Toys and Games Books

This is a beautifully illustrated book, It contains a variety of antique items to please collectors of childrens toys. Very informative!

This book helped me considerably as a source for Lithographed toys. I recommend it highly for anyone dealing with this subject.

This book is great for teaching or learning about anamorphic art. I teach the subject in one of my classes and this book is the only place I found that has pictures of anamorphic art to show kids. I cut them out and glued them smoothly on cardboard, then laminated. I made a cylindrical mirror with dowel to entice the kids before making one of their own. I greatly appreciate that this book exists.

This little book brings instant delight to young and old - it will fascinate children the most! Children jostle for position, but cooperate and take turns to "see" what it is all about.

The idea for this goes back earlier than the "turn of the century" since it is mentioned by some authors as already in museums as long ago as 1749: "Some idea can be formed by those who have seen in museums the optical cylinders in which beautiful images are represented from things roughly projected....which when they are concentrated toward the cylinder, they there present a lovely image." (Swedenborg)

I have myselt purchased several dozen of this book, and given it as gifts, much to the delight of all concerned.

I actually ended up getting this book at half price at a local bookseller and what a deal I landed! This is probably the most mileage I'll ever get out of five bucks. The Maisy Game Book includes 5 games that all take 10 minutes or less to play (give or take a few minutes). When you open the back flap of the book, you find not only a nifty compartment to hold the various character pieces and accessories, but also a spinner (that uses numbers for some games and colors for others), and a tic tac toe game. My 3 1/2 year old LOVES the Maisy Game Book and I enjoy playing the games with her--in roughly a half hour, we can play all of them. This is fun, portable, and simple for a beginning gamer. This is sure to be a hit with the Candy Land/Chutes and Ladders set in your family.

This is the cutest book. All of the little game pieces are reusable and fit into a small pocket on the last page. This would be a great toy to bring on a trip- light, easy to pack and fun. Every page has a different game and they are all relatively easy to play. My son really enjoys playing every game fron the first to last page and they are go pretty quickly. Great gift too:)

This is a great how-to book for one specific phonics & spelling teaching strategy. It has made a big difference in my third graders ability to sound out unknown words and incorporate their knowledge of spelling patterns. Making Words is geared for K-3rd. Making Big Words is for 3rd thru 5th graders. It's a hands-on approach and it is very adaptable. You can do it just as suggested or adjust it to your students' particular need. It includes hundreds of lessons. It can also be used in coordination with thematic units that you may be using in your room. A great resource. Worth every penny. I just love Patricia Cunningham!

I teach Title 1 disadvantaged reading students, most are learning English as a second language. I did a word a day with my 6th, 7th , and 8th graders. The making words lessons allowed me to introduce vocabulary, point out spelling patterns, talk about vowel variances, and talk about how our words are made up. I asked them to write the words as well as manipulate the letters. Sometimes, I asked them to group the words if there were several words with the same spelling pattern.

I asked for this book to make things for my Waldorf schooled child or with my Waldorf grade school students if it was simple enough. I think the children over 3rd grade could handle most of the things with help. It is more complicated than I imagined (HAPPILY). I am really tired of making nuthats and the KLUTZ type faries, they are wonderful, but we needed something new! These are not necessarily Waldorf friendly for the purists, but they could certainly be easily adapted to be so! The fairies are terribly adorable. We cannot wait to get started on dragonfly!

One of a kind. An exquisite conception, a much wanted and needed craft book that involves the whole family. Crosses all social, economic and cultural boundaries in a most fantastical and dreamy way that I have not seen before! I wish the writer all the best, as she's brought so much to us...............awating her next book!
XXXXXXXXLee Lindsey

At first glance, I was not very impressed when flipping through this book. The bears seemed very plain and simple. However, upon closer inspection - I realized that it was only their expressions that were very basic; Each bear pattern was really very different in size and shape. A bear's expression is actually the part of the bear that allows the artist to make the bear uniquely "theirs". So armed with the bear patterns in this book, the creative possibilities are endless! The author has included a large variety of bear styles (jointed, non-jointed, 4 legged cub) and adorable clothes for all the bears. The patterns included in the book are all full size. There is a very thorough and well-pictured techniques section in the beginning of the book discussing different fabrics, joint materials, etc. This book is really a gem, and at the listed price - well worth the investment.

i made a few teddy bears and still don't have enough. so many great ideas and possibilities and patterns for clothing. i can only recommend it. you will see that teddies are easy to make.

I teach sixth and seventh grade students. While I've known that these kinds of concrete, multi-level activities would be helpful to them, the logistics always left me defeated--and I'd never have all of my letter tiles returned at the end of a lesson. This book solved my word-making problems, however! Each list corresponds with a strip of reproducible letter tiles in the back. Hand out a new strip for each lesson, and let the kids keep them when they're done. The activities truly are multi-level and interesting even to above grade-level learners. If you're a middle level teacher who wants to increase the word knowledge of your students, this book is a wonderful resource. Now, if I can just keep my colleagues from stealing it...

Very practical guide for teachers struggling with visual and kinestic learners in Spelling and Reading. Easy to incorporate into your daily routine in small groups or large. Encourages students to remember pattens and sound/symbol relationships. I have been using this in my classroom this year and have seen results. This is a must for all elementary teachers!

What a great book--the pictures are clear to show you what you're doing, the book contains both animals and people, and the designs are sweet. I can't wait to start. These figures I thought would be smaller, but all are six inches high. Although the book warns that these are decorations and not toys due to small parts (such as beads for noses and eyes) I would like to try making some dollhouse dolls for an older child.

Patricia Hughes' book, Making Soft Bodied Dough Characters, presents easy to follow instructions for making wonderful little dolls out of salt dough. In no time at all, I made the mother teddy bear and she turned out beautifully! My children were delighted. The step by step directions leave nothing to chance - anyone can create these interesting, colorful characters. I can't wait to get started on the pirate, the fisherman, and the other delightful dolls so beautifully depicted in the photographs. The only materials you need to get started are flour, salt, water and some fabric scraps. The dolls would make lovely gifts for children or adults.

This book is very well done and has lots of gorgeous color pictures to emphasize the finished products. Also gives a brief history of each bear shown and "Teddy Bear Tips" throughout the pages. Comes with numerous patterns in the back that you can enlarge to suit your style and taste. If you are not a sewer or teddy bear maker, this will overwhelm you. Not for the beginner but nice to have anyway.

Making Teddy Bears provides a fine set of master teddy bear patterns ranging form a very easy beginning single pattern piece all the way to a traditional jointed bear with movable arms, legs and head. These patterns are the foundation for sixteen projects which will delight crafts workers looking to make teddies.

Great Marble book. Informative with detailed photos. This book is for collectors old and new.

Easier to use than some of the other marble "standards." It is well organized and the values, based on the condition of the marble, are with the marbles. Some of the other books have you constantly flipping from back to front to find a value. The different types of antique handmade marbles are logically grouped for the most part and the machine made marbles are divided by manufacturer.There is even a section with examples from contemporary marble artists. My one complaint would be that there should be an index to make finding of the great many types of machine made marbles easier. Until something better comes along, I carry this with me to auctions, flea markets, antique shows or anywhere else I think there might be an opportunity to buy, sell or trade marbles.