Toys and Games Books

I purchased this book when my child was six months old. He loved looking at the faces. I would act out the faces too as we went through the book. My son is now three and we occasionally look through the book. He still enjoys seeing the "happy" baby and the "messy" baby.

Our baby loves staring at the pictures of other babies in this book, even though he is just barely 4 months old. He loves reaching out to try and touch them. I think as he gets older, he'll really enjoy learning about the different emotions shown. I like how the book is tabbed so you can easily go to your baby's favorite page.

My 9-month-old son loves looking at this book and having me talk about the pictures.

It is a very nice and colorful book, my baby loves it! She gets so excited when she sees the babies and their expressions. I would recommend this book for the little ones :)

My son LOVES this book. When he was very little he loved to look at the faces and now he has memorized the the emotion on each page. It's so cute to hear him "read" the book, going through saying, "Happy Baby, Angry Baby," etc. His favorite is Messy Baby!

The projects are wonderfully oversized and adventurous. I'd like to remove the word messy, because all art is a bit messy, and this one is really ADVENTUROUS more than messy. It's fantastic art fun! The kids I work with beg me for projects from this book, and are delighted when I join in the fun. Highly recommended. I believe the publisher's website has free projects from this book for your viewing as does the author's website.

This book has been out in the hands of good teachers/parents/child care folks/kids for awhile now, but I've found that it is new to many kids who are just discovering it. One little guy I worked with recently as a visiting author to his school told me: "I didn't know a tennis ball could be so interesting, did you?" He was referring to painting with tennis balls. Our group tried several approches with painty tennis balls....rolling them around in a wading pool covered with paper, tossing them at a wall of paper outdoors, holding and pressing on paper, bouncing on paper on the floor, and a few other ideas that kids thought up that are NOT in the book, but should have been. Read on: The little guy who told me tennis balls are interesting had thought up a idea where he rolled the ball deliberately through paint and then along the border of large paper. Within the border, he made dot-prints with different colors of paint. When it was dry, he outlined each dot with a black marker. The result was a huge bubbly design painting. I was impressed with his process, and the resulting painting was delightful and all his own! I love when my books give kids a boost to be their own artists and live in their own creativity. What a great day spending time with kid-artists. Someday I'll collect all their unique ideas and write a new book called "Kids Are More Artistic Than I Am!" Keep having fun with kids, from your friend, MaryAnn Please visit my website for free art ideas: www.brightring.com.

THIS BOOK IS A FOR-SURE WINNER. IT ENABLES THE KIDS TO HAVE FUN AND GET DIRTY AT THE SAME TIME. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID FOR MY CHILDREN TO GET DIRTY! IT'S CLEAN UP IS EASY TOO. IT'S AN ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR FUN.

This book is my kids' favorite! Everything is either very LARGE and exciting, or SILLY and exciting, or ADVENTUROUS and exciting, or extremely INTERESTING and exciting. Don't buy this if you want your child to sit in a corner with crayons for the rest of her/his life and never look beyond the expected. This is for the kids that will challenge their imaginations and explore art from a new view, building who they will be as adults.

I am a special education teacher and I am always looking for new ideas to enhance my sensory awareness program. This book has some awesome ideas and I can't wait to start using them this year.

This book is terrific! Tons of color, detailed pictures. I am a collector, and use this book to help identify which tiny accessories I need to find or identify. Invaluable! The focus is on toys from 1964-1990 ONLY, so if you collect from other periods this isn't the book you need. If you collect Little People (pre-1988), you need this book! I hope the authors will update it, with the "new" Little People included in a future edition.

THIS BOOK HAS MANY COLORFUL PICTURES AND ACCUARTE DESCRIPTION OF EACH. I TOO HAVE JUST STARTED COLLECTING FISHER PRICE TOYS AND I FIND THIS MAKES MY SEARCHING MORE ENJOYABLE. THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR THE OVERALL TOY COLLECTOR AND THE FISHER PICE COLLECTOR.

I love this book. IT is a MUST for any new and seasoned Fisher Price Collector, especially those who collect Little People. The Pictures are great and the descriptions are excellent. I love this book, and my kids enjoy looking through it as well. It brought back so many memories from toys in my past, and ensures I know what I am getting myself into if I decide to make a purchase as a collector.

this book is a real treasure. I've just begun collecting Fisher Price toys the pictures and info are of great help. Friends/family who look thru this book also get a lot of pleasure from it and will reflect back over what toys they had as kids etc...I'm real happy I made the purchase.

This is a wonderful book! I loved the vivid pictures and descriptions of the playsets. If you love and collect Fisher Price, this book is for you!!

My daughter, nearly three, picked Baby Dance out of the library on her own. She has insisted on having it sung to her every night for the past three weeks. She's at the "why" stage of life -- so rather than just enjoy the pictures, she's also questioning the plot: why is the baby sad (at the beginning)? and observing "look, the mama's awake! (at the end). The book is a really sweet take on something all too familiar -- a baby's distress that mama's not always available -- but with a lovely message that dada can make baby smile, too!

Cute book about a father dancing with his baby girl. The text rhymes, which makes it easy to read --- almost like a song.

I love the artwork and I love that the dad is the main character along with his daughter. Wonderful read for your newbor and infant!

This book is so lovely and my 5 month old daughter beamed the first time she saw it. The poem is simple and the pictures are so sweet. The daddy swings the baby girl all around as her tears turn into laughter. It reminds me of how my daughter and my husband play together....maybe it reminds my daughter of her daddy too! Love it!

My daughter loved this book as a baby. We had it out of the library so many times, I bought it when she was 10 months old. Her 3 year old brother and I both learnt it by heart from singing it to her every night. She still really likes it at 21 months old, though now we don't read it every night. I love the illustrations that show the real movement of the baby up and down, round and round, and of course that one can sing the whole book.

I bought this game to suplement a Spades group I run. When we have 6 people, 2 have to sit out while the others play. So now with Wizard accomodating anywhere from 3 to 6, I can have everyone play, no matter how many people! We've had 18 playing - 12 at Spades, and 6 at Wizard. It's a lot of fun.

Wizard Deluxe Edition Card GameThis is a great game with no sure winners. It has become our favorite game for our RV group. It is easy but competitive. Probably good for kids but great for adults

This is a fun card game especially for families with older children (10 and up). It's a trump game that requires concentration and confidence, but not difficult like bridge.

This is a fun game. The strategy changes a lot based on the number of people playing. It is like Hearts, but less frustrating to those of us without much luck.

AS a family we have played this game many times. It's fun for ages 8-80. The rules are simple and easy to follow. One does not have to be a card shark to enjoy this and it works for any number of players from 3 to 6. I would highly recommend it for those who enjoy having family around the table.

An excellent addition to your library. Lots of photos, and information, to enhanse your enjoyment of the hobby!

You will enjoy this book!

The book was delivered very quickly. The seller took great care to protect the book during shipping as the book arrived in perfect condition.

David Dole has accurately researched the prewar era of Lionel Trains in detail with descriptions and great photos. If you are collector or just interested in old toy trains young or old you will enjoy this book. The pictures of the actual trains and copies of pages from the old catalogs are worth buying the book for. My grandchildren love looking at David Doyle's book on Lionel Trains.

David Doyle's new Standard Catalog Of Lionel Trains 1900-1942 is the most complete guide available for Lionel products: collectors won't want to be without it. From the turn of the century until World war II, Lionel turned out toy trains for kids of all ages: over a thousand color photos blends with pricing guidelines for different conditions to accompany a history of Lionel products. Organized by type of product, from passenger cars and ballast cars to box cars, collectors will find this quite an easy reference to use.

Very help in determining age and type of Lionel items,and value before purchasing or selling.

I have nothing to add to all the other five star reviews, just that this book is amazing, a real labor of love, huge amount of illustrations and history, and impossible to put down. it's worth every penny of the list price as a fascinating coffee table book, and you can get it for ten percent of the list value, used,as well. apparently there were two publishers with two titles, 'timeless toys', and 'playmakers' seems to be the same book.

I happened upon this book browsing through a used book store. I sat down and started flipping through the pictures and descriptions of familiar, famous toys, and COULD NOT put the book down! I bought it that night, of course, and was even more spell-bound the more I read. I was astounded by Tim Walsh's research; the large, bright photographs; and the intimate history of the development of so many toys that are part of any American children's heritage. Learning that Mr. Potato Head originally came without the potato (children used a real one!), seeing all the variations of Candyland (found my own version: 1970's), and reading about what made the Cabbage Patch Doll craze (4th grade - I remember so clearly!) was fascinating. It was my treat to read every day coming home from work until sadly, I finished it! But, as a 5th grade teacher, I promptly took the book to school and watched with delight my students' reactions as they discovered interesting and arcane facts about toys they all knew about as well (how long some toys have been around got the biggest reactions). It was passed around the classroom for several weeks. I cannot recommend this book too highly!

The author has created an excellent book covering the most popular toys of the 20th Century. As you go through this book, you are going to come across many toys you remember from your own lifetime. While some have faded with time, many are still popular and have entertained ever since they first appeared.
The book takes a rather wide view of what a toy is; and includes many games,puzzles,and other things that have entertained young as well as those who are young at heart,if not in years.
The first toy discussed was the Flexible Flyer sled.It brought back a memory to me ,since I had one as a kid.Mine had the straight-runner,and I ran into a gutter grate and punctured my thigh. It seems it happened enough that the runners were rounded.Then, there is the Big Wheel. The kid next door had one and he loved it so much ,he wore completely through the plastic wheels.
Here, you will not only see great pictures of the toy or game ;but also the story behind its being invented and marketed. You will also learn about the person who invented it,details about patents,how many were sold;and lots of other interesting details. It's highly likely that you will find your favorite toy or game covered.
At the back of the book you will find an extensive Bibliography. The book covers many games and puzzles.I have been a long time fan of puzzles and if you are interested in them ,I suggest a search under Jerry Slocum,[...]or The Slocum Puzzle Foundation,Beverly Hills,California.
Overall,a wonderful book that would be interesting to just about anyone who enjoys toys,games or puzzles.

As someone interested in toys and collecting, I've read lots on the subject. But Tim Walsh still told me things I didn't know. The best part is that someone with no interest in the subject will still find this lavish, inviting coffee table book an enthralling read. The reason is the author, Tim Walsh. Most toy collecting books start with no criteria as to what goes in and what stays out of the book. Tim did. One criterion was that the toy had to be created or invented by an outsider. Thus, a lot of well- known toys already didn't make the cut.

The ones that did have stories a lot better than the title, Timeless Toys, makes them sound. By that I mean that this isn't one of those nostalgic "see how much better these simple toys were than all your overdone gadgetry?" books that abound in collecting circles. You might come to that conclusion, but Tim started somewhere else. When he made his own games, he started asking questions about others. Why is the box like that? Why is this that color? Where did they get that name?

Those are the same questions one asks playing with toys. The cynical answers are that marketing research showed that more people would pick up the package if it were blue, and a computer poll of all co-eds showed they liked the letter "Z". But Tim shows, thank heaven, that those cynical answers are wrong. Lots of great toys came from accidents, and many inventors began with a sense of wonder.

Tim doesn't stop there. Those outsiders need insiders to make a toy. Tim covers all that, including the most famous toy designer, Marvin Glass. As with Andy Warhol, the Glass name covered a design team, and Tim introduces some of the faces behind the scenes. Many toys were inspired by other toys, and Tim traces the roots back. His findings usually don't jibe with the urban legends surrounding their creations, and when there are multiple tales, Tim tells them all.

The most interesting parts to me are some that might be overlooked. They are small sidebars showing the origins of a toy and some of the companies that have made it. Often the company names change because the companies are bought by other firms. A decade ago Tyco was bringing back all the classic toys that ever existed, having bought those companies or their toy molds. Where's Tyco now? I wondered, until Tim revealed it was bought by Mattell.

Tim also tells the origin of many toy companies, including one started by two guys named Matson and Elliot. I've read about Wham-O before, and even interviewed an animator who made Superball commercials, but Tim reveals the secret of how Wham-O made so many great toys. Tim also breaks it all down with by decade timelines. He often shows the box art of toys that were revived in various decades. Toy art in the '50s and '60s, much of it done by comic book artists, is a wonder to behold, while the overdone, throwaway art of today really does look like the result of committees on market research.

The bad news is that this 300 page book is only about 75 toys. But that may be a good thing. Those interested might track down Bill Bruegman's Toys of the Sixties or related volumes to read on. Don't buy The Playmakers, though, because Timeless Toys is the new title of the same book. Tim Walsh convinced me that creative souls, even today, even if by accident, may still have a chance. If toys be the fruit of wonder, play on!

As a toy inventor I was surprised when I first saw the book by how beautifully designed it was as well as the extraordinary quality of the photography. On further examination, it greatly surpassed my first impression with its fascinating stories and (truly astonishing), that it got its facts right!

In addition to the fun of seeing all those cool looking toys and taking a nostalgic look back over the last century, it's an historical tribute to American and American immigrant's genius and hard work that has given us all so much pleasure.

treat yourself and your friends to this fine book.

I bought the Cute Book and loved it so I decided to buy this one as well. Same characters and a few new ones only bigger. Great instructions and photos. Any one who loves to make cute thing will love this book.

This is the first doll book I've been interested in. The instructions are funny, simple and easy to follow. I've made the spacey bear and the panda and both are just adorable. Planning on making them all! I wish the full size patterns were included (you have to use a copy machine to enlarge some of them). Happy crafting.

This is a fabulous book for making cute two-dimensional dolls! Since the recommended fabric for these dolls is jersey knit- I use old t-shirts to make them! Recycling and crafting all in one! Most of the patterns in this book are recommended to enlarge on a photocopier- or you can make smaller versions without enlarging. These dolls are great to hand sew- making it a great little craft for all ages!

I have really enjoyed looking this book over, and have chosen more than one pattern to try. the patterns and directions are clear and concise.

In "The Cute Book", readers were treated to patterns for making small felt versions of many of the Aranzi Aronzo characters (if you aren't familiar with the Aranzi Aronzo characters, check out the Aronzo website, '[...] - they're sort of like the Sanrio/Hello Kitty characters, only with more personality). "Cute Dolls" is another book of patterns for making Aronzo character dolls (18 patterns in total), but this time, the patterns are for full sized (8 - 12 inch) dolls, most of which are made from jersey cloth (t-shirt fabric).

As with "The Cute Book", the patterns are very easy to follow. The instructions are fully illustrated, making it so that you don't even need to read the words in order to make these dolls. The book is beautifully presented, with colour photographs throughout and the captions on each of the pictures are hilarious (for example "Make us cute or we'll be angry!").

This is the second book in the Aranzi Aronzo "Let's Make Cute Stuff" series. People who enjoy this book should also consider purchasing the other books in this series: "The Cute Book", "Fun Dolls" and "Cute Stuff".

I saw this book on the shelf and opened it ever so gently and reverently. Those beautiful pictures of Lionel Trains reproduced from the old catalogs graced the pages. I went back in time for a few moments and tried to recall those days so long ago. I relived for a very fleeting moment that era and in a blink of the eye it was gone. But I savored the moment and put it away somewhere special to take out again perhaps on a rainy day as I gaze out my window in a bit of melancholy and think how long ago it was when I held my first Lionel Train. Flipping through the pages of this book is a moving experience if you grew up with Lionel Trains as I did. Collecting Lionel Trains and the catalogs was truly a family affair and one I will always cherish. This is an important book for me. I don't have to take out my Lionel catalogs with their yellowing and brittle pages or pull out streamlined passenger cars or boxcars from my closet in orange boxes now crumbling at the edges. I can sit down and open this book and gaze into the past and just remember. Just remembering is good enough these days. Just remembering when.

A "must have" for Lionel Train enthusiasts. I'm not sure who enjoys it the most, my 60 year old husband or our three year old grandson! Ours is getting so dog-eared from hours of enjoyment that we might need to think about a repalacement!

Officially licensed by Lionel itself, The Art Of Lionel Trains: Toy Trains And American Dreams by Roger Carp is more than just a simple showcase of promotional art that the Lionel company used to advertise their classic model locomotives; its informed and informative text follows the journey and evolution of the internationally famous model railroading company and its various products that inspired hobbies and dreams in households across America. Illustrated throughout in full color and a highly recommended addition to any personal or community library Railroading History collection, The Art Of Lionel Trains is as much a trip down memory lane for model train buffs as it is a peek to an era when advertising art was lively yet simple.

The book is a beauty (as a graphic arts product) but as the review title reads I am a little bit disapointed. Don't get me wrong. I like Roger Carp and his writting. In fact, he is almost the only reason I am suscriber to TCC magazine. However the book, in my humble opinion, falls short in the two aspects one could possible focus on: the Lionel art and the information about it. The illustations though as nice as we expect from Lionel history are pretty much common for Lionel enthusiasts and very well known from long ago. One could think that being this a book about Lionel art something special would appear.

The text did not contribute much to the common knowledge of Lionel aficionados. Commom places such as the bond between fathers and sons and the search for security during rough times, fill most of the space in the book. Not even short biographies of artists as important as Robert Sherman appear in the text. Carp's great sense of humor is also pretty much absent.

In short, I think the other superb books by Roger Carp left me expecting more than real life provides. Everyone has the right to some "failure". In the case of Roger Carp I think this book fills the bill for that.

"Saying 'Lionel' to anyone over the age of 40 brings forth nods of recognition and stories of smoking, whistling trains chugging around Christmas trees."

"The Art of Lionel Trains" is a showcase of familiar images, famous pictures and the artwork from catalog covers, newspaper advertising and other marketing pieces. Some of the pictures are sentimental and show the dreams of children.

When my mother bought my husband his first Lionel Train, I think he spent most of one afternoon putting the track together and then would amuse our cats by running the train at least once a day, complete with smoke billowing about in our mostly empty room. I kept wondering what was burning. My memories of Lionel Trains now include cats jumping across tracks to avoid the impending doom. They were actually quite fascinated for weeks.

This book highlights classic Lionel trains, helps to revive memories of toy trains from the past and analyzes art and its relationship to dreams and values.

The Chapters Include:

Dreams of Ambition 1900-1923
Dreams of Consumption 1920-1933
Dreams of Authority 1931-1947
Dreams of Security 1946-1964
Dreams of Nostalgia 1963-1993
Dreams of Tomorrow 1990-2003

This book is a history of Lionel Trains from 1900-2003 and is the perfect gift for Lionel Train fans everywhere. Each chapter contains detailed information on all things train through an analysis of advertising.

What I noticed, is a sense of family unity throughout the pictures. It also seems that a Lionel Train looks best with a Christmas tree. Artists actually started promoting this idea back in the1920s. The text in the advertising is readable in most cases. You have to love the pictures of the poor kids watching while "grandpa and dad" took over the train tracks.

Roger Carp has been a member of the editorial staff of Classic Toy Trains magazine since 1988. You might want to look for additional selections by Roger Carp:

The World's Greatest Toy Train Maker: Insiders Remember Lionel

Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build

~The Rebecca Review

My 5 yr old grandson loves this book. His school said he needed more time reading and this book seems to really be working. Every chance he gets he picks up the book. Execelent book for the 5-6 year olds.

If you have a child ready for kindergarten, this book is full of great activities to stretch their abilities. The book is bright and filled with colorful puzzles, mazes and exercises to help a child learn the basics of kindergarten.
The creators of the "Brain Quest" have really outdone themselves on this one. There's a clock poster so the child can create it and learn to tell time. There's hidden pictures that the child has to color in to find. There is information on animals and their habitats, vocabulary as well as identifying U.S. coins.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to give a young child (5-6) something more permanent than the new "hot toy". Learning is a lifetime adventure and this book makes it fun for young children to learn.

The quality of Workman Publishing is astounding. This book is a wonderful tool that can be used many ways: bridge for summer, a supplement for the school year, or an addition to the homeschooler's library of items.
It is full of activities like mazes, matching, numbers, phonics, letters, words, and other great stuff!
We recieved it a couple of days ago and dived right in. My[...] loves it, the pages are big and colorful, the activites are spot on with what else she is learning, and the "Brainiac Award" at the end is sure to be a great reward to put on the fridge.
Workman puts out amazing quality books, quiz decks, and educational materials- its difficult to review a book or a company without peer.
I use BrainQuest products in my home with my children, and with this workbook as a great entry to the product line, you are sure to be just as impressed as many many other parents, teachers, and students are too!

This workbook is great. My son is 5 1/2 & currently in Kindergarten & he's really enjoying it. He really looks forward to getting the stickers when we are done with those days' pages.

It would've been great to have this workbook over the summer right before he started Kindergarten because it could really help a child learn their letters, letter sounds, numbers, counting, shapes, colors & coloring which they are expected to know prior to starting school.

This workbook will continue to help him throughout this school year since it has many words that he will be learning, matching, patterns, sorting, money, time & science. There's also a section for them to learn to write their phone number & address.

The Fold-Out clock and stickers are a nice bonus & the mini-card deck is nice but it would've been better if it wasn't on normal paper. Something sturdier (like the clock) would've been great. I love the tear-out pages but my only real complaint about this workbook would be that what's on one side of a page doesn't always go with the other side. For example I tear out the first few pages for my son to work on & page 5/6 & 7/8 are about the letter A & page 9/10 is about the letter A on one side & the letter B on the other side. It would be nice if they all pertained to the same thing. I want to work on just one letter at a time so having B mixed in means I've got to be sure to tuck the page back in the book for next time and my son is wondering why we can't just do it.

My son is excited to continue doing pages, which makes me happy. I would highly recommend this for children about to start Kindergarten & for those that have just started.

The BrainQuest Workbook for Kindergarten ages 5-6 is just great for my little guy. He couldn't wait to start working on it the moment we got it. The vivid graphics and exercises were all age appropriate and challenging enough without being overwhelming. I loved that each exercise can be easily removed from the book--the pages are perforated--so the child doesn't have to lug the entire book around the house. The book also comes with extras--over a 150 stickers and a fold out clock. The mini-card deck is the only disappointment--the cards are made from regular paper, and not card stock so they easily tear, but that shouldn't keep you from buying this great book. It's well worth the low price--over 300 pages of fun for your little one!