Crafts Hobbies Books

I think it's great with lots of neat animals but my 12 year old has yet to touch it.

I'm really impressed with this book. The models are solid and easy to construct. The programming is also easy to understand. My daughter and I really enjoyed this book. She gives it a big thumbs up, which is five stars in my book.

My son has been doing Lego robotics through a school program all year, and he finally saved enough money to buy his own Lego NXT Mindstorms kit. In the past week, he has spent hours tweaking ideas he learned in the program as well as the ones included in the instructions that came with the kit. I thought this book would be a natural fit, since it is one of the few that are made more for children than adults.

He was very excited to get it, too, and immediately started constucting the spider bot... and then he realized he didn't have half the needed parts. So he tried to make the frog bot...and again, same thing. He was very frustrated by this point and asked that we return the book.

I told him I would try to find the parts he was missing online, and, thanks to the companion Web site, starting making a list of what he would need... which ended up being over 200 pieces of dozens of different types!

My son would've rated this book a 1, but I'll give it a couple of extra stars for content, the Web site and the fact it is written for children. But after shelling out $250 for the kit and another $20 for the book, be warned: The spending won't stop there. (Not to mention the hours you'll spend tracking everything down.)

Animals have taken over my house. Every time I turn around something is hopping, walking or skittering across the floor. I blame No Starch Press and the LEGO company; a NXT MindStorms kit and a copy of "The LEGO NXT Mindstorms Zoo" ("Zoo") by Fay Rhodes has my 15 year old daughter (with previously no real interest in robots or programming) building all sorts of infernal machines.

The release of the MindStorms NXT has brought forward a plethora of new possibilities and books to inform us of them. No Starch has published several. "Zoo", subtitled "A Kid-Friendly Guide to Building Animals with the NXT Robotics System" seems well pitched at the beginner; all the models are easily built and programming the models for the basic behaviours in the book is easy and well explained.

At first impression a retail NXT buyer may suffer some disappointment, the book is designed for those who have the Educational version of the NXT with a the extra Educational Resource Kit so you will be missing some pieces required for the models. Most NXT owners, though, will have some LEGO already and may have the pieces. Rhodes does go to the trouble of telling you which pieces and where to get them. Just keep this in mind if you are intending to give the book as a gift, you may wish to track down and purchase the extra pieces and include them to avoid disappointment.

The building instructions are a good size, more easily read and understood than those from LEGO themselves which I find a little too small. I also appreciated the parts guide at the start of each model; when you might have to go hunting through other sets for a piece or an alternate the guide meant you could get this over and done with at the beginning rather than just as you are about to complete the model.

The first few models are easily built and programmed, getting progressively harder as you go through the book. None are beyond the capabilities of an even moderately experienced LEGO builder. Rhodes also includes a few sidebars showing alternative parts that can be used for some of the harder to source pieces, a nice touch and one that encouraged my daughter to work around a couple of unavailable parts when building Strutter.

All the model programming uses LEGO's visual programming environment rather than any of the third party languages and tools. A good choice given the book's likely readers. The model programming is a little harder to do from the instructions, though this is more due to the black and white printing and a click together programming environment than any fault by author or publisher. While I had a little difficulty my daughter's eyes were able to cope and so I don't see this as a significant flaw in the book. Rhodes encourages the reader/builder to use the programming environment's ability to chunk code as a block and to develop using a bottom up approach.

For the target market the book is almost perfect, with a good tenor and an excellent choice of models to build. It would be an ideal book to buy for someone who has just gone through building the models included by LEGO in the kit. While the book is aimed at the younger end of LEGO's suggested age range for Mindstorms don't let that put you off purchasing a copy - it's the perfect second book for almost any NXT builder and the "Kid-" could be easily dropped from the subtitle.

Hi everyone,

I received this book last week Monday. When I bought this book, I was very sceptical about this book because a peacock on wheels on the cover was a little strange. But I also build a Giraffe with a fifth middle leg based on the book from Benjamin Erwin "Creative Projects with Lego Mindstorms (RIS kit)" which seems also unusual at that time. Also the book of Benjamin Erwin is also an excellent book. So this is of no surprise that I bought this book also.

My skepticism melted as snow for the sun when I saw the creatures and the building instructions inside the book. This book is clearly written with its audience in mind, ie Children. The building instructions are very clear and detailled. The explanations are also easy to follow.

What could be improved, is the explanation of the NXT-G programming language. In my opinion they go not deep enough. An in depth coverage of the NXT motors, touch, ultrasonic, light sensors is missing. Expecially the "Why" and "What for" questions are not answered. But that is already written in Jim Kelly's book "Lego Mindstorms NXT-G Programming Guide". Both books are complementary to each other. So if you buy the NXT Zoo, I think it is a good idea to by the NXT-G programming language also.

I build "Spiderbot" without any problem (I am an adult, I love robotics and bought my first RIS set in august 2005). I found it easy to build, despite the fact those images are not in color. Using color should have added an extra "touch" to this fine book but it would make it also much more expensive. Nevertheless all those images give a very clear and detailled view how to construct the animals.

Also the detailled inventory at the beginning of each design and the part substitution prevent of becoming frustrating when you need a piece of which you just ran out or do no have. You can clearly see what pieces you need and how much before you start building. When you have already bought other Lego Technic sets, you probably will have all the pieces you need. Only the canon seems to be a big problem because this piece seems very hard to find (I am living in Belgium and probably therefore I cannot find a place where I can buy the particular set). But when you live in the USA, there should be no problem at all. Also there are other types of Lego cannons (in the Excoforce sets) which can be substitution for this canon but I did not try it yet.

What I really regret about this book is that it is written in English only. So when your native language is English, your child can start building without problems. But when you like me living in a world with a different language (mine is Dutch), it makes it almost impossible for your child to follow the instructions on its own. I decided to translate the book into my Dutch language for my nephew and when it is allowed by the publisher of this book, I am more than willing to share the Dutch translation with others inside the Lego community. But I think because of copyright matters that this is not allowed. Nevertheless I can understand the reason why it is impossible to produce such books for other languages; English is a main language used in almost every part of the world. When this book should be written in Dutch for example, theya are only selling less than thousand copies because our language and many others are rarely used and only in very small parts of the world.

As my final conclusion. This book is a must have for children with in interest in animals and robotics. In a playfull way, they obtain technic insights and improve their skills. Also this book stimulates creativity because while building you get your own ideas on what could be added. On Spiderbot I would add a second "Ultrasonic" sensor pointed to the ground. So when Spiderbot is on a table, it should detect the end of the table and backup and start walking on another angle. Nevertheless when you add a second Ultrasonic sensor, you have to make sure you are using those Ultrasonic sensor in an intermitting frequency (the front off when your program is using the floor sensor and so fort) otherwise you do not get excact results. If an ultrasonic sensor is too difficult, you can use a light or Hi-Technic color sensor to scan the surface Spiderbot is walking. When the surface changes color, spiderbot backoff. For this kind of approach, your spiderbot can walk only on egally colored surfaces. And when you add a Compass sensor ... You see a lot of extra creativity can add a personal touch to these designs.

So lets start building and experimenting. This book is worth the price which is very reasonable in my opinion.

And about the author Fay Rhodes, very good work indeed! If we had an "intergalactic" Lego Hall of Fame you would have definatelly "First place". Hopefully we will see much more of your work in the future. Also a big "thank you" for your work inside the Lego Community.

Friendly greetings,

Bad_Wolf

If you liked this book, also try "The Healing Journey" series of self help journals by Phil Rich. The first two -- "The Healing Journey" and "The Healing Journey for Couples", are journaling books written to help people learn how to journal and what to journal about. The others in the series focus on specific life issues.

The book showed the though challenges in a teenagers life and how to deal with competition, people, peer pressure, and more. Pages filled with cartoons, quotes, and pictures. Great for any teen that wants to be sucessful in life.

I've been quilting (self-taught) for 18 months and bought this book about 6 months ago, so I'm not quite a beginner but still have plenty to learn. I use it as a reference work, but unfortunately I have learnt to use it with a pinch of salt. I made the mistake of using one of the tables for calculating how to cut a certain type of triangle. Thankfully I double-checked with a template before cutting my fabric, as the formula given was wrong, although I then had all the trouble of cutting fabric with two sets of markings on it. The formula for calculating the width of binding is also incorrect. I've not checked any of the other formulae, but I'm extremely wary of using them now.

This book has no overall contents section, which is awkward, although there is a contents page for each section at its start. It is divided into the following sections, and the pages are renumbered at the start of each section, e.g. 8-12, which again is an awkward way to do things, although it is useful that the section name is printed in the outside margin of every page.

1. Tools, notions and supplies
2. Fabric and colour
3. Planning pieced blocks
4. Planning the quilt top
5. Cutting
6. Hand piecing
7. Machine piecing
8. Hand and machine applique
9. Assembling the quilt top
10. Basting and backing
11. Hand and machine quilting
12. Binding and finishing
13. Specialty techniques
14. Glossary
15. Index

As you can see, this covers the whole process of traditional quilting fairly well, and as it's a long book, there is plenty in it. There are oodles of nice clear photographs, good headings, diagrams, charts and formulae (which may not be correct!), separate instructions for left-handers where applicable, and spaces at the end of every section where you may write your own notes.

Where techniques are discussed (a few aren't - bargello quilting gets a paragraph saying what it is but no instructions, for instance), they are usually discussed thoroughly. There are usually several ways to do anything in quilting, and a lot of the time this book will describe several options, though not always. For instance, it gives a variety of options for joining multiple pieces to make backing, but only one option (and not the most popular either) for joining two pieces of batting. I'm not wildly happy with the basting instructions generally, though they're certainly useful when used alongside other instructions. I also feel that a lot more space should be given to hand-quilting technique, where only one page is devoted to the all-important quilting running stitch. I can't judge the sections on machine-sewing as I have yet to learn how to use a sewing machine, but as is usual for quilting books, machine-sewing is assumed to be the norm. Where it comes into its own is in giving a lot more information about hand-sewing than most quilting books these days do, and as a hand-sewer I'm extremely grateful for that.

There are very few troubleshooting sections, which is a particular loss in a book which is giving out incorrect formulae: if you follow this book's instructions to the letter, you're going to run into problems. There are definitely gaps. For example, the only method suggested for marking up fabrics is to use templates, when many quilters prefer to calculate the piece sizes and draw them straight onto the fabric using an acrylic ruler (a method that is, in my experience, far more accurate and far quicker). It doesn't even discuss making sure your shapes will fit together the best way possible to use up the minimum fabric (personally I always sketch them out on graph paper first), let alone how to calculate how much fabric to buy.

The most serious omission is that this book is only interested in old-fashioned quilting. If you plan to spend your entire quilting career sticking to traditional geometric patterns based on repeated square blocks, you'll be fine - as long as you don't expect the book to teach you how to make any of these blocks! Some basic units, such as flying geese or a square within a square, are covered, and there are discussions on the grid underlying blocks as well as five pages of pictures of traditional blocks (a couple of which I'd say are wrong), but nowhere does the book walk you through putting together a traditional block. This is unusual in quilting books aimed at beginners, which usually give instructions for a few blocks and indicate the level of difficulty for each. If your only source of quilting instructions is this book, half of the blocks in the gallery will be beyond you, since there is absolutely no information on how to sew more complex blocks depicted such as the Mariner's Compass or Double Wedding Ring. To be honest, an encyclopaedia-style book should really have a much fuller block gallery than this.

If you want to learn how to make art quilts, or how to piece quilt tops that aren't made of geometrical repeating blocks, there isn't a word to help you. Ruth McDowell is a good author to go to there, and there are many books and websites discussing more unusual techniques.

I've reluctantly given this book three stars. There are too many important omissions in this book, and for a book that sets itself up as a start-to-finish bible, readers may be deceived into thinking that it will cover all of their needs. More importantly, some of the information is plain wrong and will wreck a quilt if followed literally, and some of the instructions give rather odd methods while ignoring the most commonly-used ones. If you take all of that with a pinch of salt, and have other quilting books around to fill the gaps, as well as checking techniques before using them on a full quilt, then it is certainly a very useful book to have in your quilting library.

Great book full of very useful information. Only drawback was that I had to get it in paperback with out the spiral spine.

This is a great book: Outstanding illustrations,super ideas, easy to follow directions.
Wish I HAD THIS BOOK TWO YEARS AGO. I bought one for my sister and she loves it.

This is the best book. It gives you lots of info on quilting both hand and machine. With lots of pictures and written info. Good book for the beginner.

A great book for someone getting started in quilt making. Wife has had an earlier copy of this book for some time. This copy was ordered for a Grand Daughter that entered into a new career two years ago, that being a first time young wife dedicated to becoming a profesional Home maker. Am told this book is a step in the right direction.

I give this book 4 stars because it is a nice little book, that explains the technique well. The author uses mitred squares as the basis for her modular knitting. The pictures are nice and the instructions are clear.

Still, I like the book Woolly Thoughts better. That book gives more information and inspiration, plus lots of technical info. They really help you see the math of it all and encourage you to explore for yourself. I think that book will end up being more useful.

Vivian Hoxbro's detailed, yet simple instructions that get you going on your first square, are great!
Exciting to learn from! I recommend this book to ANYONE who can knit,purl, slip a stitch, and psso.

I've been knitting for 40 years but I am someone who can't knit without a pattern, whether I design it or someone else does. That is, until now. This skill is so deceivingly simple, I can't believe I didn't already know it intuitively. It has allowed me a method to knit without a pattern and when I have limited amounts of time. I really love how loose ends are woven in as you go to diminish finishing time.

This is a terrific addition to any knitter's skill set. I'd probably never make a sweater this way but have made quite a few afghans, pillows, hats and scarves.

When I bought this little book, it was but one of many new additions to my crafts library, so I leafed through it thinking "Hmm, that's interesting; I'll have to try that sometime," then forgot about it. Two years later, while thumbing through the latest issue of Vogue Knitting (Winter 2005/06), I came across a stunning and sophisticated geometric-patterned skirt (on p. 82) that *looked* as if it would be incredibly difficult to do, but VK rated the pattern only "intermediate" skill, and I recognized why: it was domino knitting! So I whipped my Hoxbro book off the shelf, read it through, and finally started learning the technique, which proved to be as easy as the author claimed.

I wish more of my knitting & craft books were this well done. Ms. Hoxbro's instructions are extremely clear, concise yet thorough; multiple drawings & sharp photos illustrate every step, and many helpful sidebars are interspersed throughout the book. As I worked through my first squares & joinings, at no point was I left wondering what to do next. For example, when she says to pick up a stitch "around the corner," she supplies a drawn diagram with an X marking the spot *and* a photo of a join-in-progress, so there's no mistaking where your needle needs to go.

I also like the format of the book: just the right size for tucking into a tote with my knitting, printed on glossy, quality paper, and while it may not lay absolutely flat, it flattens enough to work from and is sturdy enough to withstand creasing at the margin. Wearing eyeglasses, I often find fault with how some books are printed, but I have no issues with this one.

The learning projects in the book all have a distinctly Scandinavian flavor, and perhaps illustrate the versatility of the technique more than anything else. That gorgeous skirt in Vogue Knitting displays a very different style, which *this* experienced knitter might have hesitated to tackle were I not armed with a copy of "Domino Knitting," and thanks to Ms. Hoxbro's section on working triangles, I'll be able to change its hemline with confidence.

The book has good instructions how to knit the different squares and triangles and how to make them all together. (My book is in Norwegian, I dont know the exact words.)In the beginning I was impressed by the book. It fascinated me to knit that way. But I experienced that the garments are shapeless and rigid. If they dont fit neither grown ups or children, you have spilt a lot of yarn; it is not possible to take it apart. I have bought a couple of other books giving the same method. The garments in them are looking very fancy, but in contrary to Høxbo, instructions are not good. Maybe with the mix of two books, I can come to a better result. The method is not quite new either. In Norway we have "kontestrikk", built on the same technique. Høxbo and others have used it to create modern fashion, and that is good. Grete

This book creates instant inspiration the moment you open it. When I need the "Juices" to get going, I take 20 minutes to browse through this wonderful book and I'm ready to start a new project!

I had the good fortune to take a class with Sonia King. She is very talented and has a wealth of informaton which she shares very effectively in her book. Not quite like taking the class - but the next best thing if you can't meet her in person. The book is very inspirational and informative.

Para una autodidacta como yo, ha sido fantástico poder contar con este libro, en el cual la autora entrega todos sus conocimientos, tanto de historia, materiales y técnicas. Es un libro completo y didáctico.

Great book with wonderful pictures. While techniques and methods are shown, the projects are a bit advanced, so I wouldn't recommend it for complete beginners. Other than that, a very good book.

This is a very complete book about mosaics. Contains historic and up to date information about the world of mosaics. Contains advices, projects and recommendations. If you are interested in this art you shouldn't missed it.

As a teacher staying home with my toddler, I wanted materials for her that would be fun and educational without her catching on to the fact that she's learning something. This fits the bill...and each page has a little reminder to parents of what their expectations should be, so kids don't get frustrated. I suggest getting a few different books together and just doing a few out of each. Mix it up!

My son is 2. We bought the maze,color,and trace books too.Although he likes them all, the sticker and paste books were by far the easiest for him to use at his age.The quality of the paper is wonderful w/ bright colors and a thickness that holds up to a toddler.We use scotch tape instead of a glue stick when I'm not in the mood for the extra clean up! I homeschool our other child, these books make him feel like he's doing his "school" too. I will definitly continue to buy Kumon books in the future.

We have several of the titles in this 'Lets....' series and they are great books to get started on colouring, sticking, tracing etc. My [...] son and I love to work on them and they are wonderful 'instant gratification' projects for young children. Small pages to work on encourages small people to finish each page and get to the next. I would highly recommend them and then for older kids, the next levels - check the ages on the books. Great activity workbooks.

I have done a lot of sewing. I did make bridesmaid dresses and altered brides dresses. It was very interested to read about the different technics in the making of a good bridal dress. I hope I will get to make one in the near future and than I can use this book for the fine touches
This book is not for beginners.
Lucie Zandstra

The Susan Khalje book is an excellent source of its sort - not speaking of the nice design and pictures, it tells you everything you would want to know when trying to make an evening or wedding dress. Susan Khalje gives many interesting tips and tricks that would otherwise be very time-consuming to figure them out, like how and where exactly attach boning, what layers to use under skirts to make them look as you want to, how to work with lace and how to place it on the curved bodice by hiding the cut places, she gives suggestions as what fabrics to use for what garments - she is very fond of silk organza - for petticoats, underlining, bone channels.

This is one of the rare books that show you professional-done garments and reveal all their making secrets. Even if you're an advanced sewer, I still think you'll find many good tips here. Maybe a pure beginner would not be able to appreciate the value of the information given.

Highly recommend this book if you are making a wedding gown for the first time. Very clear instructions complete with pictures. There is also great chapter on how to attach lace.

I have been sewing for over 25 years and have a degree in design. However, I am always looking to evolve my technique, and I looked into this book because I wanted something that detailed couture techniques for formalwear. In reading other comments on this site before I purchased this book, I noticed some reviewers did not like it because of the outdated dresses. However, I wanted to add that while the specific dresses shown in this book are dated, the techniques described and illustrated are fantastic. This book is for someone that already knows how to sew well, but wants to take their sewing up another level. Don't buy this book expecting to copy one of the dresses used in the examples. Buy this book if you are looking for instruction on choosing and adding stability, using boning, etc, etc. This is about applying couture techniques to your own design. I was looking for something very specific, and found this book to be very helpful. I am glad I purchased it.

Though some of the featured gowns are very "eighties" (big sleeves, big skirts), this book is wonderful for showing how to engineer and fit the understructure or foundation necessary to achieve a remarkable fit on evening wear. The detailed instructions on preparing a muslin are easy to follow and thorough, and this book describes the small steps that, if followed, provide a "knock-em-out" gown that will stay put, even when dancing. Underlining, corsets, boning, and "how to keep things from drooping" are all demystified here. This will be terrific for evening wear and costumes, too, once the wedding gown is finished.

great book, wonderful instructions, not for amateurs, more advanced i think. the dolls featured are amazing.

I have this book for 2 years now,and I have to say it is intelligently written. There is a mass of information,well organized,some details in constuction,and on the whole,it is a great volume to have in your collection on art dolls.

Too often craft/art books are whatever the subject is by-the-numbers. Do this, do that, voila you have a finished project just like mine. This is so much more and exactly what it should be. Layers of information. Beautiful examples. A book that inspires you to choose your own path. This is the best type of creativity inspiring book. I purchased this along with "500 Handmade Dolls" (which shares many of the same artists work) and have found hours of enjoyment. Very well done book.

LIKE ANATOMY OF THE DOLL THIS BOOK OF SUSANNA'S IS ALSO A MUST
HAVE.I AM NOW ADDICTED.

I own all of Susanna's books and think they are excellent. I would suggest that anyone interested in doll making invest in them, and this is a good one to start with. I honestly think this is 5 star all the way. I use this, and her other books, frequently while working. I am a serious cloth doll maker and usually buy every doll book when it comes out - some I resell immediately, but this one I am keeping!

I just finished reading this book and am still forming an opinion of it. I expected a bit more on the technique of using an air brush, meaning how to physically hold it and maneuver it. Instead, it shows various models, mostly aircraft, in various stages of being painted. While I did pick up a few tips applying masks and such, the actual information pertaining to what I was looking for was scant. Maybe I read more into the title than it suggested. The pictures are all superb and well sequenced. Instructions were fairly clear, but the author confuses air flow and air pressure in the compressor section as so many others also do. I likely still would have bought this book had I looked through it all beforehand. However, if the title was simply Finishing Scale Models it would have more accurately defined the contents.

I really like this book because it isn't filled with patterns of Thomas Kincade-like images. It is fresh and modern, with great ideas for projects and good instructions for getting started. I ordered several patterns and wool yarn from Ms Shaunessey's online store too. Terriffic!

In this book, simplicity meets innovativeness. That is why this book is has something for everyone regardless of how much you have embroidered before. The beautiful, yet non-complicated designs will tempt someone who never have embroidered before to take up embroidery. The stitching instructions are clear, and the books have many examples of fun projects to do. For the more seasoned embroiderer, the book is a source of inspiration. The designs can be easily be adapted to new embroidery projects, or one can use the designs in the book as a starting point for making one's own designs

In my youth, I used enjoy doing embroidery projects, but grew bored with the typical imagery associated with the techniques involved (pillowcases and linen dishtowels - ugh). So I put it away until recently when I saw the renewed interest probably due to artists like Ms. Shaughnessy. This book encouraged me to create my own images using various types of thread (discussed in the materials and tools section). The stitches used and developed by the author, who focused on crewel when she was younger, is artistically stimulating. The author's amazing work is creative and so often draws your eye across the work as one would do with a classic painting in a museum. In addition, her discussion on the history of crewel (too brief IMHO) evokes the thread artistry tradition from the past to the "new" work of today. This book provides an excellent way to bring the passion back to thread art (crewel, embroidery).

I loved this book with its quirky designs. I was a bit afraid of crewel work until I read this book; it's easy & fun. All projects are very "do-able" and a lot of them can be done quickly with a minimum of fuss; ideal for a weekend & great for gifts. You don't need to have an extensive stash of threads to do these projects (although what embroiderer doesn't!!)which makes them affordable. Katherine has terrific suggestions for some of the designs & the book has funny anecdotes & tips & hints spread out through its beautifully illustrated pages. I can see this book becoming a firm favorite of mine.

This is absolutely my favorite crewel book! Katherine Shaugnessy has taken crewel to a new level that works with the modern as well as the traditional home decor. Her instructions and diagrams are designed for the novice as well as the experienced embroiderer. She has so many new and different ideas and ways to use embroidery you won't know where to begin. Her fantastic use of color is the key to this super book and I can't wait to get started! This is definately a must have for anyone who loves embroidery as I do.