Customer Reviews

The Ultimate LEGO Book

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently purchased the Ultimate Lego Book as a birthday present for my 11 yr. old son. He was so excited and interested, that he begged me to take it to school. Not only are the pictures intriguing, but it was fascinating to read about how designers develop ideas, how computers are involved and and the history of Legos. As an adult, I found myself just as interested as my son in reading each page and looking at the designs! It encourages the child to read and to think of other ways to be creative! An enjoyable gift to give as well as receive!

I must admit, I don't own this book. I haven't read all of it either. It's my little brothers, he's read most of it. When I was somewhere around 2 (that was almost 13 years ago) my uncles bought me a a bunch of huge containers of LEGO bricks. I have been endlessly amused by the stuff ever since (for the record, I'm the only girl my age I know of who still likes to build with it). Anyway, I was flipping through this book soon after my brother got it thinking "Hey! This is pretty cool!" Believe it or not I really didn't think there were people who's job it was to make huge LEGO models out of any peices they want. This is one of the many interesting things I picked up just from leafing through it in abouit five minutes. On top of that the pictures are great. So, if you like LEGO at all or know someone who does you should pick it up. It's got tons of stuff any LEGO maniac would find fascinating.

My older son and younger nephew are both dedicated Lego fans. Beginning around age 6, they could not get enough information about Lego . . . nor enough Lego sets. Thousands of dollars later their thirst is still not slaked. This book is less expensive than most of the better Lego kits, and will bring many hours of pleasure to those who love Lego. If you are a teenager, you will probably find this book a bit elementary and will likely see it as a four-star book. If you are an adult, you will mainly enjoy the illustrations of amazing Lego models that the master builders have created, and this will be a three-star book for you.

The book has a little of everything. You get a thumbnail background on the company's history, key dates for major innovations, how master builders are selected, major exhibits from the three LEGOLAND parks (in Denmark, the U.K., and California), and the latest in robotics, software and merchandise. The book also shows how Lego can be used to create scale models for explaining ideas (such as the ones for how Lego blocks are manufactured), as well as bringing major buildings to life (such as the 21-foot-tall Empire State Building). The final section shows how Lego blocks can be employed to create sculpture and artistic images.

"Our aim is to stimulate children to become masters of their own lives . . . ." And Lego has been successful at that. While most children start out slavishly following the kits, soon they jumble all of the pieces together and just start making up their own objects. That's when Lego's flexible potential becomes important. In fact, that's how master builders are qualified, by taking a random group of components and seeing what they can build in 45 minutes. In essence, Lego is a tool for creating something physical out of a mental concept using virtually identical pieces of different sizes and colors.

Many Americans will not have seen any of the LEGOLANDs, and the glimpses of what models are found there will probably whet the appetite for more, probably only to be satisfied by an actual trip.

The book could have been improved by providing more technical detail on some of the most interesting models, so that those who are interested in creating similar models would know what components are needed and in what quantitites (and at what cost). Another potential improvement would have been to have included sections about some of the best model builders, where they could describe how they think about creating models.

The main drawback of the model illustrations is that many are too small to give you a full sense of what the models look like. Fold-out pages with adults standing next to the Lego models would have helped in a number of cases.

On the other hand, I am unaware of any other book about Lego that approaches this one for quality, scope and reader interest. So, if you know some who loves Lego, you should probably give them this book as a gift before they buy it for themselves. You'll be a hero or heroine!

After you finish this book, I suggest you consider how you can establish greater Lego challenges that will help create more problem-solving ability. For example, you might encourage your child to see what models can be made with the fewest pieces or the smallest variety of pieces.

Get the best from the least!

If you are a fan of Legos, this is a great book. It is enjoyable to look through and provides lots of information on the history of the Lego company and the Lego bricks loved by millions. It is NOT and instruction manual.

One of the reviews I read about this book included comments about how impossible it is to build the models shown in the book. My response: Duh! This book isn't intended as an instruction manual. However, there are a lot of great ideas in the book. I was inspired to create my own Lego chess board after seeing the one in the book. (I don't have all the pieces I need, but I'm in no hurry.)

Anyway, the bottom line is that if you like Legos, you'll probably like this book. A great addition to any coffee table.

This book is not just a book a cool Lego creations, it's a book that describes the company that has forever changed the children of this generation. Parents with children who like to take things apart turn to Lego to turn their destructive nature into constructive fun. This book is a must-have for all Lego maniacs.

This is an excellent guide to the world of LEGO, whether you're a kid who loves playing with LEGOs, the parent of a LEGOmaniac, or a grownup who's been playing with LEGOs since childhood. As someone who fits in the last category, I was impressed with the collection of photographs, especially of older LEGOs that I still own! Everyone will enjoy this book over and over.

This is a great book with a lot of amazing pictures of incredible lego masterpeices! Every Lego builder/collecter should own one of these

A good alternate title for this book would be `Why you cannot be a LEGO Master Builder'. This book epitomizes my frustration with LEGO building blocks. Skills be damned, there is absolutely no practical way to obtain enough key LEGO pieces to build even the most modest models presented in the book. I see wonderful ideas for LEGO sets in this book, the '57 Chevy, the school bus, and many others and yet the sets on the store shelves cannot practically be used for these models. At times it seems there is a conspiracy by the LEGO group to keep the `good' LEGO pieces out of the publics hands. Maybe they are afraid of someone building a private theme park. The book does contains beautiful pictures of breathtaking LEGO models, and the book is a must have for anyone with even a causal interest in LEGO. However, my enjoyment of the book is marred by my frustration in trying to obtain a sufficient quantity of LEGO elements to build my own models, and the overall tone of the narrative of the greatness of all things LEGO.

My brothers and I spend hours playing with LEGO as children. I remember the LEGO people ended up out in the sand box and who knows what ever happened to all those LEGO pieces that were "very" painful to step on by accident!

Anyway, this book shows some amazing things you can build with LEGO. We are talking the Empire State Building and the Sydney Opera House. Now you can even play with LEGO while wearing LEGO brand clothing.

"This book is not about a toy. It is a book about an idea, a set of values, and a long-term commitment to empowering children to use their creativity and build their imagination. "
-Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen

This book documents the story of LEGO and tells how a master carpenter in a small town of Billund, in Jutland, Denmark started making wooden toys. It then shows the evolution of the LEGO bricks through the years.

One of the most intricate constructions is a model of Grand Central Station. It contains 600,000 bricks and took four model makers six months to build.

The LEGO brick art is pretty amazing. They even have the Mona Lisa in a LEGO frame.

Captivating!

~The Rebecca Review

Even if you weren't a legomaniac as a kid, you will still be amazed by what can be done with legos (I never knew they were used to make portraits of famous people). The pictures are clear and the book is divided into chapters. For anyone who played with these as a child, or for a child who loves to build with them now, it is a fun book to browse through over and over again.