The LEGO Classic brick boxes have been an excellent way to introduce children to the LEGO building system and free building. The sets come with a large number of basic LEGO elements in a rainbow of colors, and encourages creative building by only including instructions for a few models and seed ideas. While some children naturally take to free building, others prefer step-by-step instructions. To give these children more options, a number of LEGO books have been released. 🙂
While some LEGO books like the LEGO Ideas Book series and the LEGO Adventure Book series uses a great range of LEGO parts for a wide variety of models, the Brick Book series and the Build It! book series specifically focus on simpler models using basic LEGO elements. They are well suited for children who already have some of the LEGO Classic brick boxes, and for older LEGO fans who enjoy building small LEGO sculptures. We have reviewed previously released books in the Brick Book series and the Build It! book series (see links at the end of this post),and today, I would like to introduce you to more books in the collection.
To recap, the Brick Book series is published by Barron’s Books, and to date, there are six books in the collection. The first two titles published in 2016, Brick Animals and Brick Cars and Trucks, were the work of British LEGO fan Warren Elsmore, who was already known for his excellent LEGO instruction books for adult LEGO fans (see: Brick City, Brick Wonders, Brick Flicks, Brick History and Brick Vehicles). (You can find links to the reviews at the end of this post.) In 2017 two additional books were added to the collection; Brick Buildings and Brick Beasts. They introduced three new authors to the series; Kevin Hall, Brenda Tsang, and Barry James – professional LEGO artists from Brick Galleria, a LEGO model building design and events company from the UK. We reviewed these four books here and here. The series has been received well by LEGO fans, so for the 2018 holiday season two more books were introduced; Brick Pets and Brick Robots. Below, you can read more about these two new titles.
Brick Pets – 30 Builds: An Unofficial Guide to Making Cute Critters from Classic LEGO features 30 cute creatures, including a tortoise, butterfly, chicken, chameleon, canary, chinchilla, duck, rabbit, spider, tropical fish, parrot, ferret, goat, goldfish, guinea pig, snake, hamster, horse, lizard, llama, monkey, frog, lamb, pig, pigeon, a Dachshund, seahorse, snail, a bulldog, and a ginger cat. Each model uses just a handful or two of basic LEGO pieces. Both the parts list and the step-by-step building instructions are included with nice and big pictures. There is also a short introduction for each creature with additional building tips. This is a beautiful, high quality book with sturdy pages, vibrant colors, and lot of fun models.
Here is the official description of the book: Discover 30 original, ingenious, and unique buildable projects. Free your inner creative genius with these fantastic brick builds that includes a wide range of cute, life-like designs such as a tabby cat, Dachshund, tortoise, frog, goldfish, hamster, and more. Anyone with a drawer full of LEGO bricks will be able to build and customize amazing models with help from this inspiring guide. Based on the brick selection found in some of the LEGO Classic series, each project is a great way to test out unusual building techniques or to mix up pieces from existing kits that have already been broken up. Follow the instructions or go off in your own direction – it’s your choice! Many of the designs in these books use fewer than 100 bricks, so you don’t need a lot of bricks to get started. With even more descriptions, pictures, and step-by-step instructions than ever before, LEGO fans will find new ways to hit the bricks! 96 pages. Price: $14.99 – BUY ON AMAZON
Brick Robots – 30 Builds: An Unofficial Guide to Making Awesome Robots from Classic LEGO focuses on building a large variety of robots. In the introduction to each model, there is a little bit of back-story as well as its name of the robot, and some building tips. There are short robots, tall robots, square robots, round robots, robots with wheels, robots with legs, flying robots, robots that look like animals – all serving different purposes and performing various duties. The robots have lots character and personality, and there is a huge variety to choose from. You can choose to build the robots you like the best, and you can also use the models as seed ideas for further customization. Building robots is fun, as there is really no limit of how far you can go with each design.
Here is the official description of the book: Discover 30 original, ingenious, and unique buildable projects. Free your inner creative genius with these fantastic brick builds that include inspired robot designs called Gearz, Wheels, CRUSHer, Gearbox, Tron, Bots, SparkZ, and more. Anyone with a drawer full of LEGO bricks will be able to build and customize amazing models with help from this guide. Based on the brick selection found in some of the LEGO Classic series, each project is a great way to test out unusual building techniques or to mix up pieces from existing kits that have already been broken up. Follow the instructions or go off in your own direction–it’s your choice! Many of the designs in these books use fewer than 100 bricks, so you don’t need a lot of bricks to get started. With even more descriptions, pictures, and step-by-step instructions than ever before, LEGO fans will find new ways to hit the bricks! 96 pages. Price: $14.99 – BUY ON AMAZON
Another, similar book that was recently released is by No Starch Press, well known for their large selection of beautiful LEGO books. This book also covers animals, but the 50 models include simple to advanced builds, grouped together into five increasingly more difficult levels. Children can start with simple models and gradually build up their skills to more advanced levels. The focus of the book is not just to provide instructions for fun creatures, but also to help children get familiar with more advanced building techniques. The author of the book, Jody Padulano, is an Adult Fan of LEGO born and raised in Rome. He is a computer enginner who divides his time between work and his true passion: LEGO! As an active member of Italian LEGO fan communities such as ItLug and RomaBrick, he exhibited his works throughout Italy and abroad.
Here is the official description of the book: The LEGO Zoo book shows kids of any age how to build 50 simple animal models using only standard LEGO parts that are already likely to be in their collection. Readers learn how to build models of animals like crocodiles, zebras, wolves, lions, flamingos, plus many more. Projects are ordered by increasing difficulty making it easy to jump in without getting in over your head. The animals are so cute and goofy, whether building as a family or solo The LEGO Zoo is sure to deliver a roaring good time! 200 pages. Price: $19.95 – BUY ON AMAZON
If you have younger children, the Brick Book series can provide a huge variety of interesting models to build. They all use basic LEGO elements from the LEGO Classic collection, and all the models are about the same level of difficulty as what you find in the LEGO Classic sets. Children around 4-5 years old should have no problem building all the models by themselves. The LEGO Zoo book is more a progression book from simple to advanced projects. This book is more suitable for children who would like to make progress in their LEGO building. The official description recommends the book for ages 5+. Children of that age should be able to build all the models from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (16 models in total). And, when they are ready, they can move on to the more advanced models in later chapters. My guess is that teen and adult LEGO fans would also enjoy the books. The models are cute, and they can provide a little fun between larger project, or just a bit of relaxation.
What do you think? Do you have any of the LEGO instruction books we discussed today and in previous reviews? What other LEGO books with instructions do you really like? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below! 😉
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