Here is What Other's have to say...

“There are many old-fashioned handicrafts that should be celebrated and preserved, and it's always exciting to find people dedicated to doing so.  With this book, Linda S. Day revives the age-old art of paper cutting, showing readers how to make magic with the simple tools of scissors and paper.  Throw in a few of Grandma's classic stories to bring the artwork to life, and you've got a valuable resource for parents, teachers, and anyone interested in reliving a charming piece of Americana.  Here is an antidote to the fast-paced, plugged-in world overtaking kids' lives today -- no electricity or batteries required.”

—Jim Barnes, Editor

Independent Publisher Online

“As an experienced trainer and professional storyteller, I understand the importance of the visual and kinesthetic modes of communication and how they reinforce the auditory mode. When telling stories to young children at my bookstore, The Book Barn, during music and story time, I have been using this wonderful resource almost every week. The book has a number of stories and, most importantly, many cut-out guides for paper figures which accompany the stories. While I tell a story, I cut out the related figure and at the end of the story, I pull apart the figures into their chain and pass it around to the children.”

The author has revived an old European form of fold and cut art and incorporated it into storytelling. Teachers, librarians, and storytellers will find this an essential resource for working with pre-school and lower grade school children. We rated it four hearts.”

—Bob Spears

Heartland Reviews

“Grandma’s Magic Scissors is a dream for scissor happy people. With over a hundred patterns rated easy to expert we found lots of different patterns to suite our tastes. The directions are simple and straighforward and all the patterns are full size. No matter if your a crafter or a child you will enjoy this inventive and fun book..”

—Society for Authors and Writers

“Seeing Grandma in action is magic. Her book will provide hours of fun for the novice though the expert.”

 —Paula Kalinoski

Red Ink

“Wow! What a useful book for teachers. I have tried in the past to cut out simple designs on my own and went crazy. Grandma’s Magic Scissors makes it so easy. I even have my students using Grandma’s patterns and finding magic in their own scissors.”

Libby DeHoyos

Baltimore County Public School, Educator

In an age when even toddlers refuse to be parted from their iPods, this handbook is a charming guide to pre-digital fun. Author Linda S. Day, a member of the StoryMasters group that entertains kids across the country, claims no fewer than 23 grandchildren (now that’s credentials !) and is apparently the Martha Stewart of paper cutting. Here she offers traceable graphics of all the classic two-dimensional icons,  from Monsters to Castles to a Chain of Children — and of course, Hearts with Bunnies. Not only that, there are suggested stories, songs, and poems to go along with some of the “fold and cut” patterns, plus advice on paper selection, scissor safety, how lefties do it, and how not to make too much of a mess in your work/play area. If you’ve got littl’uns to entertain and you don’t want to dump them in front of the TV, this is an imaginative and comprehensive guide to a 1600-year-old craft that will challenge your dexterity as well as the kids’ — and when the time comes, they’ll ace their first Rorschach tests with the greatest of ease.

—P.MILLER

Fearless Reviews

Grandma's Magic Scissors: Paper Cutting from A-Z, by Linda S. Day (Day to Day Enterprises, $14.95 paperback). Think Edward Scissorhands meets Grandma Walton and you have the gist of this paperback. Who knew a single pair of scissors could create a fantasy of paper creatures such as dragons and extreme snowflakes? Day offers a history of the craft (she credits Hans Christian Andersen), along with full-size patterns, ministories, poems and more.

—Kathy Cano Murillo
The Arizona Republic

When you were younger, did you ever fold a peice of paper in half and cut it out into the shape of a heart of snowflake? The book “Grandma’s magic Scissors: Paper Cutting from A-z” by Linda S. Day takes the art of peper cutting to a new level. You will be amazed at what you can create by folding and cutting patterns from blank paper. There are lots of un projects for ages 10 and older.

—Cassandra Leggio & Anabella Pierre

Kidsday

Grandma’s Magic Scissors: Paper Cutting From A-Z by Linda S. Day (a.k.a. Grandma) is a fun and creative instructional compendium of do-it-yourself projects for creating intricate, beautiful pieces of art with just a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a pair of scissors. Providing young (and not so young!) readers with a “user friendly” introduction to the inexpensive, fun and artistic pastime of fancy paper cutting, Grandma’s Magic Scissors carefully guides the reader through cutting out such designs as The Monkeys and the Crocodile; Praying Parents; and Little Red Hen and Chicks, to Mice; Three Billy Goats Gruff; and Hearts with Bunnies. A wonderful resource for rainy days and other homebound occasions (with a bit of judicious adult supervision), Grandma’s Magic Scissors is very strongly recommended for all children, but most especially those with an artistic interest searching for an entertaining and creatively inspiring guide through the decorative art of paper cutting and design.

—Midwest Book Review

For 1600 years, artists have been folding paper and cutting out beautiful images to decorate and charm. For fifty years, the author (“Grandma Day”) has been combining this ancient art with another one—storytelling—to enchant children all over the country. In this book, she shares her knowledge and patterns to enable her audience to bring this art form home with them.

Combining step-by-step instructions, more than one hundred original patterns, and stories that complement the patterns, Day provides all the guidance needed for beginners to start creating story illustrations with their own scissors. Patterns advance in difficulty throughout the book, so even experienced paper cutters will find new ideas. Readers who remember folding paper in half to cut out hearts for Valentine’s Day will have no problem following the directions to cut out rodents to illustrate “Three Blind Mice.” From there they can advance to creating ornate castles, dragons, and animals to portray scenes in the stories provided by Day, or any story of their own choosing.

These pieces of paper art are not just for storytelling, however. Day also suggests using the patterns to make party decorations, invitations and cards, scrapbook embellishments, masks, mobiles, quilting patterns, and even wall borders for a nursery. With minimal effort, hosts can create Santa place cards that stand on their own to decorate the table for Christmas. Three-dimensional Christmas tree cutouts can hang from the ceiling; chains of snowmen and angels can border doorways and windows; and traditional snowflakes can adorn walls, with more elaborate snowflakes featuring reindeer and more snowmen.

Day’s experience as a professional storyteller, early childhood educator, and award-winning author and illustrator of There’s a Frog on a Log in the Bog shines through in her ability to give easy-to-follow instructions that will have even beginners creating elegant pieces of paper art. With patterns covering such diverse subjects as story characters, holidays, animals, and Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religious symbols, everyone from schoolchildren to expert crafters will find this book an invaluable resource for creating a myriad of projects. All a reader needs is a little imagination to create her own magic scissors. (October)

—Christine Canfield

ForeWord Magazine