This is a very surprising book, it contains patterns for small figurines (ie, amigurumi) but the first unusual thing is that they are not crocheted but knit.
The second unusual aspect is that for a book on amigurumi, the patterns of the figurines contain a great deal of detail. Some of the creatures are very realistic, eg the praying mantis is a wonder of knitting architecture. The ant is also very lifelike for a knitted pattern. It's not a disappointment, but given the amigurumi topic and the word cute in the title, be aware that these are not highly stylized cute figurines. They are cute in the way you'd find a knitted ant, praying mantis, or angler fish cute, so not in the traditional sense of cute, and dare I say, not in what I thought was the Japanese version of cute with big eyes and little smiles.
Which brings me to the genius of the author that is sadly not well marketed with this book, the constructions are very, very well thought out. To the point where there is surprisingly little seaming of legs to body, because the author uses a great variety of construction techniques. So those who are a bit intimidated by sewing an arm or a leg at right angle to a knitted body should rejoice, there is less of that in this book. Thankfully, the more unusual maneuvers are shown with pictures, because it really helps to envision in what direction the work is going. It would have been nice to include more detailled notes on the construction, but each pattern does have a few tips at the beginning as to how it is knitted, and whether there are options on how to proceed.
The last strange thing about the book is the collection of patterns. You would expect a book like that to do at least a few of everyone's favourites, like say, a little cat or a little dog, maybe a few oddball creatures, and a little of this and a little of that. Not this book, it has roughly four sections: Veggies (6 patterns), with things like a head of garlic, an eggplant, a tomato, a carrot and peas in a pod; 6 sea creatures, for instance, an octopus, a hermit crab and a sea star; 5 backyard creatures among which are a spider, an earthworm, a garden snail; and 3 mythical creatures, the kraken, nessie and a jackalope. So all in all it's a strange selection, and it could have been spread around different types of creatures more nicely.
The editing of the book is fine with a strong technical section that outlines how to do the finishing of the creatures, and some more advanced techniques like picking up stitches, the kitchener stitch, and different types of seaming. The book kind of assumes you are a beginner/intermediate knitter who is willing to learn new skills. And in a way, the attractive little projects might prove ideal to someone who is motivated by challenge, but doesn't have the patience to work on a longer piece.
