Hi Birdie, is the book all written in Japanese? I take it you don't speak Japanese? Well, it sure is hard to follow a pattern without words, but usually they will have some kind of marking to show the beginning, like a dot or an X, or they might have two different string colours, and they start at a certain bead and split from there. If not, I think in beading, usually you can start anywhere because all roads lead to Rome. Usually, when I start with a model and try to figure it out, I start anywhere and work from there. A good place to start for a beaded animal is either the top of the head or the bum. For a star, I would guess the very center of the star and work outwards. Hope this helps!

I've done quite a few from Japanese books now. Usually there's a star or triangle marking where to start. Sometimes the circles are numbered, which also helps. As Allegra said, you'll also see the string colors split and change color from the first bead. Just follow the arrows, or numbers around. The end of that section will have both colored lines come out of it. Sometimes it will show a symbol that means to tie it together, but sometimes you'll see a Japanese letter. Look for that Japanese letter in another diagram for another part of the item, and you would continue from there (of course this is for harder patterns, where there are several sections to the pattern). There are often other pictures around that show what connects to what.

I hope that made sense. If you have other problems, let me know, I'm more than happy to help.

HI
CAN U POST ANY PICTURE