The Magnificent Book of Kites

Rating:
Summary: excellent source for kite making
Review: Maxwell Eden did an excellent job of explaining how to make kites. The book is packed with kite building information including step-by-step processes, closeup drawings, as well as color photos of completed kites. The specific instruction and detail on constructing a wide range of flyers is excellent.
If you're new to kite making this is the book you want. After I bought several books and searched the internet for plans and ideas, I'd have to say that this is the must-have reference.
Eden reviews aerodynamics, knots, materials, stitches, patterns, parafoils, deltas, multi-cells, sleds, power-kiting, kite applique (graphics), tips and more.
Some plans could use more information but for the most part it is very well done.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better...
Review: The Magnificent Book of Kites had a lot of worthwhile information. Unfortunately, it may have spent too little time at the editor. Many illustrations referred to on the text are no where to be found. There are an excessive amount of typo's. Many of them are significant, like switching inches with feet. There are some interesting designs for kites to be built, but with incomplete and innacurate information, they may be hard to build, especially the more complex kites. There is some history of kiting. I found it somewhat interesting. Good explaination of different kite materials. The whole thing just seemed very haphazard and incomplete

Rating:
Summary: WOW! This book flys like a magnificent kite.
Review: This book has a much better layout than Kiteworks, a 1989 book by Maxwell Eden. The plans are a little more oraganized. The only new material is the section that compares kitemaking materials. I think the overall flow is good and it provides a good introduction to making kites.

Rating:
Summary: Kites, Kites and More Kites
Review: This book has an array of kites from easy to make to complicated ones. It has step by step instructions and are easy to follow. I bought it to teach students and they had a ball. Is good for elementary to high school students and also for parents to teach their children the fun of kite creation.

Rating:
Summary: Read : kite construction book!
Review: This book has several original designs, but some are just overly complicated and time consuming to build. You should try building a simple design : the Trefoil Delta kite! I credit Maxwell Eden particularly for including many useful tips on construction (seams, connectors, knots etc). Together with the book by Pelham you could not go wrong, anytime!

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better...
Review: This book is magnificent but it is filled with many annoying errors, such as references to illustrations that aren't in the book. It seems that the job of rearranging the original 'Kite-Maker' book was botched. This means that I only give the book 3 stars, otherwise it would have been 5 stars.