Toys and Games Books

This game was sooo much fun. My friends and I loved it.

My husband and I held this game back in 1991, and I can still remember this great time we enjoyed. Our friends were so enthusiastic that following the game when we all went out for dessert, we were still dressed and acting like our characters! (Needless to say the waitress staff at the restaurant was rather stunned to see a party of twelve people in full tuxedos and ball gowns walk in at almost 3 in the morning.) The game is engaging and truly a blast to play, and when you finally figure out whodunnit, you may or may not be surprised, but you sure do have fun! It is an absolutely incredible experience to step out of the humdrum life you live and suddenly become someone so exceptionally vile or unbelievably naive. The characters are very well written and are well worth the time invested for the game. If you're going to get this game and use it, make certain to have access to a good costume shop, costumes make the characters easier to remember when breaking for dinner.

I have done three of these with my friends, and this was by far my favorite. All the characters are very interesting, and this murder was certainly the most complex one we have had to solve. The plot is also a little more thought out than the other two, and the costumes for this were the best, provided you want something fancy and elegant and flashy. If you want to relive the excitement of Hollywood in the 1930's, then definitely get this game.

I used this book with my four year old grandson who wanted to make puppets. For those who are not artists this is a perfect book. We had a wonderful time making about seven of the various puppets and then putting on our own show. We will probably do this again another time as it is easy and inexpensive.

This was definitely worth my money! The puppets are ADORABLE! I use them in so many ways. For example, after reading Harry the Dirty Dog, my students and I made the dog puppet. Students could make dirty Harry or clean Harry. We used the print-outs as templates; we traced them onto different colors of construction paper and felt. So many creative ideas!

My students are the best reviewers and they just love making the puppets. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. I highly recommend this book.

My 10 year old daughter LOVES this book. She has made many sweet cards for her friends and sometimes I even get one ;0)

I am always look for ways to intergrate Art into my 7th Grade English classes. We have a unit of making non-fiction books. This is a GREAT way to boost kids' creativity as they look for ways to illustrate their books. The instructions are easy to follow and require almost no explaining by me.

This is the second book on the same subject. This one teaches you more ideas for pop-up cards. Also shows you how you can make GIANT pop-ups that can be used for playing in and around-sort of a scene for kids to build around. Again written for children but a good book for beginners in making pop-ups.

THis is sooo cool i love this soo much i love the art and everything much betta to me then the rider tarot deck.

Of all the I-Ching card decks I've seen, this one looks forward, not back to some pseudo-ancient time, with a simple and serene beauty that is breathtaking. Online scans of the 64 cards don't do them justice. The gold highlights of the symbols for example, are nigh invisible on a website. This deck continues to grow on me, becoming more fascinating with the passage of time. I'm so taken with it that I bought a second deck, should the first ever wear out. Not too likely, that; with excellent card stock and deep colouring. The little booklet with it is more than adequate for I-Ching beginners, and worthwhile for those more experienced. This is a great I-Ching card deck!

I first saw this wonderful deck on a tarot site and soon after purchased the deck. The cards are flexible and thinly coated. The artwork is just like the box says... classical chinese watercolor paintings. Simple , direct , and to the point. I feel in love with them immediately.

The little white booklet that comes with it is quite hefty ( 114 pages) and packed with information. Straight forward ,simple instructions for using the deck right away. It takes an ancient oracle and updates it for modern people. I highly recommend this deck to anyone.

The previous reviews say it all. This book is so engaging that my kindergarten-age son and I both love it. The illustrations are mind-blowing, when you hold them right up to your face and see how a T-Rex could chomp off your head with just a nibble. Other books don't do justice, even when they have the drawing of a human standing next to the dinosaur.

At our school's Scholastic Book Faire, we bought the Life-Size Sharks book for my son, and we bought this Life-Size Dinosaurs book as a gift for his class. When we got it home, he loved it so much that he insisted on keeping both books.

Now we have to get another one, so we can make good on our gift to the class. If you have a school-age kid, save yourself some trouble and just buy two copies. The price is right.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other 5-star review posted already, but have to add that this book is made even better by its great price. This is a huge book, and I almost didn't bother to pick it up at the bookstore because I figured a book this big must be $20 or more. But it is only *half* that, less than $10, which is nearly unheard of for modern kids' picture books. Buy it because it is a fantastic book that will fascinate you and your kids alike, and appreciate that it is a steal at this price.

Luckily for dinosaur fans, there are new dinosaur books coming out all the time. Just when you think you have seen all that a picture book can be, along comes one like "Life-Size Dinosaurs." It's title and concept is straight forward: Stuff each large format page with actual-sized artwork of different Dinosaurs. Many of the illustrations completely fill 4-panel fold out spreads from corner to corner. With an assortment of all sizes, there are dinosaurs small enough to be shown in entirety while others that can only be shown as close-up pieces such as the crest of a hadrosaur or the toothy mouth of a Tyrannosaurus. It doesn't matter that 90% of the critter can't even fit on the page because no book has ever brought us in so close like this before.The effect is a sense of real encounter with dinosaurs. As a bonus, the T-Rex mouth is also printed on the inside of the book jacket with the option of unfolding and hanging it up as a poster. All in all this book is a good example of how kids books are just better than grown-up books!

The patterns and ideas in this book are adorable. The instructions and patterns (full size patterns) are clear and easy to understand. You'll love it!

This was the first Japanese craft book I ever owned (I got it for my 14th birthday - I'm now 27), and given the recent popularity of Japanese crafts, I'm surprised that it's not still in print. "Lovable Mini-Dolls" provides patterns for making 165 little (about 3 - 4 inch) felt dolls, including costumed dolls (a pirate, a soldier, a princess, a king, etc), insects, birds, fish, zoo animals and story book characters. Most of these dolls are very simple to make, particularly the animals (I can guarantee that they are easy enough for a 14 year old with minimal sewing skills to make) and colour pictures of the dolls are provided throughout. People who like this book should also consider buying "The Cute Book", which is the closest book to this one, which is currently in print.

This book was definitely worth the price and more! You get 165 different patterns! If this book does not inspire the dollmaker-crafter,then I don't know what to say. The instructions were wonderful with the cute illustrations! Even the novice would understand and create these dolls,no problem. So go ahead and get this book, you won't be disappointed!!

This is a beautiful book with pages of photographs of teddy bears in wonderfully posed scenes. It is also very informative with lots of tips and tricks for making and displaying your bears. Plus, there are lots of full size patterns inside, to make a variety of heartwarming bears. It's just a wonderful book.

This isn't just a book about making bears. Of course, it IS a book about making bears, with wonderful illustrations, full-size patterns and easy-to-understand directions, but it is also so much more. Each "antique" bear (and rabbit) has his or her own charming character, complete with hobbies and favorite attire. Along with the descriptions of each bear are beautiful photographs of the bears in their "natural" settings and at their favorite pasttimes. I think I like Webster the best, with his high-top boots and his "just in case" skeleton key hanging about his neck. Even if you never make a bear, you still need this book for its quaint English garden and old-fashioned cottage style photographs.

This book is well written. Instructions are very clear and easy to understand. The pictures are beautiful. Patterns are extremely well done. The bears I have created from this book were fantastic and truly adorable!

The moonjar is a great way to help teach children about money. I have purchased two of them and have been using them with my children for over a year. I originally started with my 6 year old, but his younger brother (4) wanted to participate as well. We've made a weekly ritual out of dividing they're allowance (about $0.60 per week) across the save, spend, and share jars. They love the whole process: making little towers of out coins in front of the individual money boxes, dropping the coins in the slots of the box as well as talking about how they're going to go about using the money in their boxes for different things. The most valuable aspect of the product is that it provides a tangible way for children to talk about the concepts of saving, sharing and spending. They see the box and the money in it and are able to talk about how it might be used, for example, using money in their share box to donate toys for other children during Christmas. It is a wonderful product. I highly recommend it as well as the book that goes along with it.

My son loves this! and so do I. An excellent tool for teaching responsibility.

I found this product by accident.My kids now Moonjar their money! Saving , Spending and Sharing . The Moonjar Money box has taught our entire family a new way to look at money.

As a new parent, I felt this book was extremely helpful in understanding my child and how to help him learn. I highly reccomend this book to parents as well as teachers.

Edgar McIntosh and Marilu Peck are two of the most innovative leaders in early childhood education. Their research-based practices, enthusiasm for teaching and love of children are evident in this multisensory approach for teaching reading, writing, and math. The multisensory approach that Edagr and Marilu co-developed helps teachers meet the needs of a variety of learners, and helps students connect to the content of instruction in meaningful ways. Their book has inspired OUR school's teachers to transform their classrooms, rethink their teaching strategies, and take risks with their management styles.Teachers have borrowed so many of their ideas, for example, one First Grade classroom now has a "Family Tree" and in a Kindergarten classroom students frequently role play problem-solving strategies through "Peace Plays." Teachers openly refer to this book as an educational bible-of-sorts! This book is a MUST HAVE for primary classrooms.

This book is full of great ideas that can be used in any classroom. The two authors gave a presentation at my school this week and were incredibly wonderful, innovative, and inspiring. Highly recommend!

The best puzzles satisfy the following criteria:

(a) Easy to understand and look easy to solve.
(b) Difficult to solve.
(c) In reality, easy to solve and the solutions are easy to understand.

All of the puzzles contained in this book, many of which have been in existence in some form for many years, fit the mold defined above. Detailed instructions on how to construct them as well as solutions are included. While most require only standard materials, such skills as wood and metal working are sometimes necessary.
It is easy to feel like an imbecile when you are unsuccessful in solving some of these items and then in desperation go to the solutions and see how simple it is. In many cases, the secret is to abandon the "obvious" approach and look at the problem sideways. The path that first appears least likely to lead to a solution is often the proper one. If you enjoy puzzles, this book is a necessary purchase.

Published in Journal Of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

Excellent book covering a wide variety of puzzles, old and new, simple and complex. Full of color photos and diagrams that illustrate the puzzle and its workings, but with a light touch so the reader is not bored with details.

Boy!! what a book for a puzzle lover and/or collector.You just wont find a better book on the subject than this;for the simple reason that the two authors are the top puzzle guys.Well,maybe their other books are just as good.Can you imagine someone with a collection of 20,000 mechanical puzzles and 2,000 puzzle books. Some of these puzzles date back to the 17th.century.This book is so well put together I would suspect that even someone who doesn't particularly like to solve ,or for that matter don't even think they could solve puzzles ;would find this book a joy to thumb through.
The book includes 101 puzzles ,directions on making and solutions.Going through this book is almost as interesting as would be a visit with the authors and looking at this fantastic world class collection.Without question,a book no puzzle lover should be without .I own about 500 puzzle books and this is one of the best and one of my favorites.