Toys and Games Books

Lyndsay Milne is a theater design person with ample creativity. Just leafing through the book is inspirational. Great variety - size, use, mediums, etc. - for project/game ideas. Originality abounds in these wonderful ideas.

Super easy instructions for making costumes, games, toys and school projects with kids using things you have around the house and some paint. I use it all the time!

This is a new, year 2002, softbound, volume of 120 pages, loaded with over 200 very large, full color, sharp photos of every type of "funny face" item. It's a memory jogger, reminding you of stuff you've long forgotten. Descriptions of each item are very complete, and run the range from block heads, potato heads, magic whiskers to spud people and safety-oriented seventies and beyond. There's plenty of interesting text provided. It's completely indexed for easy location of items. An up to date price guide is included. A fun book to enjoy. Add it to your collectibles library.

Toys, always, had been played with then discarded. Now they have a shiny second life as nostalgic collectibles.

In the colorful, profusely illustrated FUNNY FACE, Mark Rich and Jeff Potocsnak take us through picture blocks, magnetic 'magic whiskers', interchangable pictures. Quite quickly, though, they get to the immortal Mr. Potato Head. And there they stay, exploring the phenomenon of plastic facial features stuck onto an actual vegtable.

There's much to see. Who remembers, for instance, that Mr. and Mrs Potato Head, products of the consumer culture of the 1950's, had cars, trailers, planes, boats, kitchen sets? Who would have guessed that their child would be all plastic and have human features?

The art, especially the original advertising (see the freckle-faced little girl on page 59) is a wonderful, somewhat unsettling look at a bygone time. The text is clever, tying the coming of Mr. PH in 1953 to the contemporary fascination with science fiction and space aliens. And pointing out that he was indisputably (and almost uniquely among then-contemporary toys) an adult.

Best of all, the book has the great good sense to quote me!

I'm sure many of you will have noticed that board games are becoming popular again, and also collectable! It is invariably in times of good economy when people seem to enjoy playing and collecting games. The times in history that the best games were invented were the Victorian era, the Roaring 20s, pre-war economic recovery (late 30s), post-war (50s), and off and on until the late 90s current recovery. Because of this, finding game collector's resources such as this one is very useful.

I have several of the board game books which refer to the history, have images of, and list the values of collectable board games throughout their history. "Games: American Boxed Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992: With Values" is, by far, the best written and most useful in starting a collection. I feel that Bruce Whitehill's pricing is very accurate and that the exhaustively researched history of each game and every game company has lead to some important insights about my collecting.

I have found that I use this book most often in conjunction with another good book, "Board Games with Price Guide," by Desi Scarpone (also available on Amazon). The main benefit of the Scarpone book is that there are full-color photographs of every game he lists. He tends to list more pop-culture games, while Whitehill highlights nearly all of the Victorian and traditional games like the Parker Brothers classics, etc. The Scarpone book also doesn't price as accurately; with prices generally being stated as a range, and being more wholesale oriented (half retail).

This book has only eight pages of color plates and only 1/3 or fewer of the games listed has a black & white picture, but there are far more games listed, priced, and described (with contents and histories) than any other book. I refer to it three times as often as the others. It also has great, detailed sections on game history, collecting games, and how to price them, and a GREAT games resources section!

Above all, I think this the best single ! book about board games that I have discovered. I would like to see the publisher/author do a version that has color images throughout, but I love the book for what it is even without the color.

If anyone reading this review would like to contact me with questions or comments, I welcome them.

Bruce Whitehill has written a terrific reference work that belongs in the library of any serious game collector.

These guys are amazing. When I first reviewed this book, I found myself taking notes in the margins, underlining a ton, and then thinking about how I could use all that they suggest. This is the one "How to teach grammar" guide I have actually kept on my desk year-long. They narrow the 200+ "rules" down to the essentials and then show models of how best to teach grammar in the context of student writing. You will find yourself dog-earring and then dog-earring the dog-ears.

Each year teachers are amazed at how little their students know about grammar, usage, and correctness. "Why don't you know this?" they ask their students. "Didn't your teacher TEACH you this last year?" Blank expressions on their faces, the kids shake their heads "no," but a visit to last year's teacher brings indignation. "I certainly DID teach them (fill in the blank with your favorite grammar term)!" she says testily -- or quizzically, depending on her mood.

Sound familiar? It does to me, which is why I bought GETTING IT RIGHT. After years of frustration with "Teflon Grammatical Memory Syndrome" and with correcting a gazillion errors on a gajillion student papers, I looked to two familiar names -- Michael Smith and Jeffrey Wilhelm -- for answers. I wasn't disappointed.

Smith and Wilhelm start with conclusive research that the teaching of grammar in isolation does not work. Then they roll up their sleeves to show us what DOES work. Essentially they argue that it is a depth vs. breadth issue when it comes to grammar. Rather than trying to teach everything, teachers should focus on what's important and most likely to benefit the students in the long run. Their two justifications for teaching a term? "1. The term is so commonly used that teachers, texts, and tests presume that students know it. 2. The term is essential to being able to explain an important issue of style or correctness."

Boiling the vast world of grammar minutiae down to 16 basic terms/concepts, Smith and Wilhelm demonstrate creative ways to teach them based on their own experiences as well as those of student teachers who have worked under their tutelage. The practical ideas will be invaluable to teachers looking for new methods of reaching their kids in this most challenging of tasks. Prompts and handout examples are provided, along with samples of typical student errors and ways to help students learn from them.

Teachers will especially appreciate the section called "A Model Sequence: Learning to Proofread." Here the authors have mercy by telling teachers to free themselves of their shackles. Circling every error on every paper is NOT productive (unless improving your own editing skills while your kids learn nothing counts as "productive"). Instead, teachers should model proofreading and provide practice on carefully selected concepts, then serve as mentors by teaching specific skills and having students serve as their own editors by focusing on errors related to those skills only. Also, peer proofreading ideas that work are spelled out -- one in particular that involves creative use of the TV series CSI. Here it means "Correct Sentence Investigators" -- and yes, the proofreaders are "agents" and the errors are the "crime" (meaning you're about to witness the unlikely marriage of "fun" and "editing").

Buy it. Read it. Use it. Most importantly, it will help your students become better writers and self-editors; less importantly (but still worthy of your consideration!) YOU will feel a little more sane and a lot more effective when you send your kids off to the next grade where they might just surprise their new teacher by saying, "Participles? Yeah, we actually DID learn how to use THEM last year!"

This book has many good 'independant reading center' games for children that are learning to read. The pictures are clear and easy to copy and color. I reviewed this book with our reading specialist this spring, and I went home that night and bought it.

As a kindergarten teacher who is expected to have her students do independent literacy centers, this book is great! Good ideas, with very few materials to buy. Self checking, and leveled, too!

This book is awesome and full of great ideas! It's a great all-around book with micellaneous ideas for everything you can possible think of...and maybe things you've never thought of!

This is a great book full of ideas especially for 3 year olds. I work in a preschool and find this book is great because the activities are easier enough for the younger kids, yet fun enough for the older kids to enjoy. It's a must have for anybody who works with preschool aged children!

Are you the elementary writing teacher who can't think of topics for your children to use in writing assignments? This book is for you. I am an idea challenged teacher who just can't think of topics and I love using this book. It has everything - quick writes that can be used as daily writing assignments or journal entries, story starters for longer assignments, and writing forms that cover a variety of topics. For me, it's a valuable resource.

Excellent resource for any parent, teacher or guardian aiming to effectively guide their children to better writing skills. THat the book has 12 sections - one for each month of the year, is a great way to get kids to practise writing and come to love it.

Writing stories, essays, narratives etc can be a daunting task for many children. This book serves to remove that fear barrier as well as banish that "Do-I-have-to-write-when-I-can-be-playing-somethingelse" attitude. With interesting and many different story starters and ideas, children are allowed free rein of their imagination which will manifest in their writings.

Writing has to be practised frequently to get better. No better way for children to pick up this skill and improve than by using this book.
Isabelle Lim - Singapore

Few dolls speak of childhood like the Ginny doll. As a young toddler in the 1950s, Ginny the character, was a spokesperson for her generation. In the days when children played in the present with dolls that represented themselves, Ginny doll was always a favorite. Her wardrobe, accessories and study construction has made her a living legend that still continues today. The Ginny doll is a part of the American heritage of dolls. I hope you enjoy this book as it is a chapter of Americana that we never want to forget. A. Glenn Mandeville

PRESENTS A THOROUGH HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE EVOLUTION OF VOGUE DOLL COMPANY AND GINNY THROUGH HER MANY CHANGES. LOTS OF ILLUSTRATIONS. GREAT REFERENCE SECTION IN BACK TO IDENTIFY AND PRICE DOLLS AND CLOTHING QUICKLY. THERE ARE A FEW TYPOS IN THE BOOK--COULD HAVE BEEN EDITED A LITTLE BETTER. NEVERTHELESS, IT'S EASY AND FUN TO READ. THERE IS A NEW SECTION ON 1998 GINNY WITH CLEAR ILLUSTRATIONS OF HER WEARING HER LATEST DESIGNS. I THINK YOU'LL ENJOY THIS BOOK ON AMERICA'S SWEETHEART.

Definitely one of the best 3D Pop-Up books I've run across in a long time! I just purchased an armful of them for gifts. Wow! Not only is John Garrity a fab writer for Sports Illustrated, but he certainly has a knack for this 3D thing... I wonder how I missed this when it first came out.

Look out, FOUR! Aficionados of that game of games, Golf, and the ultimate in Paper Art, pop-up books, will be struck with this delightful collectors item from John Garrity. It details, with great text and illustrations, a large slice of golfing history and the reader is hooked into participating in the book from T off to final putt down. Enlightening pop-ups, and there are 6 major and 10 minor spreads, go a fairway towards depicting the games origin, development and future possibilities. It chips away at the notion that golf is only for the rich and drives one to the inescapable conclusion that it truly is a wonderful game. A must for collectors, the green fields approach and no rough edges, allows one to have a ball displaying ones newly acquired knowledge. Mark this one on your card!

Peterson, Ralph and Maryann Eeds. 1990. GRAND CONVERSATIONS: LITERATURE GROUPS IN ACTION. New York: Scholastic.

GRAND CONVERSATIONS: LITERATURE GROUPS IN ACTION starts with explaining the difference between teaching with textbooks and "real" books. Peterson and Eeds breaks this method of teaching using "real" books into five sections (Teaching with real books, A literature-based reading program, Beliefs and practices, Literary Elements, and Teachers at work) with a reference list and book list at the end.

Chapter two outlines the four components needed for this type of program to be successful. The first component is the stories in the home and is a key in the language development. It is stated that "all homes have stories. While in some families a rich oral exchange of narratives has primacy, in others there is an equal emphasis on reading to children from storybooks" (p. 8). The second component is sharing stories "from all kinds of books, by many different authors, about all kinds of subjects" (p. 8) to anchor the sounds of language, promote joy, create a sense of belonging to the group, become aware of many forms of writing and ways of thinking about stories. The third component is providing time for children to read extensively without having to follow through on an assignment over the material read. The fourth component is intensive reading which is "aimed at giving deliberate thought to the literary experience" (p. 12).

Chapter three reflects on the four basic beliefs Peterson and Eeds hold concerning working with literature: stories are journeys through the human life experience, students will gain true meaning in literature when they take ownership of the story by interpreting within their own life experiences, students will learn to construct meaning best through dialogue with peers and the teacher, and teachers need to be willing to accept all interpretations and to enter into the dialogue without an agenda to be followed. Peterson and Eeds state that these beliefs are fundamental in creating a successful literature-based reading program.

Chapter four discusses the indirect teaching of literary elements by letting stories that have multiple layers of action and meaning taking place teach concepts such as story structure and characters. This chapter gives examples of how to move from surface teaching to students using literature to create their own meaning of concepts such as plot, character, place, point of view, time, mood, and symbolism.

Chapter five discusses putting literature studies into action in your own classroom with ideas and real-life examples on involving the parents, reading aloud, extensive reading (choosing, keeping track of, and sharing the books read), intensive reading, reading/dialog plans, and evaluation methods. Several organizational forms are provides as a starting point in the process of making the literature study unique to the teachers' individual student and classroom needs.

The reference list contains the bibliography of the children's books that the text highlights and additional professional books that are referenced in the text or are recommended as further reading.

The Booklist at the back of the book gives titles of recommended books to use when implementing these ideas into the classroom. The list is broken down into sections for Kindergarten/first grade, Second/third grade, Third/fourth grade, and Fifth/sixth grade. As the book has a copyright date of 1990, the list is lacking in current titles of interest to students today. Peterson and Eeds also recommends looking for these "real" books in yearly booklists from locations such as Booklist, Hornbook, and School Library Journal.

This book on using conversation and literature in the classroom is an excellent resource for teachers in grades two to six, however a reading teacher in seventh or eight grades would also find this information useful. This book would be beneficial, not only to the language arts and reading teacher, but would be a good read for science and social studies teachers looking to integrate content-based literature into their curriculum in place of the textbook traditionally used. The most useful section in the book is the last chapter, "Teachers at Work" shares many practical examples of ways to make this idea work in a real classroom setting.

-K Ellis, Advanced Children's Literature, TWU

While many teachers, and schools buy into basils because they are idiot-proof, simple to instruct, as well as simple to evaluate, many teachers are becoming aware that while many students succeed on standardized tests, they lack problem-solving, critical-thinking skills. Since these skills cannot be tested on current standardized tests, they are often overlooked or pushed aside. However, for students to succeed in careers, as well as life, that require innovative, creative, and "outside the box" solutions, we need to foster such thinking early in life. How can we teachers help our students become independent thinkers? Eeds and Peterson (1990) suggest using dialogue and conversations in the classroom. Dialogue opens the door for individualized learning. This allows all students the ability to participate in conversations. Dialogue allows all students to achieve and grow using skills that are difficult for textbooks to accomplish. The ability for all students to participate, and the freedom to respond without the fear of being wrong can lead the students to begin to look deeper. This can lead into what we all want our students to become: independent.