Rose and Twinkleberry's Guide to Building Your Own Puzzles Using LEGO Building Blocks [Plastic Comb]

Doug Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Do you own LEGO blocks?

Increase the value of your LEGO blocks by hundreds of dollars!
"Building Your Own Puzzles" shows you how to use the LEGO blocks you already own to build thirty-two of the world's all-time greatest puzzles - worth hundreds of dollars if bought individually!

Improve your child's mathematical ability!
Puzzle solving enhances creativity and ingenuity, crucial skills for academic success.

Maintain your mental sharpness!
Recent research shows regularly exercising your mind through activities like puzzle solving can help prevent the progression of diseases like Alzheimer's!

Have fun!
The puzzles in this book are among the world's all-time greats for a reason - they're fun!

Each puzzle in the book features a parts list, solving instructions, and construction plans. Most of the solutions are given in the back. There's even a great bibliography so you can learn more about these classic puzzles. And last but not least, there are two witty felines, Rose and Twinkleberry, to take you through the book.

This book is a must for any LEGO owner, and for those without any blocks, you'll need some!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

We published this book for two reasons. First, these puzzles are great, but most are no longer available. This book shows you how to get them for little cost, if any (most people already have LEGO blocks), and using LEGO blocks results in attractive, highly precise puzzles. Second, this book makes a great gift. In effect, you can give someone hundreds of dollars worth of great puzzles for the price of a book. Talk about value for your gift dollar!

From the Author

Putting this book together was a lot of fun. I love puzzles, and had a great time figuring out how to build some of the classics using LEGO blocks. It was also a convenient way for me to publish an original (as far as I know) pentomino problem that I created incorporating color mapping. If you want a pretty book, with fancy illustrations, three-dimensional diagrams, and a lot of fluff, this isn't for you. If you want meat and potatoes - great puzzles and efficient construction plans - you'll enjoy it for countless hours.

I wrote this book for two reasons. First, I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find many of these puzzles - they're just not available. I've built a few of them out of wood, but it's time intensive, and because I'm not a woodworker, they weren't very precise. Puzzles made of LEGO blocks are inexpensive, easy to build, attractive, and fit together perfectly. Now, all these great puzzles, once available to virtually no one, are available to virtually everyone.

Second, I have two daughters, and I refuse to accept that girls just can't excel like boys in math and science. I solved puzzles and played games throughout my childhood, and I truly believe my aptitude for mathematics and science is a direct result. Memorizing tables and formulas really isn't the starting point of a good education in mathematics. First, you have to develop creativity, ingenuity, and logic. Only then can you become an effective problem solver. Puzzles provide a great opportunity to develop these crucial skills. Hopefully, this book can play a small part in helping my girls, and many others, prepare for success in math and science, both academically and professionally.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 96 pages
• Publisher: GVI, Inc. (May 1, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0970512007
• ISBN-13: 978-0970512000
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,873,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Puzzles, not lego, February 3, 2006

By 

Cato Tveit - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rose and Twinkleberry's Guide to Building Your Own Puzzles Using LEGO Building Blocks (Plastic Comb)

An interesting collection of old puzzles. If you are heavy interested in puzzles (block puzzles, wood sliding puzzles and different pentomino/ -omino puzzles), you probably have seen some of these before. If not, you will get a big pack of new ones, collected in one book. (We are talking about 32 puzzles divided in 4 categories).
The lego bricks are only used in 2-D (flat on the table), and we are talking about stricktly regular bricks, not any tiles or flat bricks. If you see the puzzle, and have some lego bricks, you probably find it more interesting building the puzzle without looking at the instructions. I guess, even that will in most cases not be a challenge.
In general I will say I dont regret I bought this book (because the content was as expected), but the layout is simple, the binding quality is poor, much of the stuff you can allso find other places, and then the price have to be commented as high...

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Education of LEGO, September 24, 2005

By 

yamato.tw (Chan Hua. TAIWAN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rose and Twinkleberry's Guide to Building Your Own Puzzles Using LEGO Building Blocks (Plastic Comb)

A very good idea books for the teachers who use LEGO as a part of classes!!