Games Books

We have been reading various books to my daughter for the past 5-6 months. Now she is a year old and this is one book she points to and insists we read. She turns the pages on the book and bounces up and down when she see the pictures.

I am buying some more books by Helen Oxenbury for her.

Sing-songy verse like the other books in this series make it a favorite for babies just getting into books. Fun gift, too!

I have all 4 of these Oxenbury books and both of my kids have been absolutely captivated by them. It is the only book that they will just sit and actively listen and follow from between 6-15 months. Watch their faces while another reads it to them and you will be amazed at how the respond to the simple, large pictures and rhymes. As an adult, I am attracted to more detailed and complex illustrations, but this is what a BABY likes! Any of her books are a perfect way to introduce you child to book reading.

We have all of Oxenburys books in this series (Clap Hands, Say Goodnight, All Fall Down & Tickle Tickle). We also have her Big Baby Book as well. My daughter is 13 months old and loves books, but the books she continually picks out and hands to me are the books in this series. She adores them. My husband and I have probably read these hundreds of times to her, and she is captivated by the art work and the rhyme. A definite must have for your little one!

This is my 8 month old's favorite book. Everytime I read it to her, which is everyday for the past several months, she goes into a state of bliss. She loves the big, happy, bouncy multi-cultural babies and I always sing the words to her for added pleasure. Great choice for infants.

Book gets 5 stars from where it starts (end of WW 2) through the AFL-NFL merger, then loses steam from 1970-present.

That said, it is worth reading simply for the first part. The section on the LA Rams itself makes the book worthwhile as is the section on the early Cleveland Browns.

Yet it pretty much ignores the 50s Detroit Lions who were a power as well.

The AFL is treated quite fairly, which is unusual. And you get a very nuanced picture of Lamar Hunt, nice going.

Wellington Mara gets panned a bit, he is not seen as the generous man whose altruism gets praised time after time. Rather, his backing of the National TV contract is seen as something he was talked into. His signing of Pete Gogolak is roundly panned in this book.

Great great information on Bert Bell, the commissioner before Rozelle.

Very little on George Halas.

But it seemed to me that the author could not find many topics he liked in the post-merger NFL.

BTW, this book is almost totally concerned with the owners and managers of the team. Relatively little on the players.

An excellent book on the history of the NFL. From the early years to the present, the author gives details of the people and teams that have made the NFL what it is today. The 70's were of great interest to me since I grew up during the 70's. Another book on the NFL that covers the 70's is "The Super 70's" by Tom Danyluk. Well done.

I bought this book when it first came out and absolutely loved it. I just looked it up right now to see what other books are "linked" to it because it was so good. I have even given it as a Christmas present. Enjoy!

This is a tour de force of sports writing. The author has written a tremendous piece of work detailing the history of the NFL up until the modern day.

The book is really indepth but readable. I am saddened that I have finished the book, it was that well-written and interesting to me.

Stories of the influential figures of the NFL abound throughout the book and really there seems to be no stone unturned by the writer.

Highly recommended.

MacCambridge has written an outstanding history of modern professional football known as the National Football League. The primary theme of the book is how football has eclipsed other sports, specifically baseball, to become America's game.

The book starts out with the Baltimore Colts defeat in overtime of the New York Giants on December 28, 1958 in the National Football League championship game. The game was televised and is called the Greatest Game Ever Played, partially because it catapulted the NFL into the national spotlight and sent the league on its way to be the dominant sport in American culture.

For the most part this is a very linear history of the Nation Football League, and a very well done one. While it is about the game itself, it's more about the business of professional football and the importance of decisions made by those who ran it leading to a thriving game and a thriving business enterprise. Much is discussed about the first commissioner Bert Bell who held a motley collection of owners together and strived for parity in the league, and Pete Rozelle who help reap millions in television revenue, fostered the revenue sharing agreement between big market and small market teams keeping competitive balance, and maintaining relative labor peace compared to other sports.

Another very interesting and pivotal part of NFL history was its competition with the American Football League in the 1960's and how a group of maverick owners created a rival, viable league of its own and how the eventual merger of the NFL and AFL came about. Interestingly, Lamar Hunt, late owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, was the pivotal figure in both the creation of the AFL and the eventual merger. The merger, in fact, made the NFL even stronger.

There are a few key themes in this book about why professional football became the dominant sport it is today. First, and foremost, is television. The game of football, more so than baseball, is a sport made for television. Television thrust the game into the national spotlight and keeps it there. Second is parity. While there have been some dominant teams in the league and a few dynasties, the revenue sharing, scheduling, and now salary caps which keep the teams on a somewhat even playing field has helped maintain interest in the game. Third, labor peace, relative to other sports, has also helped the game thrive. And finally, the owners and commissioners who have lead the league have been visionary. In these pages you meet the legendary coaches and owners like George Halas, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Wellington Mara, Art Modell, Art Rooney, and others who made the NFL what it is today.

Overall, this is an outstanding history of the modern NFL and I highly recommend it.

This is a must-have for anyone who loves bookbindinding and/or is a fan of Shereen LaPlantz' terrific work. There are some excellent structures and lots of great information. It's too bad that such a terrific book had to be marred by poor editing, but it is still very much worth owning. It is extremely relevant to this review to note that corrections to the book are available at http://www.laplantz.com. The book and website taken together deserve FIVE stars.

I just received this the other day and all I can say is WOW!!!
I also own Cover to Cover, but I like this one just as much or better. The samples are just to die for and are very inspiring, and this book has different types of stitches and other books .
If you own Cover to Cover, you need this one too!

I bought this book to get a feel for the basic small bookmaking process. It is very straightforward, with directions that seem easy to follow, and many diagrams & photographs to help guide you to a finished product. It has some beginner, intermediate, and advanced projects, so essentially there is something for anybody who wants to learn about the craft of handmade books. I wouldn't recommend this for a young crafter -- it's definitely written for a person with at least a small knowledge of paper craft who is looking to expand, and the directions would be too difficult, I think, for anyone younger than high school age.

Great for starting into book making. The majority of the projects in the book are more about folding paper to make structures but the structures in themselves make books like the accordion fold books, star books, tag books, tunnels, signatures within accordions, etc. For me this was perfect. The book starts with a glossary so you can get the vocabulary down and then starts in with techniques for sewing and scoring. The majority of projects use the accordion fold book as the basis but there are lots of varieties and terrific photos of completed projects to inspire. The instructions go step by step and also have 3-d line drawings showing you where to fold and such. The book builds from very simple booklets to more complex ones where you use the Coptic stitch to create more traditional books. I love the variety and it was just at my level to build confidence along the way as I learned the vocabulary and techniques

"The Art & Craft of Handmade Books: New Ideas and Innovative Technique" is such a great book on creating/making your own handmade books and journals. The book is full of amazing photographs to give ideas and inspiration, the instructions are comprehensive, and the added diagrams guide you through the process of page folding and binding stitches.

All in all, this book is fantastic!

If you like the art work of Gorey you will love 'Baby's First Mythos'. Perhaps not so much for children as for the adults who share their love of mythical history in reading to their children. The drawings are wonderful and the sense of humor amazing.

My girlfriend has this on her desk, and she handed it to me to read. (My age is over 50) I really chuckled when realizing so many connections to movies. Cthulhu is a very ancient creature - and it was rather funny to realize the 'Davey Jones' character in Pirates of the Caribbean was basically like Cthulhu.

Our eldest daughter is a comic creatrix and I gifted her with one of these books because she likes Gorey so much. I also bought a copy for myself and our now 1 year old granddaughter to share with her later.

IF you love gorey, lovecraft, mythology, and graphic novel type books, this will not only be enjoyed but will be come a collectable.

This book is spectacular, I can't wait until I have a baby to read it to!

This is funny stuff. It gave me a real chuckle.
The new edition with the hard pages is fantastic.
I use this with the 'Call of Cthulhu' roleplay game.
I recommend it for anyone who is in to the mythos.

Very well done. The poems sometimes stretch a bit, but then, it's sometimes hard for find words to rhyme with Nyarlothetep or Cthulhu. The drawings, though, are wonderful. If your intention is to twist your child, much like Wednesday Addams, then this book is essential. Personally, though, I prefer to twist myself, and this book does that very well.

The idea of parodying the typical children's ABC and 123 books by illustrating them with Lovecraft's Elder Gods just tickles my funny bone. Every little snippet of writing, including the author and artist bios, is subtly clever, and the ink drawings are perfect for the subject.

The best part is...I thought I knew a bit about it, but the book actually taught me plenty I didn't know about the Lovecraft mythos. The only complaint (and a slight one at that) is the binding looks the kind that's going to crack and fall apart after not too long, which is a pity, because I'd like it to last long enough to show my own future spawn.

Every Lovecraft fan should get one.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

Lots of useful info and background, particularly useful if you are trying to run a campaign on the magnificent world Babylon 5 created for all of their fans.

It is a pity all the game supplements are so hard to find, I would love if someone reprinted them.

This sourcebook is very important if you have any EF personell as characters. Furthermore, it adds more equipment, skills and charactaristics. More importantly, it includes the Starship combat system for the Babylon Project. I like this system, although I have not had a chance to play it yet. It is fast, easy to understand and tactics are important. Moreover, it is one of the very few starship combat systems I have seen where ships obey the Newtonian Laws of Motion (except gravity drive ships, of course). The weapons chart was accidentally omitted from the book, but it can be downloaded from Chameleon Electric's web site and it was included in the Gamemaster's Screen, below.

I've played pool for more than forty years and was born in bank pool territory--Cincinnati, Ohio. As a former Cincinnati Amateur Champ, I thought my knowledge of bank pool ran deep. Not so. Freddy Bentivegna's book taught me lots of things I didn't know, especially since I stopped playing pool for 26 years during my Air Force career. Freddy's tips brought me back up to speed in bank pool play. He's also a terrific commentator on Accu-Stat tapes and DVD, supplying background information that's interesting and informative. I hope one day to get to Chicago and play him a few games. I'll need a spot, of course.

An excellent tool box of well-kept tricks and practical secrets for a more-than-average player who wants to get to the next level. No waste, easy to read and understand and worth every penny.

A great read for any level of pool player. By far one of the best books on pool i have ever read. The book will pay for itself in no time.

This book doesn't go over the many techniques used in banking systems, rather it takes that you know this and then tells you how you can more accurately antipate 'collision-induced-throw' and manipulate banks that wouldn't otherwise work (by using different cuts and english).

The books take on an aiming system is well thought out, it takes some getting used to though, and requires an aiming system as a guide. I've used the aiming system, on canned shots, and can see the techniques and it works for me. I will still require many hours to master this book though.

How many times have you read in some book, some method or another that claims to improve your banking? Then you get to the table and it doesnt work reliably enough that you use the method long term? The "mirror" system is a classic example of useless banking info imo.

I am happy to report that Banking with the Beard actually has info that will improve your banking. You will learn how to gauge english when it transfers to the object ball, you will learn how cutting across the face of the ball on a bank imparts english and how to compensate. You will learn what Freddie calls "Automatics", banks that are dead from certain positions.

One shot that I will in particular bring up is Freddie's "Side Step Bank", a bank shot where you hit the ball with inside english and it shortens up the angle of the bank. The beauty of this shot is that you hit the shot with some firm speed and as such its alot easier to make under pressure. Once you practice this shot, the make percentage goes up towards 7-8/10 or higher :-) I can tell you personally that this shot has saved me the cheese on more than one occasion and easily paid for the book many times over.

Banking with the Beard also has alot of great gambling stories from the legendary pool room Bensingers in Chicago, Illinois. If you enjoy reading about big dollar action and the interesting shots that came out of those matchups, then this book is also for you.

The book was sent in a very timely fashion and was in very good condition. I am sure my husband will love it as it also has a cd tucked inside

This one is hit right out of the ballpark.
Take a simple song, and dissect it fully and with love!
Not only is this a great and complete book, but the quality of the publication is so nice you can smell the Cracker Jack!
Great unseen photos and memorabilia that will astound any baseball fan.
The CD is cool, too!

Is this the nation's number one song behind Happy Birthday?

and a great deal about baseball as well.

In 1908 Jack Norworth wrote "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" on some scrap paper on a train ride into Manhattan, New York. He gave the lyrics to Albert Von Tilzer who composed the music. The York Music Company published the song later that year and a baseball classic was born.

(Incidentally, some of the other wonders of 1908 are brilliantly described in Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History by Cait N. Murphy.)

This book is the story of the song, which is sung during the seventh inning stretch at nearly every ball park in the country. Norworth actually wrote two versions of the lyrics -- the major difference is that Katie Casey becomes Nelly Kelly in the 1927 version. Norworth wrote over 2,500 songs, including "Shine On, Harvest Moon", and several other baseball songs, but didn't attend a major league game until 1940.

Harry Caray gets credit for singing it first at a ball game in 1971, "because I think it's the only song I knew the words to!" In 1976 Bill Veeck installed a secret microphone in the broadcast booth so everyone could hear him and sing along. Veeck explained: "Harry, anybody in the ballpark hearing you sing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' knows that he can sing as well as you can. Probably better than you can. So he or she sings along. Heck, if you had a good singing voice you'd intimidate them, and nobody would join in!"

This book is a wonderful history of the song and many of the ballparks where it has become an institution. Despite critics one might add; Pitcher Larry Anderson: "In the seventh inning fans all get up and sing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,' and they're already there. It's really a stupid thing to say and I don't know who made 'em sing it. Why would somebody that's there get up and sing take me out to the ball game? The first person to do it must have been a moron." [Anderson was a journeyman pitcher and part of one of the worst baseball trades ever -- Anderson for Jeff Bagwell -- but witty -- "Why do you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?", for example.] [Win-Loss 2-3, 23 Strikeouts, ERA 5.66, 3 seasons.]

If you love baseball, you'll certainly enjoy this well written history. I learned a great deal and will sing the song with increased gusto Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. The excellent CD included with the book may even help me stay in tune!

Robert C. Ross 2008

If you are a baseball fan, this book is a must read! It is very easy to read and has a lot of great info. I especially enjoyed learning the traditons at each of the MLB ballparks!

This book includes just about everything you would want to know about baseball's anthem. Backgrounds on the song's authors Jack Norworth (lyrics) and Albert Von Tilzer (melody) are included, along with numerous historical photos, and what baseball was like in 1908. Take Me Out to the Ball Game is the third most listened to song after Happy Birthday and The Star Spangled Banner. Songs about baseball rank only below songs about love in our nation's history. A listing of all commercially printed music about baseball in the Library of Congress' collection is also provided. I didn't see the song entitled The Umpire recorded in 1950 on the flip side of Take Me Out to the Ball Game sung by Tommy Henrich, Ralph Branca, Phil Rizzuto, and Roy Campanella along with the Carl Yastrzemski song listed. The rendition by Henrich, Branca, Rizzuto, and Campanella is in my collection from my childhood and is an excellent version. My favorite rendition of the song, however, is the version by Carly Simon from Ken Burns' Baseball special included on Ken Burns' CD. It includes the entire song and is first rate. The three authors list their top ten baseball songs. In addition to the game's anthem by Carly Simon I like It's A Beautiful Day For A Ball Game, Gee, It's A Wonderful Game, The First Baseball Game, Van Lingle Mungo, There Used To Be A Ball Park by Frank Sinatra, and Talkin' Baseball by Terry Cashman. The CD that accompanies this book has sixteen tracks, but none of them add anything of significance to the book. However, if you are a baseball fan I would strongly suggest you add this book to your collection.

I have several chip carving books; however, this one is my favorite, because it tells me everything I need to know as a beginner. She could improve the accuracy on her illustrations; however, I still like the book and recommend it to all beginning chip carvers.

I am a newbie to chip carving - and have purchased 2 Wayne Barton books to get started. They had great pictures as inspiration - but do nothing for the beginner who has no technique to make these sophisticated cuts.

This book reminds me of learning to play the piano. You start with basics like chop sticks and gradually learn to add parts til you're playing beautiful music. It starts with basic exercises and real projects with basics and expands gradually with each chapter - expanding on the basic cut toward more difficult cuts. i.e. cutting simple triangle - to more complex straight patterns / to curves - and projects to tie them all together. It also covers basics like creating and laying out a pattern onto a piece of wood - which isn't mentioned in my Barton books.

I'd highly recommend this for the beginner or anyone who finds themselves questioning basics of technique for various cuts.

Jake

I cannot give this book enough stars, and it is worth 5 times the price they are asking for.

This is a large book, A4 sized, it is packed with useful photos and diagrams, approx. half the photos are glorious colour, essential for carving (to get a good idea of the depth and form).

Chip carving has always been a bit of a mystery to me, within 2 minutes of opening this book it was completely clear what the diagrams meant (I did not realise they were indicating depth of cut) ... the book is a series of projects, each of which builds upon your skill and grows more complex, covering all aspects of chip carving.

I cannot imagine a book on chip carving being better than this. If you are looking for one, get this one, and good luck.

I have several of Wayne Barton's books on chip carving. Although nicely done they pale in comparison to Pam Greshams works. Although she does not claim to be a trained teacher this lady does it better than anyone else out there. She will have you carving the basic chip in about 30 minutes. And best yet, she explains each movement and how to do it clearly and with great aids.
I can't say enough good things about this book. I only wish there was a companion video to go with it. If you are interested in chip carving don't be afraid to buy this book. It's worth every penny.

I'd give Pams book 6 stars but the selection box wouldn't let me. Pam's book is an excellent step by step, add on, and expand upon set of exercises. She goes into detail on explaining how to with everything, from layout, how to draw all of the designs in her book; how to hold your knife in the basic positions and each lesson builds upon the last. Every progression is done step by step. She is outstanding in holding your hand and guiding you through all of the steps of the exercises. Wayne Barton's books are excellent. Unfortunately, you have to have some basic knowledge on design and technique and carving expertise. For experienced chip carvers his books are really great source books. His video is excellent for seeing chip carving technique at it's very best. Worth the purchase. Most important of all is using razor sharp knives else you'll be very frustrated and disappointed in the results. Get Wayne Barton's ceramic stones and a good leather strop with some rouge to rub on. Your blade will have a mirror finish.I glued some old pieces of leather to both sides of a 10 inch by 2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick piece of wood. One side for rouging, the other to polish. When I've layed off for quite a while, I always pick up Pam's book to get my hands and fingers in shape and go through the basics. At 75, my fingers tend to stiffen up a bit. She got me my first blue ribbon at a craft show for my chip carving designed tool box back in 1993. Pam is not very good with computers but she is in a class by herself when she designed this truly outstanding do it yourself chip carving text.
Grampa Joe

We love this book! It is great for an older sibling to read aloud and not feel guilty about laughing along! Don't limit yourself by age! This is too fun to miss! For all ages!

My daughter is 2 years old and we've had this book two days. She listens very intently as I read it. The story has just the right amount of repetition to reel her in and allow her to "catch on". I'm sure this will be a book which she requests often.
So, why only four stars? It really is monotonous for a parent who reads books to their children often. Parents who find themselves drained by the end of repetitive books should simply not introduce this one until the child can read on his/her own.
To sum it up...this book is captivating, humorous, and easy to read if you are 2 - 5 years old. Above that, you may find yourself feeling guilty about hiding it.

This is a wonderful book! Children and adults alike enjoy the silliness and the repetition. Similar to The Mitten, but lots more fun!

We borrowed this book from the library for my 3 1/2 year old daughter. My daughter has now memorized most of the book, and she loves to "read" it to the rest of the family. She laughes the whole way through it, and she actually looks forward to bedtime when the whole family sits down and reads it together. We will definately be adding it to our home library.

WE BORROWED THIS BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY. THE FIRST OF WABERS BOOKS. I READ IT TO MY 8, 5, AND 4 YEAR OLD. WE ALL LAUGHED AND LAUGHED. FUN TO READ!! I IMMEDIATLY ORDERED TWO, ONE FOR US AND ONE FOR MY NEICES! IT WAS REFRESHING TO READ A CHILDS BOOK THAT EVERYONE ENJOYS. SO MANY BOOKS AND SO FEW GREAT ONES. IT WILL BECOME A FAVORITE IN OUR PERSONAL LIBRARY.

I have not had so much fun in my life since the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Rock on, J. Baxter!

Did I remeber to say that J. Baxter Newgate is very clever?

I solved most of these puzzles, but some were so clever I had to cheat. Great stuff, very clever. I loved the book.

J. Baxter Newgate's Puzzles are some of the most creative and challenging puzzles I have ever seen. Keep them coming!

J. Baxter Newgate is right up there with Merl Reagle, Will Shortz, and the late Eugene Maleska for creative and funny puzzles. When is his next book coming out?