Customer Reviews

Sandcastles: Great Projects: From Mermaids to Monuments

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful book for all ages. It is packed with creative and inspirational artwork, useful tips, and great techniques for making the sandcastle of your dreams. I really like that the book is spiral bond and the pages are laminated. This makes it easy to take it to the beach with you, without destroying the book in the process.

The book starts out describing various construction methods, some accompanied by small photos. Then there are instructions for using and caring for your building tools. Conveniently, there is also a recipe for making a permanent waterproof castle. I think this is worth the price of the book alone if you're interested in making everlasting sand art sculptures and it is also great for those who don't have access to a beach. Instructions for creating over 25 different sandcastles follow. These encompass a wide variety of animals, architecture and transportation vehicles. They vary in difficulty from an easier two-hour long grass hut to the magnificent and possibly all-day long project such as the medieval style castle with dragon show on the cover. Some of my favorite projects include a cornucopia, an Inca house and a rocket ship.

Though a complete materials list and clear written instructions are included, in most cases there are no step-by-step building illustrations. However, almost all include a nice photo of the fished piece. At such a reasonable price, it makes a great inexpensive gift for any beach lover or older child.

This is a good book for beginners and families. It is fairly well organized and is spiral-bound to lay flat on the beach. The pages are also heavy and coated to resist water. It is probably the only sandcastle book that the family can take right to the beach and follow along with each project described. Despite its few flaws (incorrect or poor advice), it has many ideas for those who have never done anything in the sand other than dribble and dig holes.

The book starts with a general introduction to sand and sandcastling and then explains different methods of building up the sand and tools used to sculpt it. Some of the methods are flawed and some of the tools mentioned are not the best, but anyone serious will find out more on the internet (there are very few books on the subject for the serious sandcastler or sculpter- one is out-of-print).

The book gives incorrct advice when using a form such as an inverted garbage can with the bottom cut out. The book states that if too much water is used, the sand will slump upon removal of the form. This is just not true. When using any kind of form, the more water the better. One must wait for the water to perculate down through the form before the form is removed. This will eleviate any slumping. Water and sand is best alternated while tamping the sand with a heavy tamper on each layer (the book suggests a brick-- quite difficult if you're using an inverted garbage can and tamping at the very bottom-- you'll need very long arms indeed!)

Other than this and a few other items, the book is still a good starting point for anyone wanting to learn more about the wonderfull world of sandsculpting.

If you have very little experience of building in the sand, then this book is for you! The size and sturdiness of the book is great for taking on the beach with you. The projects are pretty basic, so even young children can join in on the fun.

If you have "dabbled" in the sand before and are looking for some new inspirations, then I think this book will be a disappointment. Though there are a few good suggestions, most of what's in it I've learned from experimenting on my own.

If you want a book for taking to the beach and for the entire family to have fun with, then this is the book! Otherwise, I wouldn't waste my money!! (Even tho I did!! :>)

Seems to be just another "Hey look what I did" book. When a book has "great projects" in its title, you would expect some useful information about completing such projects. It made me think of a book on weather projects that said "Stick your hand out of the window to see if it's raining." Although this was not as bad as others, it was not all that useful for completing any sand castle project. There were some pretty pictures and a few good tips (that's why I gave the second star). Buy 'The S.o.B. "take me to the beach" Sand Castle Book' instead.

The pictures that are there are somewhat nice, but most sculptures are only shown from one angle, which doesn't give you much idea of how they were constructed. There are no pictures at all of the sculptures in progress, and not much in the way of pictures of human hands manipulating tools to demonstrate how such things are done.

The instructions are far worse. They are, LITERALLY, as such- "To sculpt a dragon and a castle, pile up a big pile of sand. carve into a castle. pile up more sand. carve into a dragon." I wish I were kidding. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

I was enticed to buy it by the cover photo of the dragon, and really disappointed there were no pictures of that sculpture in progress. Also, compare the castles in this book to the castles in "sandcastles made simple", and it's no contest. These are not nearly as neat or detailed.

There are a few somewhat useful tips on sand stacking/packing techniques at the beginning, but you can find those same techniques illustrated far better in Sandcastles Made Simple. "Great projects" is a waste of money, and very little help to a novice.

Okay - chock full o' instructions. Some nice pictures - but some pretty goofy stretches for sand projects. Recipe guides, equipment lists, yada yada.

Nice try... but not something I think would be much fun for adults, and too geeky for the kids.

After enjoying a similar book for snow sculptures, I have to admit that I thought this book didn't match up to its counterpart. The examples presented here seem to be lacking something in both quality and quantity. Overall I'd say that this book does not seem to be sufficiently "kid-friendly."

This book was not what I expected. I thought it was just an art type book with pictures of sandcastles. Instead it gives directions on how to make different types of sandsastles. I kept it though...

We use this at the beach to give us ideas in making sandcastles. We made the dragon that's on the front with a whole bunch of people at the beach.