Game Studies Books

Kids love maze books and I enjoy this series. I leave them in the classroom for kids to play with in their free time. I have the Egyptian maze craze book too. It helps with visual discrimination too.

Mazeways is a wonderfully engaging book that should appeal to young children ages 5-7 years old learning to read. The author/artist delivers 26 delightful paintings which are irresistible to young fingers wanting to navigate mazes themed according to letters of the alphabet. Each picture has a short paragraph to introduce the maze and invite the adventurous reader to wander the well-drawn paths. Following each paragraph is a short list of items that are located on each picture--similar to the _I_Spy_ books.

This book works on many levels. As a picture book the art is engaging in the same way that the pictures in a Richard Scarry book are engaging. There is more to the story than the words on the page and a young child will find many possibilities. Beginning readers will delight in reading the directions to complete the maze or find the "hidden" items, while parents and teachers will smile at the new vocabulary words presented on each page. The text may present the occasional challenge to beginning readers and mom or dad will be asked to read some sections. When the young reader wants a break from reading they can let their fingers wander on the many paths presented or make up a story about taking a path not mentioned in the text.

Advanced readers who scribble notes in page margins, circle memorable passages, or edit/rewrite paragraphs understand what it means to be engaged in a dialogue with the author through the experience of reading. Similarly, Mazeways: A to Z engages the young reader in a playful learning experience with the author. Parents who are fortunate enough to be asked to read the more challenging paragraphs will enjoy the opportunity to participate in the dialogue. Children will probably not recognize the learning aspect, this is a fun book that doesn't have the stale aftertaste of "it's good for you, it's educational."

Accompanying the picture for the letter "T" is the challenge to find, along with several other items: picnic tables, movie theater, dump truck, town swimming pool, and tractor. And just in case you cannot find the ninth cow hidden somewhere in a field, puzzle answers are given in the back of the book.

Our favorite letter? Oh there are so many excellent letters, but perhaps it would be "M". "Gear up for a hike! From the road on the left, climb the mountain peaks, using bridges and rowboats if necessary, and then wind your way down the other side of the far peak."

Gear up for adventure, curl up with this delightful book.

I bought this book from Amazon a few years ago, while learning swahili. Now, I read it to my 15 month old, and he ADORES it. The images are very beautiful, and he likes to hear me speak english and swahili (we are French). One of his favorites !

I was amazed at the life of Mr. Timblake. If you wished to get insight into the Pre Revolution Era life, then Read this Book.

I have traveled to 25 countries and always take this with me. It is very compact and light. It holds up well when traveling sometimes in the worst of conditions. Most of the maps are two pages and they fold together nicely. Bottom line if you go traveling take something like this with you. It is a great conversation starter and you can easily show people where you live in relation to them.

I am an overgrown kid (37 years old) and I've always been tinkering with card tricks of one sort or another. Recently, I've become interested in doing them again for friends and family. I bought a few card trick books, and they all had some pretty good tricks, but this book has got a few that'll rattle some brains for your unsuspecting audience (be it one person or 100 people!)

Mr. Mandelberg has included fourteen tricks (or "demonstrations" as I like to call them. When you say a card "trick" it automatically puts the audience on guard. They'll be watching you twice as closely) in this book, and they are all very well explained and easy to follow. I also love his writing style, often making me laugh out loud, as Mr. Mandelberg is also a gifted comedian. He gives performance tips and hints that help spice up the tricks, and before long you can absolutely stun an audience as if you hit them with a taser gun!

I of course will not give any secrets away (buy the book!), but following are some of my favorite tricks from the book:

1. Behind the Back: A very simple trick that will amaze whoever sees it. Like Mr. Mandelberg suggests, you can also let someone in on the solution and play it up very funny.

2. Under the Table: Again, very simple, and done with an ordinary deck with no setup. It will amaze those who witness your "mental power" (except you, who will be amazed at how easy it is to trick them! ::devious grin::)

3. Seven Up: With a little acting, this trick is very simple and has a good effect.

4. How Did I Do That? This trick is really so simple it's laughable, but your audience will never figure it out, and the effect is astonishing! Mr. Mandelberg also has a fabulous suggestion for the banter on this trick. He has put a lot of thought into it, and if you carry it out right, the audience will end up believing that they themselves must be psychic!

5. Switcheroo!: Takes a little more practice than some others, but the payoff is worth the practice!

6. What's Your Number? Mr. Mandelberg says that this trick alone is worth more than the price of the book. After watching the results, I can say it's worth five times the price of the book! (I'm sure if you mailed Mr. Mandelberg the other four times the purchase price, he'd really thank you! Plus, maybe he'd let me have a cut?) In magic shops, I've paid up to $30 for card tricks that aren't near as effective as this one trick you can do with an ordinary deck! I've performed this trick among the most cynical, card-trick hatingest people, and after they see it, they just shake their head in utter bewilderment. I seriously wish I had a camera to record the priceless looks on the faces of those I pull this one on! And, with just the right banter, even the most skeptical will have to agree that they've witnessed something miraculous!

7. Neighborhood ESP: I haven't had the opportunity to perform this one yet, but I relish the day I do! Like the "What's Your Number" trick, this one will have people utterly shocked!

Those tricks are some of my favorites, but all of them are good! I prefer tricks that are a bit more interesting than your run-of-the-mill card trick. To me, the best tricks are very visual-oriented, ones that have an interesting twist, and this book has some good ones. And, best of all, they are easy to learn and perform, and when you pull them on somebody, you just sit back and bathe in the adulation they are going to throw your way!

Also, I would be remiss without mentioning the ultra-cool illustrations by Ferruccio Sardella. Props!

After having read and created many projects from other books of this type, I have to say this is the best and most informative book up to date. The author not only shows us projects using many types of different needlework, she also explains the history behind them. Mostly this book is limited to the "Victorian" period, but it looks like she plans to produce other books along this line on other periods. Although I find this book especially to my liking, I don't think it is for everyone. Most of the projects are for the advanced needleworker with some very fine detailed oriented designs. There are patterns for using needlepoint, embroidery, quilting, netting and so on, and they consist of projects from rugs to quilts to curtains and small items. I can't wait for her next book to come out.

This is a good book by Houdini. It exposed methods of the spiritualist and other magic secrets. I personally like the way Houdini exposed the magic of the spiritualist, like the way he has been doing during his life. If you are a fan of Houdini, you shouldn't miss this book!

It is always interesting to hear someone who is not an Ottoman expert or one who hasn't studied the material to label the massacres of Armenians, which were all isolated incidents resulting from Armenian-Christian tensions, as an "Armenian Genocide". For an event or massacre to be genocide, there must be some sort of intent by the government or an ethnic group to exterminate the other group. There was no such hate or intent documented by anyone. In fact, the Ottoman government tried it's best to encourage the ceasing of massacres and even relocated the Armenians away from the massacres and violence since the Ottoman government could not differentiate between the honest, hard-working Armenian, and the secretive Armenian rebel, collecting arms, and damaging Ottoman communication lines and supply routes.

Buy this essay and give it a read, hearing both sides to a story riddled with propaganda is the democratic way.

n selecting the 101 studies in the collection the aim has been two-fold. First, to present to the chess public the quintessence of the most brilliant and artistic studies of the first half of the Twentieth Century; and, secondly, to demonstrate to the chess-player how useful many of the ideas contained in thse studies can be in over-the-board play. All these studies are miniatures - none contains more than ten pieces - to show the end-game ideas in their clearest and most brilliant form. Harry Golombek, the translator, has enlarged the original collection to include the best examples of all the various present-day schools of end-game composition. Hans Bouwmeester is a veteran Dutch International Master. He won some important first prizes in the 1950's and represented his country 7 times in the Chess Olympiads. in 1972 he became captain of the Dutch team. Bouwmeester, however, is primarily noted for his literary contribution to chess. An ardent student of the Dutch world champion Dr Max Euwe, Bouwmeester was editor of the celebrated Chess Archives and authored a number of important books on the End-game, of which this is perhaps his most notable. Harry Golombek was the king of chess writers. Chess correspondent for The London Times and The Observer, he possessed an unrivalled gift for transforming a chess game into an heroic saga with himself as the bard, singing the exploits of his chosen heroes of the mind. Several times British Champion, Golombek also played top board for England in the Olympiad and represented the British Chess Federation in the FIDE World Championship cycle. He was fluent in Russian and personally attended the World Chess Championships of 1954, 1957 and 1958 as a judge.