Board Games Books

Want to learn chess? If you are an absolute beginner or someone who has mastered the very basic skills then look no further! CHESS FOR JUNIORS will do the job for you. Yes, I am into advertising, but not as a profession for this book (if you know "Mr. Clean", "Hey, Mikie likes it" or "Where's the Beef" I was the person who made this possible on national TV". OK, you have got it! I am an old timer writing about a book with the "Youth Market" in mind. But then why has it been since it publication date of 1991 the #1 best selling chess book? It is GOOD, VERY GOOD!

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WHY:

1. VERY CLEAR (Mr. Clean can see everything)
2. VERY UNDERSTANDABLE (an 8-year-old or older name Mikie will like it)
3. LOTS OF MATERIAL (you will not be left saying, "where is the beef!")
4. WELL ORGANIZED (just like a "box of chocolate" - I was involved in that too!)
5. BEST SELLER (couldn't be all that bad! - it is ranked as #1)

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SOME THINGS I LIKE:

1. If you are using this book to teach someone who doesn't know a thing about chess (maybe you or your kid or your student?) then it starts off assuming no knowledge (everyone was once a beginner)
2. Once you finish you can go back and find almost every important term or concept in the index (doesn't require a college education to find something - Gommer Pyle would find what he wants!)
3. Written in a mature manner that an old guy will appreciate, yet the humor that kids will like in the book offers a perfect balance to make this a book for anyone who can read. (must only be beyond the reading level of - see spot run, run spot run)

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HOW:

1. You have ordered here before (go for it you button pusher!)
2. New, Used, or a Collectible Autographed Copy (like I have - I try and get whatever I can autographed just click on the right button of your choice)

Now I absolutely love this book. My grandkids, parents and I all have a copy and so should you. Next time you are watching TV and see a commercial, or see the author's students "Will Smith" or "Nicolas Cage", then you will be reminded of this particular book!

I run two after school chess programs at elementary schools and use "Chess for Juniors" as the text book. At first I was disapointed to see that this book has become difficult to get (if you can get a used copy grab it!). However, I found out is is going through a complete revision and will be a second edition when released later this year (as well as the entire "Chess for Juniors" series of books, including some new ones to be released).
"Chess for Juniors" is the perfect text book for teachers who are running a class for elementary age students on up (yes, it is suitable for a class for adults) beginning with an introduction to the basic rules and leading into a lot of basic material on strategy found in all aspects of the game.
What I found that sets "Chess for Juniors" (and the entire series) in a class by itself is the readability (ease of understanding the material) and comprehensiveness of the book.
Whereas, a 3rd grade reader of average reading skill can understand it, it is not going to insult an adult who wants to learn from it. It is is structured so any teacher conducting a class can easily follow the building lessons (it provides the perfect format for a ready-made class outline!).
Please hurry with the second edition!!!

I got this book a couple of years ago and now am chess club presendent at my school chess club in 7th grade. I loaned it out so many times it is getting worn out.

When I went to get a copy now I found out it is temporarily not in print because it is going to be made a new edition. I plan to get the new edition for the chess club.

What I liked about this book is that it isn't a silly little kids picture book. It teaches serious material using an easy to understand method by making the language basic enough and organizing it in an order to make it learning friendly. It would be good for anyone who can read as well as an average third grader right on up to adults. The index in the back makes it easy to find things and relook things up like terms, openings and rules.

Everyone in the school chess club likes it and uses it for continued reference even after having read it. I think this is the best first book for kids and adults.

I wanted to let people know that this top-selling chess book is now available under the title "Chess for Everyone: A Complete Guide for the Beginner". It has been updated and improved. The improvements include adding opening information, more detailed explanations at critical points and a less cramped, easier to read format. It is extremely complete in covering everything that a beginner needs to know to take him/her to the next level. It is a great book for students in grade 4 on up to adult. It is well organized and very suitable for textbook use by chess teachers. It uses a building format where lessons expand on material thorughout the twenty graduated lessons. It is one of only a few "beginner" books that are part of a comprehensive series that allows for direct follow-up material that is consistant. There are currently 5 books in print. In 2009, "Basic Chess Tactics: A Tactical Pattern Recognition Workbook for the Classroom" is scheduled for release. The "Chess for Everyone Teacher's Textbook Guide" is unlike any other teacher guide in that it provides lesson plans and information on how to teach chess to be used in conjunction with "Chess for Everyone".

"Chess for Juniors" is obviously the work of superb teacher whose mind and heart have fully committed themselves to the playing and teaching of chess over a number of years. It's perfectly organized and will turn any prospective or current player who carefully studies and absorbs its twenty lessons into a 1200-1300 player at least. I'm looking forward to diving into Snyder's "unbeatable Lessons" books if they're as valuable as this one.

Since I already knew the basics of chess before I bought this book, I was most interested in the approach Snyder took once he directed his readers on to the next step, since this is where introductory books on chess really show their true colors.
Snyder covers the pins/forks/skewers tactics as well as anyone, but the best part is the in-depth attention he gives to openings, defenses, and what he calls "Tactical Motifs." What this entails are insightful, detailed looks at the Ruy Lopez (the "Spanish") and Giuoco Piano (the "Italian") openings, and a group of the best-known gambits (From's, King's accepted and declined, Bishop sacrifices, Petroff's Defense). He also looks at those three to four-move checkmates like the Fool's and Scholar's--how they can be sprung on novice/unsuspecting opponents and how they can be avoided so easily if you develop the sound opening principles Snyder sets forth. If you play over and completely absorb all these openings and the basic variations as Snyder sets them down here, you'll develop a strong sense of space and begin to understand the tactical and strategic consequences of the moves you make.

Snyder also gives great explanations of some defensive responses, especially the Sicilian, the King's Indian and the Nimzo-Indian if you're playing black. The depth of Snyder's explanations is perfect, so that you learn what to do and why to do it without getting bogged down in needless details and variations. His lessons on King-Pawn, Queen and Rook endings are also perfectly set out. End games are essential of course but they are a bit dull to have to study. Again, I feel Snyder gives you just what you need to know so that you won't blow an end game with a loss, draw or stalemate when the use of a few core techniques could have made the game yours. Finally, there are a couple of instructive games which look especially at attacks on the weak f7/f2 squares and their outcomes, around which many wins or losses can revolve.

All in all, this is a superb beginner's book, either for youths or adults. I would say that there are other good ones out there too which can be fruitfully studied in conjunction with Snyder--the beginner's books by Yasser Seirawan (Play Winning Chess), John Nunn (Learn Chess), and I. A. Horowitz (Chess for Beginners). I do think it's shameful that many advocates of Snyder's fine work try to undermine these other works by pumping "Chess for Juniors" and pushing down all positive reviews of his competitors by marking these reviews "unhelpful." There seems to be some kind of strategy at work, since they always put Snyder's title in upper case letters, recommending it after they have put down the other work. Sometimes they won't even review the other work, but will just mention Snyder's. It all seems orchestrated. I'm sure an author and lover of chess such as Snyder must be too classy a man to advocate this kind of lowball campaign. Apparently his students are not.

It just came to my attention that a new revised and corrected edition with a little additional material will be released in a couple of months! I have the orignal Random House edition and this is a great collection of instructive games with analysis of every move. I have enjoyed it with the "More Unbeatable" book as well.

After having learned the basics from the same author's CHESS FOR JUNIORS book I decided to get this book for myself, my children and grandchildren.

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I just finished reviewing CHESS FOR JUNIORS, which I consider to be an 8th wonder of the world, and now I discovered the 9th!
CHESS FOR JUNIORS leaves off at the end with with nicely analyzed games (move by move commentary) and UNBEATABLE CHESS LESSONS FOR JUNIORS adds 24 more games. You will learn just what the author knows you need to learn once completeting CHESS FOR JUNIORS (well, if you know the basics well, then you can skip CHESS FOR JUNIORS and jump right into this book).

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I might also suggest that you get WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS in this series, which provides an explanded opening system, intermediate level tactics and endgames and lots of information on how to improve and prepare for tournaments.

ENJOY!!!

This is a revised edition of the book originally published in 2003. The main difference between this edition and the earlier one are:
1) The format has been changed to double column on the pages. This allows the explanations of the moves to be closer to the diagrams which accompany the explanations.
2} Some of the analysis has been updated and expanded to further help the student.
3) A result of the new format and slightly smaller print has been a saving of space (less white space per page}. Therefore, the new edition has the same number of games and explanation, but in under 200 pages. At less than 1/2 the thickness of the previous edition, it is much easier to carry.
4} A new edition gave the author a chance to correct many typographical errors and rephrase explanations to make for further clarity.

Like its predecessor, this book is for anyone (not just juniors) who want to understand why certain moves are played. Those who have read Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess: Move by Move" will be even more delighted with Mr. Snyder's book. Instead of the lengthy explanations that are repeated over and over again in Chernev's book, the book by Mr. Snyder gives the important information once at length and then relies of the reader to review if the explanation is needed again. When a move is a simple recapture he keeps the explanation to a short senctence. In the case of the opening moves being repeated in a later game, Snyder does not give the explanation again, but relies on the reader to refer back if explanation is needed. Half of the games are those of the author and half by other masters. Some important features of the book for students are:
1) Games are arranged by opening and thus start the player on developing an opening repretoire to play against opponents.
2) Analysis (i.e. alternate moves) is kept to the minimum needed to help the student gain understanding of what is happening and of alternate possibilities.
3) There are numerous diagrams (generally after every 3 or 4 moves) to help the student make sure of the correct position. And for stronger players it allows for them to read the book without the need of a board.
4) Explanation of moves are clear and concise. Anyone from about age 11 or 12 and up should have no trouble understanding the material.
I recommend this book for anyone who seriously wants to improve their play.

The idea of explaining the idea behind every move is a good. I wish that more books would do this for the Beginning and Intermediate level chessplayer.
There are several problems with this book; 1) The book is overly focused on the opening - it should spend more time going into the middlegame and endgame, and 2) It often would not answer the questions I had about a move or what was going on it the game, and 3) half the games are of the author, who is only a measly master. However, overall I can still recommend this book.
This book does not compare in quality to my favorite book, "Logical Chess, Move by Move, which just recently was updated."

I really enjoyed reading Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors. I felt that I gained a lot of knowledge especially in the following areas,
a) Learning how to build an attack. The placement of your pieces and planning aheady.
b) Learning how to use sacrifices and to recognize when they work and do not work.
c) Positional play - manuvering your pieces and planning the use of Pawn structures.
d) Many tactical ideas were covered.
e) Learning the openings. The openings in the complete games are well covered with important opening lines being show. The games are organized by the type of openings being used. This makes it easy to study openings. The lines being shown are up to date and very accurate.
f) There are not a lot of endgames but the ones covered are very instructive. What I like is to see how plans were made to get to the winning endgame right from the opening! This book then gives a step by step explaination of how to win the endgame.
Some special features I liked about Unbeatable Chess Lessons For Juniors,
a) You are asked to find the best move. This forces you to think and makes for fun problems to solve out of games. This is much different than most books.
b) All the moves are analyzed.
c) General rules are pointed out. But, what makes it really nice is when the exceptions to the general rules happen, they are pointed out.
I like the nice easy flowing style of the author. For a person who already knows the very basic stuff about chess this book is just right. This is because there is both a review of important ideas and a depth of analysis making this book interesting for a more advanced player as well. The author uses a lot of his own game where he has used them in chess lessons with his own students. This makes the explaination very clear and things that only an experienced chess teacher knows need to be covered are right there. I have read some of the other reviews which have been helpful to me in being able to point out some of things that I agree with.
If you really love chess and like to study to improve this book is good for any age. But it is written so a 6th grader can understand it.
I understand that this book is going through a new printing correcting any typos and may be hard to get for a while. It would be worth waiting for if you cannot get it now or even getting a used copy for now.

I was wondering for a long time while playing in chess tournaments what was the best way to train. This was to improve my game and to make me perform better in tournaments. I had a lot of books that just had materials to learn from. But I wanted to know what to study, how to study and then when I get to the tournament what to do to put me in the best shape.

WELL, WINNING CHESS TOURNAMENTS FOR JUNIORS, WAS THE BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR. Not only did it cover all of those things, but it has some really cool material for actuall study. It was fun too because it used funny true stories like about the "Chess Genie" and what other kids try and do to disburb you while you play.

But I liked also the stuff about the rules that isn't told to you in the rule book. And the parts about how the thinking processes make typical mistakes. This book shows you using real positions from actual games where you typically make mistakes under chess psycology.

Though if you just want lots of great materials on endgames to study, a set out opening system (completely outlined), lots of tactical problems that are the most important to learn, then for this alone this book is great. I agree with the other reviews who say there is not another chess book like this one.

Want to improve? Want to know how and what to study? Want some great material for study? Golly, I love this book (I do think the picture of the two kids on the front cover is cheesy and staged, so I am glad I didn't judge this book by the cover as I am certain those kids did not know anything about chess but the girl is cute and the boy is dorky looking).

I notice that Robert M. Snyder uses the (for Juniors) ie: Winning chess for juniors. Anyways, I came across books by Robert Snyder from the publisher chess for Everyone. And it would appear that all the chess for Juniors have become chess for Everyone. Some examples: Unbeatable chess Lessons, More unbeatable chess Lessons, Chess traps, and Winning chess tournaments. My question is are these books the same just with different covers or are they different in any significant way?

When I purchased Winning Chess Lessons for Juniors, I realized it actually contained much less instructional material then I had hoped for. Eventually I realized why and am puzzled as to why no other reviewer pointed this out. It is a companion book to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, another book by the Author. This book by itself is inadequate, but I realized it is for owners of the previous book, Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors. This book intentionally dodges around the material covered in Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors so none of it is repeating (This is a good thing).

This book is an add-on to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, an upgrade if you will. This is a great book, but is to slim to be by itself. Get Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors, and this book, and you should have no problems. As for the material covered in this book, it teaches you about tournaments and their rules. Chapter 3 is a psychology chapter, which is interesting and helpful, but nothing to rave about as other reviewers have. Chapter four shows you opening charts. While this did show me a new way to organize my openings, it didn't teach me much. The author mentioned for teaching that the reader should read Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors. Finally, it has a thick tactics chapter full of useful tactical puzzles(about 100 of them). It contains a nice endgame study chapter, then some annotated games by the authors national champions.

All in all a good book... for its intended purpose. I didn't take any stars away because for its purpose as an add on to Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors its great.

This really helped me improve how I did in tournaments. I had read some other chess books, that helped. But this book was the most helpful because it helped condition me for tournaments.
I especialy liked the chapter on psycology that teaches you about thinking mistakes during your play. Also what to be like eating, drinking, proper sleep during tournamnets and then about preparing.
How to study and what to study is neat. It also gives a lot of study stuff, problems, games, openings and endgames.
It also has some very funny true stories about players and things that happen. Very good book.

"Winning Chess Tournaments for Juniors" was the most useful single chess book I have read. One thing that hasn't been said in the other reviews, though implied is that this book helps you with ORGANIZATION and STRUCTURE in,

Helping you prepare for tournaments.

Telling you how to use many books, computers, methods of practice in ways that I never knew about.

Making it so I understand the rules and how to use them to your advantage. I will not likely be taken advantage of again!

Helping me prepare an opening system properly.

Telling me what is important to know about endgames with the endgames to study.

The importance of pattern recognition with many tactical puzzles to work on.

What to look for in a good qualified coach and chess teacher.

How psycology plays a part in chess and how you make mistakes when you analyze.

My list can go one, but I think I have said enough for now. I thing this book is simply the best book to help you do improve.

This is a great book. I am a big fan of the Polgar sisters. I have been following them since I was about 18. Few players have done more for chess than these ladies. Judith, Zsophia and Susan have brought many new players to the game. A nice selection of their best games is examined and discussed. The book gives real insight into their thoughts. If you don't know much about the Polgar sisters and you like chess. I have just one question for you. Where have you been?

Ms. Polgar is the #1 role model for young chess players in America, especially girls. She has done more than any other world champion to help young kids in America. Her story is inspiring and moving. This is a wonderful read.

I'd been looking forward to this book for some time and I can say straight away that I wasn't disappointed.

The Polgars - and Susan in particular, being the trailblazer - had to overcome many obstacles on their way to the top. It seems like a description of another world when Susan relates not being able to compete in the World Championship cycle, even though she qualified, purely because it was then known as the Men's World Championship.

I used a good number of Polgar games. They were always exciting games, usually featuring a snappy finish but I was also able to show that chess is not totally male-dominated. At that time, local chess playing girls were almost completely non-existent. Within a couple of years we had changed all that and for a while we were ahead of most counties with our achievements. The point is that without good role models, the girls would never have flourished and seeing the top-level break though of the three sisters was inspirational and influential in our own local efforts.

The opening section compromises of an autobiography by Susan, followed by a good selection of her own games and combinations, all well-annotated. Susan then covers the lives of her sisters, with plenty of anecdotes from around the chess world.

Judit made it to the top ten of the world ranking lists and recently competed in the World Championship tournament.

Sofia doesn't play very much these days, which is a pity. Her performance at Rome in 1989 shows what we are missing. If you are unfamiliar with her success at that event, go and look it up on your database now!

Four shorter chapters finish off the book. These cover a variety of subjects, including the plans for the Susan Polgar foundation and the successful rebuilding and training of the US Women's team for the 2004 Olympiad.

There's also a plethora of interesting photos, featuring not only the Polgars but also a whole host of chess luminaries, including Fischer and Kasparov.

Amazingly, the obstacles go on appearing. Following the tremendous and unprecedented success of the US Women's team at the 2004 Olympiad, the Olympiad Training Program was cancelled as politics once again moved in to spoil things.

The biographical sections make fascinating reading but I'm sure a lot of readers will be more interested in the pure chess content. Rest assured, there are plenty of terrific games here with all three sisters showing a remarkable flair for tactics.

Despite all the `mines in the road', Susan has remained incredibly optimistic regarding chess and its place in the lives of young people.

VERDICT: The inside story of a remarkable rise to chess success, against all the odds! This is an excellent and inspirational book on several levels. A good one to put on your Christmas list, methinks!

I'm not much of a chess player. I don't follow chess much. The last famous chess player I read about was Bobby Fischer until this book. This is an extremely inspirational story of the three young ladies who took the chess world by storm, smashing through all barriers that were put in front of them. What an amazing feat! And by the way, the chess part is also very easy to understand, even for the novice players. I certainly can recommend this book to folks of all ages.

good reading, but not enough non-chess. plus, it felt
like compilation of essays than 'a book'. why 5 stars?
b/c facts are accurate and chess analysis is down to earth and
whole idea of "breaking through" is well documented.

The children loved this and wanted to hear it over and over again as we play acted that they were the pizza. It is well worth the price

This is often the first book I read to my upper elementary student children. Many have not been read to or for some other reason do not know the JOY and FUN of a good book.

We act this one out. From getting their muscles "kneaded" and arms "stretched" like dough. I get their permission first. Sigh... that is the decade we are living in.

We "shake" flour (really a salt shaker.) And sprinkle oil (in a firmly sealed vial.)

We whirl and twirl a stuffed animal in the air. Next the checkers (pepperoni)

Then the children "cook" in the oven. (actually under a desk.)

This is one book the children ask for and moan when I tell them it is at my other school.

It makes believers of them that books are exciting.

An added note: this is a book that is asked for by my students over and over. They truly find this book fun and exciting.

Scholastic has a DVD based on the book which is a clever animation of the book. You can find this on Amazon also.

What a fun book! Our 3 year old loves being made into a pizza with all sorts of toppings made from paper or play food. Great activity that ends with a nice hug!

This is a wonderful and exciting book for all family members of every age. It's sturdy, nicely illustrated,easy to hold and to read. Talk about love in the family, this book illustrates to parents the importance of communicating, touching, and just having a good time with our children. Pete's a Pizza brings out the child in adults and keeps the child in children.

Cheer your kids up by turning them into pizzas. A cute book for any collection.

This book is one of my favorite children's books. The story is very cute with wonderful imaginary twists. Every young child wonders what has happened when they see a melting snowman in the morning. This is a great magical story that they'll love.

The illustrations are magnificent. Very warm and rich in color, with cute and funny snowmen.
A wonderful book.

Martine Groeneveld, Author Mommy, Draw Stars on my Tummy; Rhymes, Songs and Touch-Play Activities to Stay Connected

My three-year old son really loves this book. The pictures are beautiful and the story is great. It is one of our favorites!

Oh how I love to read this to my daughter! Absolutely delightful and original story. It's a little fun for the grown up to find the hidden items in each page, difficult too. I absolutely recommend this to any family, especially if you live in a place that gets snow in the winter.

This book is delightful and full of imagination. My preschool class loved it and my six year old daughter read it over and over and shared it with her friends! Children & adults will fall in love with it!

I have four little ones and this is absolutely their favorite once the snow flies. We read it every day and they always ask me to read it again. The pictures are beautiful and the whole book is just wonderful! We love Snowmen at Night!

In 1913 HG Wells wrote this book on wargaming.This edition includes many of the original illustrations. The block buildings in the photos are evocativeof the Moorlocks' buildings in The Time Machine. Although some of Wells rules have been surpassed many of his ideas for wargaming are still relevant today. Best of all is his humour and whimsical imagination.

I've played many minis games in my life (Warhammer, 40k, LotR, etc...) and I have to say this original of H.G.Wells is still one of the best rule systems out there! It's easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to get immersed into. No dice, no ambiguosness, just straight forward fun. You can play a day long battle royale of many armys, or a quick 20 min skirmish between to friends. It's also a fun look at history as the pictures of grown men, in full suits and straw hats, laying on the grass playing from the turn of the century are priceless!

Wells is the man! Thank you Skirmisher for putting this classic into my hands. It's a great family game - not too complicated, but not inane. Great game to play after a particularly rough loss of your favorite football team - you get instant revenge on the enemy!

This is really worth picking up. A great book and a good time.

I've been an avid wargamer for 15 years. I'd heard of the rules set down by Wells but hadn't gotten around to reading them. I am glad I did. It took me back to the days of playing with toy soldiers in the back yard. It was neat to see how move, fire, and cover rules came to be. Unit integrity, hand to hand...its all there in its infancy. Its funny how Wells and his sons tackled the same issues that current game designers have to face. The book is a piece of wargaming history and any self respecting Grognard should have a copy of this on their shelf. It would be fun to read and share with children as well.

My dauther loved the book when she was around 1 year old. She also likes to identify the subjects (boat, house etc)in each page as she gets older. She did managed to tear off the closet doors however.

ISBN 0763607525 - Lift the flap books, in general, suffer from one flaw - the flaps themselves. If you decide to buy a used copy, it's a good idea to make sure that all the flaps are intact, since they tear off fairly easily. That aside, this book is a great one for little budding readers.

The reader is told that Maisy is going to hide (it shows her picture, so you can identify her, in case you're one of the five people in the world who don't know what she looks like and couldn't spot her on the cover). On the following pages, you look for her in various places by lifting flaps - and finding all of her friends before finding Maisy!

The illustrations are admittedly not world-class stuff, but they ARE standard Maisy. They are basic but full of bright colors and, combined with the lift-the-flap aspect, a lot of fun.

- AnnaLovesBooks

My daughter is now 17 months old, ever since she started being interested in books (as early as 11 months) she has always loved this one. She gets more and more excited as we get closer to the end and she loves looking behind the door. I noticed all the little kids at the daycare also just stopped whatever they were doing when I read this book to them once. The best 'Peek-a-boo' type book we've seen.

If your child loves Maisy, they will love this book! My 20 month old never tires of "looking" for Maisy under the flaps and will sit for 15-20 minutes at a time "reading" this. Even her older sister enjoys it!

Both my son and my daugther LOVED this book from the age of 6 months on. It keeps them in rapt attention, and my daugther loves to "knock" on the door.

I only wish I'd have had this when I was young! It has fantastic detail, both front and back, plus things in all the closets. I wanted to play with it instead of sending it to my niece.
P.S. She loved it too.

I gave this doll-house book to a special 5 year-old girly-girl for Christmas. I did not open it myself and look at it before giving to her . . .I was amazed! It was a beautiful book..openned all the way back-to-back and ties with satin ribbons. A total 2-story dollhouse complete with dollhouse people. Sooo special ! I know she will still have it when she an "old lady." Its that special!

Beautiful book, good quality.Thanks god. some of the pop up books I bought from Amazon that have really bad quality.Pop up with the glue stick around and paper is not strong enough that get easily broken. This is a good one. Very enjoy it myself not only my daughter.

This book is so cute and it pops up just like the picture shows. My mother loves Victorian stuff and she's getting this for Christmas. A sweet gift for any age.

I have purchased 2 of these doll houses. I have one at my house for my grandchildren to play with when they come over and I bought one for my oldest granddaughter we love it and it is easy to keep because it becomes a book when you are finished playing with it. I store it on my bookshelf.

I used to while away many an hour playing Tetris or Bo Jackson's Baseball in my childhood bedroom. But since then, I've traded in second life for, you know, real life. That is until I stumbled across this little gem. For the coffee table, the bedside table or the john, this book is a great read! There are all sorts of pretty pictures and I dare say it's an even better way to spend your time than stacking those tetri. In short this book impressed me with its sheer awesometacity.

at first sight/perusal, this book is a very handsome collection of gorgeous art from the video game universe; and then you give it a closer look/read to discover the visuals are complemented by some extremely readable and clever/humorous writing by a guy who sounds like he really enjoys relating stories about games and the creative blood, sweat and tears that go into creating these game universes we love to get lost in. GREAT BUY/VALUE because of the combo of 1st class packaging- glossy pages, quality photos, etc- and the fun reading.

Not being a gamer, I had no idea that the art was so rich and complex. I picked this book up during an idle moment with the expectation that it would be pretty, but not particularly interesting to me. I was wrong. The art is exceptional and the text is well written and comprehensive. I ended up reading the book from cover to cover. I am impressed.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R36T30BHQPQU8C I have no idea what this book was going to be. The Art of the Video Game. Video gaming has come such a long way and there must be a million things and games that can be written about it.

The Art of the Video Game starts off with a very nice brief history into the evolution of video game. It goes through every possible gaming platform from the room-size mainframes, to the death of Sega Dreamcast, to today's current fight between Wii, Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. It's like a blast from the past, something nostalgia for gamers to read about.

26 games are featured in the book, namely:

* Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
* Age of Conan
* Battlestations: Midway
* Beautiful Katamari
* Blacksite: Area 51
* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
* FIFA '08
* Hellboy
* Hellgate: London
* Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
* Killzone 2
* Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Anniversary
* Medieval 2: Total War
* Mortal Kombat: Deception
* NBA Live '08
* Rampage: Total Destruction
* Reservoir Dogs
* Ridge Racer 7
* The Sims
* Sonic the Hedgehog: Next Generation
* Stranglehold
* Team Fortress 2
* Universe at War: Earth Assault
* Viking: Battle for Asgard
* Warmonger: Operation Downtown Destruction

Of course not every game can be included. The writeup for each game talks about the background development of these games. There are plenty of interesting things to read like how Lara Croft ridiculous proportions have to be scaled back, or making sure that churches are not modeled after real life ones if you're planning of letting gamers blow them up.

The art for each games consists of screenshots and some concept art, both with equal weightage. While I can't say there are a lot for each game, for the whole book, there are plenty.

My favourite game art is Team Fortress 2. I just love the stylized characters and the colour palette. I hope they will release a dedicated art book for that game one day.

This book is recommended for game and concept artists.

There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.

The Art of the Video Game tops the International Arcade Museum's "Top 10 Non-Game Gifts for Gamers 2008." Of the countless videogame books in the museum's library, this one is clearly the most visually stunning. It's an art book hiding in a video game book's body.

The book begins with a nice ten-page overview of videogame history throughout the last several decades, then quickly dives into twenty-six chapters, each about a particular videogame released in the last few years. As computer processing power expands exponentially, artists are increasingly free to create the images they visualize. Each year their digital work becomes more and more engaging, and Josh's book shows us the current state of the art.

Even if you haven't played videogames since the days of Pong, Missile Command, or Castle Wolfenstein, you will enjoy reading about the creation of the art of each game while viewing the eye candy.

The images are amazing. The text, while sparse, adds meaningful insight to the art and to how the gaming experience is developed and delivered. Exclusive interviews provide insight into the development process and the artists' intent to imbibe emotion into their creations.

Joyful small bites fill the book. Did you know that Tomb Raider was originally imagined as a clone of Indiana Jones and that its lead character was reconceived as a woman due to copyright infringement concerns? Or that Laura Croft, who began life as a spicy South American native named Laura Cruz, became an English noble-woman in an attempt to make the game more commercially viable? Or that internal struggle led to a marketing of Lara's sexuality and her ridiculous proportions in Tomb Raider II, and then to her subsequent downsizing towards a more authentic female form in the following two game releases?

The book is worthy to earn a space on the bookshelf of anyone interested in videogames or art in general.

The International Arcade Museum (http://www.arcade-museum.com/ ) is the world's largest museum of the art, inventions, and history of the amusement and coin-operated machine industries. It's popular "Killer List of Videogames," is the premier online encyclopedia on coin-operated videogames (http://www.klov.com/ ).