Challenging Lateral Thinking Puzzles (Paperback)

~ Paul Sloane (Author), Des MacHale (Author), Myron Miller (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Lateral thinking is the key to solving these tantalizing puzzles. Packed with hundreds of brain teasers and mathematical problems, the book will test kids' powers of logic, and patience! "The logic, reasoning, and calculating required by the problems...will delight and torment puzzle fans."--Booklist. "Ninety-one `how come' mysteries....We never get enough of these."--Games.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806986719
• ISBN-13: 978-0806986715
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #763,041 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking puzzles that will keep you in suspense!, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

This book holds 91 thought-provoking puzzles. They're separated into several categories for their difficulty, and for each problem there is a series of clues, then the surprising answer. You can tell Paul Sloane put a lot of thought into his puzzles because they're simple but never what you'd guess.

For example, an "easy" question is, "There were six apples in a basket and six girls in the room. Each girl took one apple, yet one apple remained in the basket. How come?" This question alone got me hooked because the problem-solving is so far out! Tell your friends these puzzles and keep them guessing for hours!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great for car trips and party games, November 20, 2000

By A Customer

I gave this book to my son about a year ago. It has provided hours of fun and good growth in logic. Our whole family has gotten smarter I think by doing these brain teasers.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too vague to be useful, March 11, 2002

By	UNPINGCO (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

I would say that only about 15 percent of this book has material that is really useful as lateral-thinking exercises. The rest of it is too vague to be of much use. Useful questions should be specific enough to narrow down a solution by exercising the various methods of lateral thinking. For example, you should be able to come up with a specific solution by considering ways in which your assumptions affect how you understand the question. This book has too many "why did the chicken cross the road?" questions that require you to be psychic in order to get anywhere near the solution or require you to pull some obscure fact out of the clear blue sky.