Pass it on

Cryptologia, Apr 2000 by Kruh, Louis

Bailly, Sharon. Pass It On: All About Notes, from Secret Codes and Special Inks to Fancy Folds and Dead Man's Drops. The Millbrook Press, 2 Old Milford Road, Brookfield, CT 06804 USA. 1995. 64 pp. $23.40.

A bright, colorful hardcover book for youngsters 9 - 12 years old and perhaps some adults, who have fond memories of note passing. With a charming touch, Bailly describes the fun of notes, with information about everything from papermaking (and how to do it at home), invisible ink and other inks, alphabets, what your handwriting means (people who dot the letter "i" with a curve have a good sense of humor), folding a note, with illustrated instructions on how to fold letters to look like an ice-cream cone, a box, pretzel bag or a crane; secret codes with an explanation of the difference between a code and a cipher, several examples of ciphers including an Alberti cipher wheel plus some ciphers to solve, and dead man's drops and Chinese seals, which include a few historical tales about hiding messages, how to set up a secret mailbox and making seals to make sure your friend knows the message came from you.

Fun and fact are delightfully combined with whimsical illustrations and helpful diagrams. A nice feature is the bibliography that is broken down to match chapter subjects. There is also a complete index, another mark of a quality book. Pass It On is an excellent gift idea for children. Teachers will also find it a helpful approach to the ubiquitous note-passing in classrooms.