I previously bought the Stitch-It kit, which I'd probably recommend first if you've never done any embroidery. If you have, this is a great book to own. The how-to is short and simple but useful, and there are literally hundreds of patterns, including cats, dogs, letters, words, shoes, make up, rocket ships, baby faces, and more that I can't remember now. Yes, the drawings are a bit simple, but that's part of their charm. Don't forget they can be further embellished! I love that there are so many, I can always find a pattern to embroider! I am giving it four stars rather than five because I was hoping for a more comprehensive section on embroidery stitches.
If you want a lot of basic iron-on patterns with some additional info on embroidery stitches, this is a great book to buy.