I was given this book over 30 years ago by a dear friend and it sparked a life long interest in calligraphy. Over the years, I've learned many other hands besides Italic and purchased many, many books and I can still say that this is the best learning and teaching guide I've ever used.Mr. Eager focuses on the letter shapes, which the student practices with felt tip pen until he/she has mastered the letter form. Then the fun begins! He teaches the student to write those same letters using a chisel tip pen (a calligraphy pen) and the results are magical. I've taught my own 7 children as well as many others throughout the years using this book and I've yet to meet a child who didn't beam with pleasure the first time he/she put calligraphy pen to paper.Mr. Eager goes further in teaching Italic cursive writing, a quick and beautiful cursive hand, in the last segment of the book. This is a hand that can be written quickly enough to use as ones every day handwriting. He has also wisely included many examples of Italic calligraphy pieces to inspire the student to create their own calligraphic works of art.This book is designed as a workbook as well as a textbook for the student to write in the book itself. It's helpful and encouraging for the student to be able to look back at his/her previous work and appreciate the progress. However, since this book is out of print and hard to find, I now write on a copy of the practice pages so that I can leave the original book pristine since I will some day be unable to find a copy anywhere.The most recent copy I purchased is for my 11 year old son and I'm enjoying, once again, watching a child take pleasure in learning to write beautifully.