Best sinle book for beginners?

[Grunt]

I am going to teach a two day workshop on beginning bow, arrow, and string making. I expect to have 10-12 students and the workshop will be in the form of a demo rather than each student actually working on their bow. I will have them make a string, arm guard, tab, have them split feathers, scrape the stave and board bows I will hopefully bring to life. I will get them shooting bows that I have already built. I want them to walk away with a book. The students are following a Lakota path. So far it's a toss up between The Bent Stick, Ham's the Bows and Arrows of Native Americans, Waldorf's The Art of Making Primitive Bows and Arrows. Which book do you guys think would work best?

[Pappy]

I like the bent stick,but both are good books. Good luck with you class,pass it on. 
   Pappy

[mullet]

 I like Ham's. Mostly because that was my first book.

[Justin Snyder]

I think Traditional Bowyers Bible vol 1 is hands down the best book for beginners, but it isn't on your list so...........  I have all the books and didn't think the others had the instruction a budding bowyer needs to build his first bow. But that is just me.

[Hillbilly]

I like Jim Hamm's book. Lots of good info on bows and arrows both plus a good tillering guide. A lot of the TBB vol 1 is taken almost straight out of Hamm's book.

[Mudd]

What Justin said. If I could only own one book and I've owned them all, I wouldn't part with my TTB Vol.1.
It's so easy to read and understand that even Mudd can use it...lol

God bless,Mudd

[Kegan]

I've always liked The Bent Stick.

[Pat B]

"The Bent Stick"!  Excellent info for making whitewood bows and good info for any wood bows!

[sailordad]

personaly i never read anyone them
i learned the old fashioned way
trial and error along with
the sharing of knowledge from one individual to another
thanks to this site 

[Grunt]

Since these Lakota folks share what they have it looks like I'll be getting six copies each of the Bent Stick and TTBB 1. Jim Hamm's article on tillering in the TBB 1 is pretty good as is the Bow Design article by Baker. If I get twelve students and four become bow builders I'll be happy. I'm going to try and get a educational discount on the books. Thanks for your input guys.

[HoBow]

Good choice. Bent Stick is the easiest book to read- IMO.

[Justin Snyder]

If you get 5 students you can always offer them the other book at your cost and they will be set.

[stringstretcher]

Don't forget Stil Wilcox's, The Art of Making a Selfbow.  Some great and down to earth info in that book.

[Eric Krewson]

The Bent Stick for sure. Jim Hamm is a great guy but his book has some info in it that is not the best for making an osage bow. Leaving an island of wood around a pin is one that comes to mind as well as whip tillering a bow. TBB1 is a little much for a rank beginner, all the tillering charts and graphs go way beyond what a newbie can absorb.

Want some tillering gizmos for your class? I have a box full of them laying around in my shop somewhere.

[NTD]

"TBB1 is a little much for a rank beginner, all the tillering charts and graphs go way beyond what a newbie can absorb. "

This is true.  I first read TBB1 11 years ago and I can still learn from it when I pick it up.  Although with only that book and a handplane I made my first bow with a hatchet and a handplane at 15 years old.  It shot thousands of arrows that summer.

But it is very hard to absorb a lot of that information at once.  It takes hours knee deep in shavings for some of those lessons to transfer from reading material to usuable knowledge.  But I think it's fun to go back and read something and go, "Oh, now I get it". 
happens all the time with this forum for me