Book Review: LEGO Star Wars Ideas Book

Hannah Dolan, et.al., LEGO Star Wars Ideas Book. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2018. ISBN: 9781465467058.

 

Genre: art and photography

Subgenre: Star Wars, LEGO, children and YA

Format: coffee table book

Source: Berea branch, Madison County (KY) Public Library

This big coffee table book features "more than 200 games, activities, and building ideas." One of the features are ideas to reuse or create new things with specific LEGO sets (assuming you might want to take apart that one nice set you put together). 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Recreate. Recreate moments from Star Wars. 
• Expand. Expand and reimagine scenes and situations in Star Wars. 
• Challenge. Games you can create with LEGOs.
• Use it. Create some practical things like a piggy bank or a vase. 

A strength of the book is the photography. Even if you are not a builder, this book is a pleasure to view. The photos are in full color, and we get a lot of creativity on display. 

The text is easy to read. However, we do not get detailed instructions for the items. Some illustrations show parts of the process, but for the most part builders need ability to figure out how things fit together based on a photo. Some better instructions could have made this book a lot more than a nice art book. 

Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the photos. This can be a good book for children, though they may need some adult help with some of the project, or the adults may need the kid's help. If you are a fan of Star Wars and/or LEGO, you will enjoy this book. 

4 out of 5 stars.  

Note: DK Publishing is an imprint of Penguin Random House, one of the four publishers that I am boycotting due to their lawsuit against Internet Archive. However, I was reading this book prior to March 27, 2023 when my boycott went in effect. I am posting the review, but I am not actively sharing it on social media.

Booknote: LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary, New Edition

Simon Beecroft, et.al., LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary: New Edition. New York: DK Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781465481610.

Genre: children and YA, art books
Subgenre: LEGO, Star Wars, toys, photography
Format: hardback
Source: Berea branch of Madison County (KY) Public Library

If you are a fan of both LEGO and Star Wars, you'll enjoy this book. The book is arranged as follows:

• A short introduction.
• A short retrospective looking at 20 years of LEGO Star Wars. 
• Five chapters covering the Star Wars narrative from the prequels to the recent films (it goes to Episode VIII) plus a chapter on specialist LEGO sets and one on LEGO creators and promotional pieces. 

Chapters combine some nice, basic narrative telling the stories with excellent photography of various LEGO sets. Sets are identified by year published, set number, number of pieces in the set, and what Star Wars story it is from. Text is easy to ready, as this is a book mainly for children, but still substantive enough.

This is a book that children of all ages will enjoy. Keep in mind it is not comprehensive; not every possible set is featured. What is featured does look great, and it may inspire you to seek out some of these sets to add to your collection.

This is a book I would add to my collection, although I may wait for the latest edition covering all nine movies. This book is also a great selection for libraries.

5 out of 5 stars. 

Booknote: LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side

Daniel Lipkowitz, LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side. New York: DK Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-4654-1897-5.

Genre: art and photography
Subgenre: Star Wars, LEGO, toys, children and young adult, science fiction
Format: Hardcover coffee table book
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

The book is part of DK Publishing's series of LEGO Star Wars books. This book focuses on the Sith, the dark side of the Force characters. It gives a quick tour from the Sith Era to Return of the Jedi.

The book is arranged in short sections within three chapters (Republic Era, Clone Wars Era, and Empire Era). We get some text and some excellent photography in playful layouts This being a book for young readers, it also features some cute light humor. The photos feature sets, vehicles, and characters. You also get some diagrams, and a even a flowchart so you can see what kind of Jedi or Sith you might be.

On a side note, if you buy the book, it should come with a mini-figure. 

Overall, it is a cute book with fun for all ages. If you like LEGOs or Star Wars or both, this is a book for you. I really liked it.

4 out of 5 stars.

Booknote: LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes

Daniel Lipkowitz, LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes. New York: DK Publishing, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-4654-3437-1.

Genre: nonfiction
Subgenre: art books, children, Legos, Star Wars, photography
Format: Hardcover
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

"6 Movies. . . A Lot of Lego Bricks."

The book features "one hundred brick-built scenes" that tell the Star Wars story from the films; it goes from Episode I to Episode VI. It is a nice, big hardcover with great photography that Star Wars and Lego fans of all ages will enjoy. Each scene features a Lego set depicting a scene from one of the films. The text includes character speech bubbles as well as small trivia boxes with information about the Lego set presented. An interesting element is when they tell how a Lego set may slightly differ from details in the movies.

The photos are in full color, and each scene usually takes two pages in full. Most scenes are depicted horizontally, but a few are depicted vertically, so you have to turn the book on its side to fully appreciate those. If you are not a Lego collector, this book might inspire you to start. It is a very good book for kids and adults. It tells the story, but also brings in some nice humor and playfulness. This is definitely a good addition for public libraries.

4 out of 5 stars

This book qualifies for the following 2016 Reading Challenges: