squid, cuttlefish, jellyfish), and the catch-all zoo (crocodile, koala, toucan). She gives them cutesy, often alliterative names (Zippy Zebra, Meek Mouse), and she adds charming touches such as the sleepy octopus’s half-shut eyes. Hart well understands a beginner’s desires and skills, so her manual includes an appendix teaching how to crochet. Her patterns are relatively simple, and her directions for crocheting, joining with dowels, and mounting are clear and doable. Most patterns, except for the sea creatures’, vary the theme of “roundies.” Hart’s hints and warnings are well thought through (stain all the plaques at the same time; keep googly eyes out of children’s reach and attach securely). Her style is warm and intimate: she calls both the critters and the dowels “guys.” (Aug.)