Talk about fun and whimsy. What an excellent way to get kids to read than make one of these terrific bookmarks, each one loaded with personality. The most difficult part will be to decide which to make first. Jonas Matthies is the creative genius behind BOOKIES, a menagerie of seventeen animal bookmarks arranged by degree of difficulty from one to three. Lovers of Amigurumi are going to adore the prospect of making these miniature stuffed animals with bodies that act as bookmarks. Ingenious.

The best part is each animal/bookmark uses minimal amounts of yarn and stuffing (for heads) so these are a great stash buster. The degree of difficulty coincides with the amount of detailing but if you are comfortable with crocheting in the round you will surpass the most challenging parts.

Jonas Matthies makes it a joy to enter into the world of Amigurumi. He covers every aspect of the construction from heads, eyes, tails, and manes. Matthies also includes beautiful color photos of each step, and for crafters new to crochet he has pages dedicated to teaching basic stitches. In short, in BOOKIES Jonas Matthies covers all the bases for making these remarkably cute bookmarks.

BOOKIES is an all-encompassing crochet crafter do-it-yourself dream book. Well worth the cost, which works out to be about one dollar a bookmark. I challenge you to just make one of these BOOKIES. I think Jonas Matthies just hit on one of the best gift items for kids and for adults who enjoy whimsy.