Wild Animals and Other Exciting Projects to Build Imaginative Worlds

I was disappointed that so many of the creations require that you have many of a specific size or color of lego. I'd have to go buy more of the same color bricks or more in a specific size brick to accurately build most of these creations and have it look picturesque.
My child had tons of bricks/lego peices, but they are all left over from a variety of other models he'd built in the past and deconstructed. This book just wasn't what i'd expected. It doesn't help out my situation much. I guess we'll just have to keep rebuilding the same models repeatedly at my home.

Very disappointed. This book doesn't provide any real instructions other than the roughest piece list and a handful of pictures "pretending" to show the building process. It was incredibly frustrating for my son who loves to build (and is extremely adept at following Lego's usual instructions). A total waste of money resulting in a very disappointed builder and a frustrated parent.

We bought the Kindle and Hard copy version of this book. My Lego lovers were so excited! I bought them a different lego creation book, and all it was filled with pictures of types of things you could build with legos, no brick lists, no instructions. Boo! While this book doesn't offer the same step by step as traditional Lego instructions, it gives you enough direction to actually build the items in the book, and the numbers of the bricks used so you can easily order them if you don't already have them. 5 stars!!!!

This book Has great ideas, however it is most definitely not for "with legos you already have." My son was unable to make any of the projects and we have the "large creative brick box." This was very frustrating for him.

This book is AWESOME! Purchased this as a birthday gift for my 8 year old son and can't wait to get our building on! What a great concept to use the Legos we already have to build fun, new creations. Sarah did a great job with this book.

Preordered this for my 7 year old grandson! Loves it! First thing he built was the candy dispensing machine. Lots of great plans and ideas. Sarah Dees has an excellent blog with so many great ideas for children. She is a gem!

When my second child started to develop a love for Lego, he inherited all of his older sister's sets. Where she liked to put them together and keep them that way, displaying them, he preferred to take everything apart and mix up all the pieces. Sometimes he would free build, but he needed a little nudge to encourage his creativity, so we bought several idea books. Of all the books we own, I think this one is the best because, while there is a component that encourages kids to look at the pictures and build their own sets inspired by those pictures, this book also contains detailed instructions for building some models. This is nice, because it gives new life to all those pieces.

The first chapter was probably my son's favorite, and I think it's really cute and fun too. It contains instructions for building several robots and for constructing a lab. I think this chapter is a good example of the overall immersion this book encourages, because the pages depict an assortment of furniture and other objects that help create an entire scene to encourage creative play once the robots and lab are constructed. My son used this as a real springboard, coming up with several of his own mini robots for the lab. He also created a lab setup that was similar to what's shown in the book, but not identical.

Another favorite section is the chapter on creating Lego contraptions. My son was all over the candy machine idea, but one of the best parts was he didn't have quite the right parts for it. The reason why I think this was good is because he had to think outside the box a little and figure out which parts he could substitute. His dad helped him build the original dispenser, and then I helped him fix it after it took a tumble and broke, and both times he was initially frustrated because he couldn't get the parts exactly right. Once we'd worked through it together, however, and I showed him that he could make substitutions where he needed to make them, he learned that sometimes you have to get creative when you're trying to fix something. While I think Lego in general is a great toy, I think this kind of experience is especially valuable because it builds critical thinking skills that simply following a set of instructions don't help build.

From that same section of the book, he also built the rubber band-powered car, and he really enjoyed that one. It was a nice introductory physics lesson for him as well, and it encouraged him to look at some of his other toy cars and try to figure out how they worked.

In addition to these sections, there are chapters on building animals with Lego, creating Lego board games, etc. The variety is great because it means there's something for everyone, and it helps kids to see that they can continue to innovate with their Lego bricks. This creates more value for parents as well, because it helps kids see that they can remake their toys into something new rather than having to buy an entire new set. I'm all for that.

Overall, the instructions are easy to follow, though younger children are likely to need more guidance because they are text-based. There are photos of many of the projects both in various stages of completion and once they're finished, but the photos aren't step-by-step, which is why kids who need those visual aids may need some guidance. At the beginning of each project, the author includes a complete list of each of the required bricks, as well as how many of each brick is needed for that project. The terminology may take some getting used to, but the introduction of the book includes a brick guide that not only describes each piece, but also has pictures with multiple examples. This has additional value, because if you live near a store that sells individual bricks, or if you order them online, you'll know exactly which ones you need to get to complete whatever sets you want to build. You could also create custom sets as gifts by buying the pieces each project requires.

All in all, this book gets high marks from me. My kids have been frustrated by similar idea books that didn't provide instructions, and I can't blame them. I'm in favor of encouraging kids to try to figure things out on their own, but this book's approach is much more accessible. Plus, the projects the book includes can be just a jumping off point, as they were with my son. Once he built a few things from the book and got the idea, he started to do a lot more experimenting on his own, designing models he might not otherwise have designed. If you have a Lego enthusiast at home, or if you're looking for a good gift for one, I'd recommend this book over other, similar books.

This book is just awesome. It gives clear directions for how to make a lot of interesting and fun LEGO designs. These are items that can be made with common bricks found in most big boxes. I personally liked the World of Knights and Dragons best and was able to build two of the dragons, a catapult, and a tower with very few substitutions. My differences were mostly in colors. My red dragon serpent was not.

The binding of this book is interesting because it opens completely and lays flat to make it easier to build on it.

The *only* flaw is the size of the pictures. I need to wear reading glasses in front of my graduated bifocals.

This book is perfect for families drowning in LEGO pieces and broken sets. Our 10 year old grabbed the book out of my hands and immediately ran off to build something.
The builds are very creative and will challenge LEGO fans of all ages to see their bricks in a whole new light.

Our son built the candy dispenser and then started to think of ways that he could expand on the build, which was music to my ears. He followed the book's thorough instructions, but the book also encouraged him to continue improve upon the creations.

This book is a perfect gift idea for kids who love LEGO, but you worry that they already have all the sets you want to buy.

Like many families, we have been playing with Legos for many years. Some of our Legos are over 30 years old. Our grandkids have a great time with Legos when visiting, and they are always building new amazing creations. This book is packed full of new ideas for Lego projects.

The "Make It Work! Lego Contraptions" chapter includes a candy dispenser and a zooming marble run, which were both fun to make. The "Build And Play! Lego Games" chapter has instructions for Chess, Checkers, Spinning Tops, and our favorite, Build A Brain Teaser.

This book will provide hours of entertainment for young and old.

Love this big colorful book and the beautiful unique projects; full chess board and pieces, Veterinary office with furniture, jeep, planes, animals, etc. each has a full page photo of the project and a facing page with list of pieces needed, some how to photos. Any good lego builder will have no trouble making each project, or using their imagination to remodel them to create their own version. My nearly 10 year old was excited to go through the book and expresses excitement with each new section. Perfect for the holidays or just for your favorite lego builder. Really nice book and great projects. Highly recommended