Toys and Games Books

I could reduce the number of service calls I perform by over 50% if the pin owners simply followed this manual. The truth is, there isn't any other book that puts pinball repair in layman's terms. How many pinball owners can actually read schematics? How many really do their own circuit board repair? The point I would stress is that all the repairs in the book can be performed by just about anyone, no kind of previous experience necessary. It is truly an outstanding manual and should be required reading for all pinheads, novice or skilled.

This book has step-by-step help for people who have never maintained or repaired a pinball machine. The book has a full section on general repairs, another full section on fixing flippers, and chapters on what to look for when buying a machine, disassembling and setting up the machine, protecting the painted backglass and playing field, checking fuses and checking batteries for leaks.
The book has information about the balls, rubber rings, locks and missing keys, lightbulb types that should not be used, wiring problems, tips for making the machine faster and more fun to play, and where to find parts and game manuals.
This book gathers all this information in one volume, with a separate terminology section that describes the parts and operations of a pinball machine, a lengthy index, and over eighty illustrations. Highly recommended, best guide of its kind.

If you're thinking of purchasing a pinball machine, this book will give you all the guidance you need to making a smart purchase. If you already own a machine, Bear's book will help you make repairs that you never dreamed you could do without a professional repair person. The explanations and drawings are presented for the novice. If you are a professional repair person, you will still probably pick up a tip or two from this book. I have many detailed repair books for pinball but I keep coming back to this one.

I acquired a 1971 Williams Klondike that had almost no maintenance performed on it in almost 25 years. Mr. Kamoroff's layman terms and step by step troubleshooting technics and hints saved me considerable money in returning a dead game into something special again. His simple approach to what may seem a difficult problem coupled with a everyman's writing style made for not only a handy manual but a very good read as well. I recommend this book to anyone who has an old pinball machine and I would not recommend anyone to even consider purchasing one without reading this book first.

I am the editor of GameRoom magazine which covers the world of pinball and all other coin-operated games. "Pinball Machine Care and Maintenance" is a hugely useful guidebook for novice and professional alike. What Kamoroff has accomplished here is the best of both worlds. By explaining the simple things, and offering helpful ideas to the seasoned folk, he's handed the hooby an all-around silverball guide.

EXCELLENT help to me since I knew nothing about Sand Pails and I have been able to identify some at shows and buy a few at great prices. All this from reading this fabulous book. I hope there will be more by these authors.

This book is a feast to the eyes of those of us who love and collect these colorful pails and sand toys from by-gone days. As a collector myself, I found the history to be comprehensive and informative, learning things about the very pails I had in my collection I had not known before. The photography is outstanding and the pails displayed represent the best of many wonderful collections. It is a must-have reference book for anyone collecting or interested in old tin beach toys, and a much needed price guide with regard to their value.

Great pictures are the first thing you notice about this book. Terrific graphics and a sense of style. There are some wonderful examples of pails that I have seen and some that I never seen before. A neat gift for any collector.

Great book with so many wonderful photos and great information!
Nice presentation and great use of color. Truly enjoyable!

What a wonderful book. It tells all about the history of sand pails and who manufactured them. BUT the very best part is the pictures. There are over 300 wonderful colored pictures of sand pails organized by themes and years manufactured. Each picture has a wonderful description of the pail....it's size, year made and value. There are also pictures and information on watering cans, sand sifters and various other sand toys we have all seen or played with at one time.

This is one of those books that brings back wonderful memories of ones childhood. You can just picture the sand castles, shells and water lapping at your feet. Who would have ever thought those inexpensive little beach toys would end up being such pricey collectibles?! A book full of information and pictures that can make you feel like a kid again.

I bought this item for my two grandsons. They really liked it. I had two little superheros running around my house shrieking with glee.

My two sons live in their superhero capes and masks. This is a pretty all-encompassing gift b/c it includes not only the cape, but a selection of very cool colorful masks (you have to supply your own string) and wristbands. My 2- and 6-year olds wear them daily and the masks are still holding up weeks later. Makes a great gift for friends, too.

I have a boy who is on the autistic spectrum. He absolutely loves this book. He wakes up each morning and put on the cape, mask,, and wristbands. It has been great for his pretend play skills!

my son just loves this. loves it! the wristbands fall apart some after too much use, but a little strip of duct tape here and there does the trick. and i jimmied some rubber bands thru the mask holes so a rubber band would loop around each ear. that seemed to work pretty well. (didn't try the yarn. am i the only mom that doesn't own yarn?)

anyway, great price, great product and the book is a fun (and short) read.

My 3 1/2 year old son received this as a Christmas present. He wore the cape non-stop for about 2 weeks. We read the book at least once a week even now and he's got the cape on today (Feb 20). Most Christmas presents come and go, but this one has ignited my child's imagination like no other.

I purchased this for a baby shower gift. Each block has a different Mother Goose nursery rhyme, a letter of the alphabet, a number and illustrations. With all the technology out there for kids, it's nice to know that building blocks are still in for kids. I still have my wooden building blocks when I was a child but nothing as beautiful as these.

When my son opened this toy at his first birthday party my eight year old son flipped out! I couldn't believe how excited he was (how "cool" he thought the blocks were). My toddler of course loved them too and still plays with them now that he's two. Since the older brothers thought it was a great toy, they enjoyed stacking them and knocking them down with their little brother. Even I don't mind stacking and nesting the blocks with my son...over and over and over. I plan on giving this as a baby gift or as a first birthday gift to friends and family in the future!

We give this now for all our baby gifts. It's great developmentally for such a wide range of ages -- babies can put one box inside another, toddlers can begin stacking them, older kids can put the alphabet or numbers in order. And unlike the wooden stacking blocks, it doesn't hurt when they fall down!

We purchased this collection of Mother Goose nesting blocks illustrated by Sylvia Long after we had already purchased the Mother Goose book of Nursery Rhymes. This means we already had the opportunity to see the detail and thoughtfulness of her illustrations up close.

There are ten blocks in all. Below is listed from largest to smallest block:

Number 10, No letter, Nursery Rhyme-"Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" with an illustration of such
Number 9, Letters Y & Z, Nursery Rhyme-"Humpty Dumpty" with illustration of such (I should note here that Sylvia Long doesn't show a living egg creature falling off a wall like we saw when we were kids, this is a depiction of an egg cracking and a chick coming out--this is what I meant above by "thoughtful illustration")
Number 8, Letters V, W, X, Nursery Rhyme-"Ring Around the Rosies"
Number 7, Letters S, T, U, Nursery Rhyme-"Hey Diddle Diddle"
Number 6, Letters P, Q, R, Nursery Rhyme-"Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Number 5, Letters M, N, O-Nursery Rhyme-"Hush A Bye Baby" (this depicts a mother bear lovingly patting a very safe baby bear in a crib, not flying through the air)
Number 4, Letters J, K, L-Nursery Rhyme-"Jack Be Nimble"
Number 3, Letters G, H, I-Nursery Rhyme-"Little Boy Blue"
Number 2, Letters D, E, F-Nursery Rhyme-Rain, Rain Go Away"
Number 1, Letters A, B, C-No clue on the nursery rhyme, I just realized I was missing this block! Please make sure you receive all 10 of the blocks.

The nesting blocks were purchased for our near 1-yr old daughter. Because of there paper based composition (albeit very durable it is still cardboard), I would not recommend them for a child still prone to sticking things in their mouth. As far as nesting (each block sets inside the other) and stacking for the sake of teaching, these blocks are wonderful! The letters and numbers are easy-to-read and large. The colors and illustrations are exactly as they appear in the book and they stack nicely in a box with a strap to reduce the ever growing clutter in our home.

As a side note, I also emailed Sylvia Long to see about getting a signed copy of her illustrated book, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for my daughter's first birthday. I started early anticipating a long delay in hearing back from her. She emailed within hours and was very pleasant to work with. This was an added bonus for sure!

The Mother Gooses Nesting blocks are beautifully done, and lots of fun for my 1 year old!

I bought this when my son was five months old. He still loves it at 15 months! It's durable, colorful and easy for small hands to grasp. We use it at bathtime, in the car, at the beach. He loves to take the sea creatures out and put them back in. It's loads of fun and he never tires of it.

A book, puzzle and teether all in one. My daughter loves this toy. She will actually lunge from her sitting postion to get it. All the textures are neat the colors are bright, and a cute riddle to read as well.

My 17 month old son loves this book, I bought the whole textured series for him. He's had the books for several months and had not gotten bored of them. Every adult who comes to the house loves the books and goes to buy them for their own children.

I was given this book as a gift and was immediately taken in by the foam textures and colors. Upon opening the book and discovering text hidden behind the pop out sea creatures, I was thrilled. It is a great first book since the child can feel all the different sea creatures. My 4 month old loved teething on the sea horse! She learned very quickly that she could pop out the creatures and that each felt differently. Furthermore, I could wash them when she finished chewing on them or let her play with them in the bath.

In addition to being a high quality activity book, the actual text is written in riddles using a high level of vocabulary that will challenge a child for many years with words such as 'puckery' and 'skitters'.

This is a book that can easily be baby's first, but it will also challenge her for years to come.

My 11-month old baby loves this book. Finally a book that she can play with, and read without destroying it. It has: a fish, a crab, a sea horse, and a starfish. It serves as a bath toy, and is a colorful puzzle. She picks up the pieces and tries to put them back on. It is surviving her teething quite well so far... I'm buying more of that series for her and for gifts!

If you are one of those parents (like me) who is tired of buying expensive plastic toys that require batteries and teach a single "skill", this book is for you. The author has a lot of excellent ideas of how to promote creativity and learning in your toddler with activities that employ simple, household items (like paper towel rolls) and inexpensive, basic toys (like balls and sand pails). Studies have shown that children learn better from these types of activities (where they are active) than the flashing, beeping toys (where they mostly watch and press buttons) and I love the idea of using simple items that are not bad for the environment as toys. We have had a lot of fun trying these out with our toddler, although, of course, not all of the activities are appropriate for all ages. On that note-- my only warning is that some of the activities use small pieces or items dangerous to a very young toddler, so parents will have to use common sense.

I wish I could give this book six stars instead of five! I have a 22-month-old daughter and wanted to find new, creative ways to interact with her while also teaching her important skills. I discovered this book while browsing on Amazon one day and was thrilled at the various, numerous ideas it offers! Best of all, you don't have to buy special materials to do most of these activities; they require simple objects you probably already have in your home. For instance, Miller provides recipes for homemade fingerpaint, shares instructions on how to make shape-matching games, and tells how to create a picture file to expand a child's understanding of categories. This book is a must-read for parents who want to stimulate their toddler's mind!

Really great ideas in this book for fun creative play. Some of the supplies mentioned are a little dated, but just reading it helps spark new ideas for things to do! I like that it helps me find ways to recycle things around the house--constant supply of new and interesting free toys!

We purchased this book to get ideas for fun and educational things to do with our 2 year old twins. In addition to finding a number of activities to engage our children, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the first few chapters of the book covered developmental and behavioral issues. The book is well organized into categories of play that reflect the natural interests of a toddler. The author is educated in child development and seems to have deep experience with the ins and outs of toddler play. Great book.

I found this gem at the library, now I'm going to buy a copy for myself! There are so many great ideas in here! I've read other books on the subject but haven't been very impressed. These ideas are practical, inexpensive, and clever. It includes recipes for things like playdough, and instructions for making your own affordable alternatives. Karen Miller had spent over twenty years in the business when this was written and it really shows in this wonderful, thoughtful book.

What a great pleasure it is to thumb through my buddy Tim's (and Ahui & Steve's) hard work and see the big payoff. Guys, this thing is great. Sits perfectly alongside any computer/instructional/technical/howto book. Things are made easy and very well explained throughout. And hey, any book I'm in can't be a bad one. :-)

Dude i know the guy that wrote this book. I had a beer with him one night and he told about this book and i was like wow. I think i might have to buy it. TIM YOU RULE

This book is excellent in almost every respect.
It does a great job of introducing the reader to the LDraw suite of tool for making LEGO creations on your computer. Though this book is geared toward beginners, it is also a great tool for those intermediate users looking to expand their LDraw horizons. I especially liked the sections on creating building instructions. Additionally, all the reference sections make this book worthwhile for even the seasoned LDrawer; I loved the visual color reference on the inside front cover. This book would make a fine addition to any LEGO enthusiasts library.

This is an EXCELLENT book for people SERIOUS about building simple AND complex models using LDRAW. While working with the program I found myself constantly referencing the book--which can be read front-to-back... but ALSO be used as a quick reference book. This has earned itself a permanent position on my bookshelf--no wait--next to my computer!

If you want to do lego CAD, this book is for you! I had used MLCAD and LPub before I got the book to some degree, but my abilities exploded after going through the tutorials. LSynth is also very clearly explained. The CD that is included is a big plus for those who have had difficulty installing the software (all of which is free from the internet though) and also includes some tutorial models for use with the book. The additional resources described in the book show that he is interested in getting as much use out of Lego CAD from the general populace.

All in all, well worth the money and the read!

From the day that my daughter started showing an interest in books, this was her absolute favorite. She's now two, and still often requests this book over many other choices. I have bought a copy of it for every new mom that I know. Great book!

I picked this up in a bookstore a couple of years ago, and it is the clear favorite book in our house for the 2 and under kids. And we have a lot of books. But something about the simplicity, the fabulous photos, and the interactive aspect (not to mention the surprise ending) gets them laughing every time!

We originally found Baby Boo at our library. It was the very first book my son really hooked onto at around 10 months. He would pull it out of the bookcase over and over. It was also the first book he responded to interactively- the "Do you want to play with me?" page always gets a big nod yes and the BOO page always causes rolling giggles.

My son is now 14 months old and still adores the book. We read it several times a day upon demand. And I actually don't mind reading it over and over and over, it is fun to read and easy to remember.

My 17 month old really likes looking at this book. I read about it in Parent's magazine and am so glad I found it. This would be the perfect book for any child fascinated by babies or under the age of 20 months.

My infant girl enjoys this book. It doesn't seem to appeal to her like some other books (ie as the Boynton books do) but she always giggles at the Boo part. I would recommend it.

this was a very good dictionary especially for the price! good pricing and a good dictionary.

Up-to-date dictionary with current words and expressions; thorough descriptions and examples. More entries than I needed due to lots of illustrations and "encyclopædic" listings as well. Lettered thumb-tabs are a plus.

Up to date, clear definitions and high quality.

This is the third, gift copy of the American Heritage College Dictionary I have purchased and I consider it the best dictionary I have ever owned and/or given. I will be purchasing more of them. When I compare the definitions offered in this dictionary against other dictionaries I am very impressed with the clarity of the definition and ease of understanding.

I am very impressed with this dictionary. My favorite features are the small black-and-white photos and diagrams in the page margins, and each page contains a small pronunciation key so there's no flipping back and forth. It's very up-to-date. I also appreciate its size... Even though it has so many definitions and a large appendix, it's a very manageable size and weight. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a dictionary with thorough definitions for a reasonable. I'm obsessed with dictionaries and believe me this one is excellent.

Wonderful value for the price. SRP is $29.95 and got it for $19.77 through Amazon. Tons of great historical information and lots of fabulous color photos of build-ups and original boxes. Price guide is "okay" as many prices are pretty far off compared to what they sell for on ebay, for example. All things considered, it's a great book!

Highly recommended to any afficiando of Aurora kits, particularly those who wish to recall the deeply statisfying pleasure of finding those great Aurora art work boxes under their Christmas tree in the 1950's!

Apart from its enormous appeal to nostalgia,the serious student will find the work very well organized and a most reliable reference guide well worth the outlay.
Dave Owen,
Stevensville, Ontario, Canada

Thomas Graham's Aurora Model Kits is an informative tome fill with models of cars, planes, tanks, and the like; but it was the monster/ sci-fi kits that brought back many nostalgic remembrances of my childhood days- most of which was spent reading monster comic books like Dick Briefer's The Monster of Frankenstein and Zombie Factory, while waiting for the paint to dry on my glow in the dark monster models. If you were a kid in the 60's and want to see some of the kits you begged your mother to buy you at Woolworth department store, this 160 page "time machine" is for you!

I was so happy that Schiffer brought Dr. Graham's Aurora book back out. In fact, I sent in a card requesting they do so a few years back after I bought his Revell Model's book. I just loved the memories, especially seeing that just horrible "Yak-25/Mig-19" kit Aurora put out. Of course it was totally fanciful, but I remember 51 years later the day I bought it. There are kits in here that have disappered from existence for so long, like the model knights and the USS Halford, which I had thought was a Revell model until Dr. Graham was kind enough to answer an e-mail a few years ago. For any of us who grew up in the 50's making models, this book is a must. It is amazing, it brought back friends, times, feelings, the whole 9 yards. Dr. Graham is an excellent writer and obviously historian, you won't be sorry. Get this and his Revell book and just be 8,9 or 10 again.

I should mention that if one is not interested in model aircraft, particularly the models built in the fifties, you should skip along to something else, but for someone who actually built many, if not most, of the kits in this book, this was a marvelous gift, memories of days when fun was the order of the day.

The historical information was most welcome, and Graham gives the reader a look inside the business of a model company in the fifties, a company that made some great strides in some areas but whose products were never considered the meat of "true modelers." The kits may not have been accurate -- the Me-109 was simply awful, and cast in a metallic burgundy besides, and the "Mig 19" resembled no aircraft ever flown by the Soviets -- but they were invariably fun. They were actually better in terms of fit and casting quality than some products presently on the market. And as a special treat, they were the only source for armored knights, gladiators, and movie monsters. Even the movie monsters issued by other companies were actually molds from the defunct Aurora line.

The only question is whether the book was more fun to read or to look at for the pictures.