Toys and Games Books

This is a pretty darned hysterical novelty, as well as a great overview of the Geek Life. This is not really a book, but a satirical deck of Tarot cards, with Silicon Valley-style updates. Like, instead of The Fool and the Wheel of Fortune, you get The Hacker and The IPO. The suits of cups, wands, swords, and pentacles have been replace by cubicles, networks, disks, and computer hosts. There is a companion guide of card interpretations, but mostly it's just an excuse for wacky commentaries on Silicon Valley and dot.com excess. There's also instructions for a game you can play called "ram" as well as how to do a straight Tarot reading -- but I wouldn't use this deck to see the future of anything other than a high-teck startup. Most of the people I know who have bought this deck have simply enjoyed turning over the cards and laughing along with the joke.

This is a great novelty/game for geeks, though managers and high-tech biz people will get a kick out of it, too -- and as the SV Tarot's web site says, "Cheaper than a consultant. Same Results." That pretty much sums it up.

This "tarot deck" actually started out as a kind of "in-joke" on the net, but it became a reality four years ago. And since then, who knows how many have used this deck as inspiration, or to answer their questions, or just use it as a cool card game at some "Silicon Valley party." Designed as a spoof of both Tarot and the Valley, anyone in the computer field will quickly recognize the "in-jokes" about "Silicon Valley life" you can find in the accompanying booklet.

The cards which are cleverly drawn do correspond to a traditional Tarot deck. There is a Major and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana has 20 cards, like The Server, Stock Options, and the dreaded Spam! As for the Minor Arcana, instead of Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles, it instead consists of Disks, Hosts, Networks, and Cubicles. Archetypes include the Nerd, Marketer, Salesman, and CEO!

Will you find the answers here to whether or not your start-up will make it? Will you find the love of your dreams in marketing? Will people one day look to you with reverance as being "the guru?" Or will you be part of the (GASP!) layoff when your company downsizes? Who knows! Who cares!

A fun set of cards to have, whether you enjoy Tarot or not or if you want a glimpse into what "Silicon Valley life" is like. And like the package says, it's cheaper than a consultant!

I bought this book when I started my Day Care business, and needed ideas for simple puppets. This book turned out to be the best out of a series of books I purchased in terms of offering ideas for me and the children. I really like that the ideas for the puppets are based on simple materials that you can find anywhere - including leftover supplies in your own home, like toilet paper rolls or orange juice cans. This teaches children to be resourceful and productive, and to use their imaginations.

Also, the ideas really work well. The puppets are simple, but there are enough ideas to build on that you could make really complex mechanical puppets, or moveable puppets if you like. This is a book that you and your children could grow on. I don't think, however, that if you are going to do art-puppets, this book would be for you, but it would be a good start for someone who has never made puppets before and wanted to get a good start.

The author, Barbara MacDonald Buetter, goes over at least a dozen different types of puppets and many different ways to decorate them. My children never tired of making the puppets. Finally, MacDonald Buetter gives ideas to build different types of theaters, from simple to more complex, and so we had a little puppet show! Wow!

Simple Puppets from Everyday Materials by Barbara MacDonald Buetter (New York: Sterling Publishing Co, Inc. 1998) is a great resource for imaginative construction of puppets. There is a strong focus on the use of recycled materials. She recommends keeping a box of such materials as paper tubes and plastic tabs just for such projects (and at last I've found a use for all the junk I've been saving!) and lists a slew of materials found in everyday life. These materials are great for use in the classroom since they are so easy to accumulate. The teacher can save such materials and send out a "wish list" to parents to encourage children to recycle and to use their imaginations to solve 3-dimensional building and visual problems.

She starts off with basic construction. Well-drawn, colorful diagrams illustrate how to braid, make chains, create 3-dimensional noses, crowns and cone hats. She instructs the reader to make faces in a mirror and practice drawing different expressions to show feeling and exaggerated feeling. She'll use spoons for a head and body, a glove for a family of people or ducks or a bee with flowers, a folded carton with inside straps as a hinged mouth, upside-down cans as heads, basic hand puppets with variations such as a kangaroo's pouch, wrestlers, jitterbugs and ballerinas with brass-fastener arms and legs, paper plate suns and Humpty-Dumpties with finger legs, tube-sock puppets, papier-mache puppets, and on and on. She even shows how a little salt sprinkled on wet paint can add great texture. There are even instruction of how to make different stages. Carrots and bananas make fun, if temporary, puppets with tooth pick attachments and pretzel eye-glasses.

Some of her most ingenious use of materials are the creation of movable parts. Linked ring paper chains easily move as marionette arms and legs (and trunks!) and even a caterpillar's body. A folded plastic lid makes a very durable "hinged" mouth. Accordion-folded paper makes for great caterpillars and jack-in-the-boxes. She even creates a dragon as variation, adding wings and an appropriate head. The puppet is moved by popsicle sticks affixed at opposite ends. Popsicle Stick puppets can move by hand movements alone, or be pushed upward through a paper cup to create to illusion of, say, a growing flower. She has a variation of a jumping-jack puppet using a spool, a straw and string. With a slightly larger tube over a smaller one, heads can turn, change expression or character, or if moved up and down, have eyes or mouths that open and close. She's very interested in exploring a full range of possibilities and encourages the reader to also do so.

Her projects encourage the use of imagination. The examples she uses are colorful and she'll even present multiple variations on one idea. There is a full range of characters presented, from people, to animals, to insects, to robots, and more. But she presents these only as guidelines, calling for the students' use of their own ideas. To her, puppets should be the vehicle of story-telling, and they are all the better when they are made by the performers.

I like all the activites that go with each lesson. Wouldn't use any other spelling program.

I chose this book for my 5th grade Spelling. It is fantastic. It offers 35 lessons of about 4 pages each, perfect to cover in one week with a test on Friday. My 5th grader is a natural speller, but the words are challenging and there are even bonus words in each lesson. This can be used for vocabulary as well. There is a nice glossary in the back with all the definitions of the spelling words. The full color pages are interesting and exciting. There is one lesson near the end on National Parks. I look forward to some extra research and projects when we work on that lesson, maybe even a couple of field trips! This is a great book to use if you homeschool.

I think this toy is very good cause really it's like a replica model. And the customer service is excellent cause I was expecting it to come within a week but with this guy you have a trustworthy person and ships the Item when you order it.

We ordered the Romulan Warbird from Snow Leopard, and we were extremely satisfied with the prompt shipping and the condition of the toy. The free gifts included were a nice touch as well. It's nice to order from someone reliable. 5 stars!!!

The Star Wars Episode I "Great Big Flap Book" is a fun read. It is by Tim and Greg Hildebrandt. Known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, this legendary duo's Star Wars work goes all the way back to the first theatrical poster. Needless to say, the artwork is tops. This is no ordinary book. As the title suggests, this interactive adventure contains multiple flaps on each page. There are pages for characters, podracing, the invasion of Naboo and the battle of Naboo. The final page is a tour of spacecraft from the Phantom Menace. The podracing page is typical of the setup. The two page lay out features the Boona Eve Classic and each pod has a corresponding flap. Behind each flap is biographical information on each pilot. Mint books come with the materials to enable the reader to create their own Nubian Starfighter. This book will have high appeal for beginning readers. The cardboard pages and flaps will hold fast despite the hands of very young children. Before purchasing, collectors should find out if the book comes with the last panel and materials to build the starfighter. The Star Wars Episode I "Great Big Flap Book" is one of the bibliographic treasures to come from the Episode I marketing blitz.

My 4-year-old son loves this book. We checked it out of the library and he cried when we had to bring it back so I ordered him a copy and he reads it all the time. As you read the book you can lift all the flaps for more information about the characters and the ships and droids and creatures in the Movie. Great fun for the little Star Wars Fan.

Some friends of mine and I get together infrequently to play strategy games. Chez Geek is a favorite as either a warmup for a longer, more complex games. It's very funny, easy to learn, and has a pretty broad appeal--I recently played with my wife, her sister, and my mother-in-law. You play housemates with different jobs and different slack goals. You can get slack points for having friends over, drinking, watching tv, getting "nookie," and playing RPG's.

My one complaint is that there's no way to buy Chez Geek with both expansion packs (Slack Attack and Block Party) in one bundle. Individually, they're kind of pricey, so it would be nice to have a single discount bundle. This is a pretty minor complaint, though.

When I first laid eyes upon Chez Geek (Pronounced Shay Geek) what I first noted was the wacky and humorous card design with high quality art and funny quotes. However when I opened it up the rules seemed...simplistic. When I played a few games I started to realize how awesome a game this was. It's a completely casual oriented game, with minor tactics, but for the most part it's aimed at being easy to play and funny. Since the deck is shared and boosters aren't part of the game at all (Its not collectable) people can easily join in. Also the collectible aspect is refreshing since every card has a use and there are no "crap" cards. Certain cards are better than others, but not the outrageous degree of most card games. While in theory two people can play, it will be fairly mundane. Games are only worth it with at least 3 people. While the box says 5 people may play the number is closer to 7, and at an absolute max 9. However the two expansion boxes raise that number. Its great for parties since you can learn to play within 5 minutes. Now of course I have emphasized how easy to play it is, the game itself is incredibly fun. As 2-5 (or more) college students living in one apartment you each get one job and try to get as many "Slack Points" as possible. Slack may come from RPGs, hanging out at a Café, nookie, books, friends to invite over, even sleep. What other game gives you points for sleep? As well as many way of gaining slack methods of hindering your opponents are key. For example take "Car Alarm", which makes an opponent's sleep card be discarded. Also "Hungry Girl", a person card, is played on an opponent and `eats' one food card every turn. Even some of the cards that help you can be a double-edged sword. For example buying a user low rider, "Harold the Hoopty Car", lowers your income by 1 point a turn. Income and free time are balancing factors specific to each job. For example as a Slacker you have a high free time value, but very low income. As a corporate drone you have the highest income of any job, but suffer from only one free time per turn.

Beautiful, attractive pictures, with bright colors. The activities are complete. My son loves them!

As a kindergarten teacher, this book is a lifesaver! The learning centers are complete, just laminate and cut out. They are ready to use. I love how they are presented in paper bags. My students LOVE these activities and do them repeatedly! I highly recommend this book for anyone who uses learning centers!

This book works great to use during our guided reading time. The kids love the variety of centers and they are very easy to put together.

Just what I needed to revamp my classroom. This is the first time I have taught in literacy centers, and this book is an immense help. There is so much out there for primary grades and literacy groups...but not for intermiediate grades. Took a while to put it all together, but hopefully, it will last me for years. Many thanks.

This is an incredible pop-up book. The images are on both sides and the detail is incredible. My 2 year loves finding the young, mischevious, baseball loving bunny on each page, along with all of the wild fans in the stands - including Santa Claus and the sun in addition to a wide arrary of animals. My husband and I have both picked up the book after our son is asleep to further explore the images. A wonderful book!

this pop up book is great for baseball fans and animal lovers. our son is 3 years old and he LOVES this book. there is just so much to see...all the different animals and it's also a unique pop up book.

I own many books on the subjects of teaching elementary reading and writing. What I like about this book is that it does not waste time on well known theories, but instead presents practical lesson planning for guiding young readers. The lessons are easily modified for grades 2-5 and the order of the lessons presented makes perfect sense - including separate and distinct approaches to teaching reading of fiction and non-fictin texts.

This book helps teachers find lessons already laid out for instruction to focus on specific comprehension strategies their students may need. Good examples and additional resources are included.