Hand Games Books

A thin book that gives you precisely and concisly everything that you want to know about saw sharpening at home. Just add experimentation and experience and you can enjoy sharp saws all the time.

Payson's book is an excellent guide to sharpening all types of saws, from hand to table saw blades. Also covered are old fashioned saws for cutting down trees and bucking them. Japanese and carbide tipped blades are about the only types not covered, but that does not detract from the books utility. Clearly written and illustrated, highly recommended.

This book pretty much covers sharpening handsaws soup to nuts with lots of illustrations and detail. Includes topic of rejuvinating old saws and creating your own handle.

It also has a few pages of detail on sharpening chainsaw blades as well as standard steel blades ( which is pretty dated with carbide tablesaw blades replacing steel blades )

Best book I've read on sharpening handsaws ( filing - setting - planing teeth level - etc.)

Sewing dolls is a happy thing to do. You can make baby dolls, kid dolls, adult dolls and Ninja dolls and put any clothes on them. My First Doll Book taught me how to make any doll. I use my imagination to make dolls. Chris.

My First Doll Book is nice. The pictures are beautiful. It taught me a lot about sewing without dots and putting hair on a doll. Willy.

I like how Winky puts pictures in the book. I like how if you don't know how to read you can just look at the pictures. Juliana.

I just got the book and already I am starting to get the hang of it. I am nowhere near good enough to take it on the road, but this book will give you the tools to feel confedent right from the start.

This is an easy to read and use book and a great activity to do with your kids, particularly if they have any speech difficulties. You can get started with a sock puppet if you like, so it's also inexpensive.

As someone who got interested in ventriloquism (and eventually dumped a 20 year newspaper career to work with WOODEN dummies) I was often frustrated reading how-to-do-ventriloquism books. Most were either amazingly boring, unknowingly pompous, or filled with cutsey-comments that seemingly padded an explanation of what I believe is actually a relatively easy "art" (if you are nutty enough to practice in front of a mirror until you perfect the "hard" letters). This is one of my FAVORITE now to do ventriloquism books -- and to this day it remains the funniest. I still do a routine in my show based on the structure of one of Paul Stadelman's classic bits (I have long since replaced the actual jokes). The late Paul Stadelman was a "classic" and I believe underrated vent who performed, taught and was on television for many years. And this book is worth it's price just for the zippy routines with Stadelman and his dummy Windy Higgins. These don't go on and on with long set-ups but are punchy, quick pay-off bits (and if Stadelman used a pun it was seldom groan-inducing). Stadelman was clearly more influenced by vaudeville and comedy teams than by other ventriloquists (which I think is GOOD). At the least these routines help readers understand routine construction and setup-joke structure. The late, wonderful Col. Bill Boley (another performer who deserved a higher national profile since there are zillions of ventriloquists running around doing bits of his published work and others who painstakingly "emulate" his original routines) was the only other ventriloquist whose published routines came CLOSE to doing this. And to TEACH you vent? This book has it all. It gives you the substitute letters (to say for the hard letters) and words to practice to perfect them. It also tells you how to make a puppet out of your hand, gives you performing tips, has some great ventriloquism-related photos, and and list of suppliers and organizations (some of this is outdated now). If someone was interested in "vent" and had this book, George Schindler's Ventriloquism: Magic With Your Voice and the in-its-own-class Maher Studios correspondence course they'd have it all. Plus, if they have this book they're going to also have some BIG laughs while reading it. Paul Stadelman is truly ventriloquism's unsung hero!

From back cover:

"Taking you from world championship tournaments to big-money rubber bridge games, this book puts you at the table as thousands of dollars (or a world title) change hands on the turn of a card. In the smoke-filled rooms of London and New York, characters such as Harry the Horse, Moonbeam, Godzilla, and Hannibal the Cannibal play for high stakes. World Championships hang in the balance in Chile, Italy, and Bali. In the jet-set resorts of Europe the top pros play invitational money tournaments with millionaire sponsors. Share the favorite bridge memories of one of the world's best, as Zia Mahmood takes you 'Around the World in 80 Hands.'"

although what else would you expect from Zia, one of bridge's great personalities? A highly entertaining book full of interesting hands and interesting people.

I'm going to be homeschooling my three kids and we're starting next year with a world tour theme in Kindergarten. My search for multicultural resources led me to this book but I resisted buying it because the price is so much steeper than for others out there. I kept coming back to it though, hoping there would be a new review to tell me more. Finally I bit the bullet and bought it because I wanted richer art experiences for my kids than what I found in other sources. Specifically, I had already purchased Global Art: Activities, Projects and Inventions from Around the World and I found it lacking in pictures, historical/cultural linkage of the art, and authenticity of materials. It felt much more crafty than artistic to me, although there were quite a few good ideas in it and I do think it was worth the price. I also have Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning). I do like it but its scope is fairly limited in terms of time (mostly Renaissance to modern) and culture (mostly Western). That said, this book has far exceeded my expectations.

I have a big problem with the abundance of arts and crafts in schools while true arts programs are being dumped left and right. A morsel of the latter is worth buckets of the former, in my opinion. I think arts and crafts have a use and they're fun for kids (albeit short-lived fun without as much pride in craftsmanship that can come from creating original art). This book, however, is not about arts and crafts. In contrast, it is full of history and culture. The author instructs educators about art from a wide variety of cultures and gives them the tools they need to help kids create similar art. Sometimes the medium is altered because the original material is not practical or is unavailable. Solid gold is out of my budget and I don't have any whale bones lying around!

Because these activities are so visually interesting and based on history, I think they would actually appeal to kids from K-12. As the author points out, kids of different ages will obviously get varying results based on skill level. The author gives instructions for modifications to make activities manageable for younger kids. As a special note to homeschoolers, I should say that because most of us have more one on one time to spend with our kids during these activities, many of the modifications might not be necessary. They just might need more direct guidance.

I'm thrilled that this book pulls true art forms from all over the globe and then presents projects based on that art. Below is an outline of the projects included.

West Africa - tie-dying cloth, traditional dashikis, papier mache masks and sculptures
Ghana - Adinkra designs on paper and cloth
Nigeria - Adire Eleko cloth designs and Counter-Repousse (metal work)
Egypt - plaster hieroglyphic tablet, jewelry/clay beads, tapestry
Israel - paper and tile mosaics
Iran - Persian miniature paintings
France/Spain - prehistoric cave paintings (impressive - they make a whole caves system from cardboard!)
Cro-Magnons in Europe - stone engravings
Ancient Greece - sculpture
Great Britain - stained glass (originated in Middle East but famous in cathedrals)
Sweden - cookie stamps (she even includes a recipe)
Poland - Wycinanki (paper cutouts)
Ukraine - Pysanky (decorated eggs)
Belarus - straw designs
Germany - flower arts (pressed, woodcut)
China - calligraphy, paper making, woodblock prints
Japan - haiku and sumi-e ink paintings, accordion books, fish banners, fish prints, decorated paper
Burma - lacquer work
India - marble inlays
Indonesia - Javanese shadow plays, batik fabrics
SE Asia and Taiwan - kites
Central/Northern Asia - felt rugs and balls
Hawaii - canoes
South Pacific - Tapa (decorated barkcloth) including Fiji for stenciled designs and Tahiti for fern designs
Tonga - design tablets
Micronesia - gift-giving bowls
Australia - Aboriginal bark paintings, didgeridoos, carved Emu eggs
Mexico - Huichol Indian yarn painting, Amate paper cutouts and paintings, clay figures and suns
Central America - Cuna Indian Molas (cotton panels), gold/silver sculpture
Peru - embroidery
Caribbean - maracas
Puerto Rico - seed necklaces
Haiti - steel designs
United States - Pueblo Indian pottery, Navajo weaving and sand painting, Plains Indian Buffalo Robes, Headdresses, shirts and vests, Woodland Indian quillwork and beadwork, Inuit stone sculpture and printmaking, early American applehead dolls, scrimshaw (carving in whale bone and ivory), and weathervanes

I am extremely impressed with these activities which are firmly rooted in the history of the cultures from which they originate. They would add so much to school art programs as a supplement to history. This is a book I know we will use for years. The kids won't be ready for the Javanese shadow plays for quite some time but until then, I'll be looking forward to the experience! I can't recommend this book highly enough. With this book and the Dick Blick art supply catalog, I know my kids have an incredible wealth of art activities ahead of them.

As a side note, a few other resources that I love for our homeschooling program are

Art in Story: Teaching Art History to Elementary School Children Second Edition

30,000 Years of Art

Artistic Pursuits, Book One: An Introduction to the Visual Arts and the rest of the program that takes kids from Kindergarten through high school.

I've done many of these projects with children, and they are both educational (the book gives some cultural and historical references on the projects) and a cut above some of the really simplistic projects found in a lot of books. I go back to it again and again! I'd highly recommend it.

thats what the gentleman at the magic store told me when i bought this book. i looked at him like, "yeah, sure it will." Well, IT DID. this series of books, especially volumes 1 and 2, are the best magic books out there. Starting from square one, Mr. Giobbi gradually walks you through the fundementals of magic. Every so often giving the reader effects to learn using these new techniques.

Simply stated, if you want to learn magic...buy this book! You wont be disappointed! But remember, magic isn't easy. Be sure to practice, practice, practice!

This series of books (there are now 5 volumes) provide a comprehensive and detailed overview of everything a card conjurer should know.

What I wonder is why hardcore magic books are so difficult to find? Amazon does not even offer this book, which IS in print. Booksellers are offering USED copies of the book -- at HIGHER than retail price! I don't get it! This book, as well as the others in the series, is available at many magic book websites. I recommend PenguinMagic.com, where you can purchase the book at slightly less than the $32 retail price.

If considering the book, buy it. Topics include:
The Tools of Card Magic
Fundamental Techniques
The Overhand Shuffle
Card Controls
The Glide
The Spread Cull
The Double Lift
Flourishes
and many, many more. It also includes many tricks based on the techniques. The tricks are carefully selected and surprisingly good. In fact, most of the tricks I've only been able to find in this book.

Well written, well researched, and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I love this book! It gets at the heart of American values without being preachy. The ideas are very accessable to young kids. Our family is having a ball with this.

I've always wondered how to teach about the USA in a meaningful way to my first graders. Now I've got this outstanding guide. Activities are "cute" without being shallow. It's got history, geography, American symbols, principles and values. What a great resource!

Looking for an arts and crafts book that's easy to do for young children? Are you crafts-challenged like me? Is it impossible to find chenille pipe-cleaners and other craft goodies where you live? Then this book is for you! My 6 year old adores the little works of art she can do with her hand prints. She gets practice using sizers, placing designs in an order that makes sense, and has a great time decorating the construction paper that she's cut out and pasted.

The book is designed for teachers. They routinely use templates to cut out designs that the students then put together to make clever "artwork'. I can see why. It's really easy and fun.

This book isn't deep. Your child will not be creating massively creative works of art. But is you need something fun and easy that a 4 to 7 year old can do practically by themselves, you've just found it.

Anthony Flores has created a delightful collection of craft activities for young children. The book is arranged so that each month there is a variety of creative designs using the child's handprints. I would encourage anyone who works with children between the ages of 2-10 to purchase this book. It is a wonderful resource to add to your collection, all the activities are cute and easy to recreate. The materials for each design are cheap and easy to obtain and the parents of the children will be delighted to receive the completed artwork using their own child's handprints! So purchase this book today and enjoy!

This is a great book! A great gift idea. Very neatly organized and easy to read. Compact, and loads of fun with younger kids.

It thought that it was absolutly fabulous I would recommend it to everyone who likes shadow puppets and who likes making them it is wonderful. I dont know who would make such a good book it taught me how to do peoples faces and everything it is so cool

Are you the elementary writing teacher who can't think of topics for your children to use in writing assignments? This book is for you. I am an idea challenged teacher who just can't think of topics and I love using this book. It has everything - quick writes that can be used as daily writing assignments or journal entries, story starters for longer assignments, and writing forms that cover a variety of topics. For me, it's a valuable resource.

Excellent resource for any parent, teacher or guardian aiming to effectively guide their children to better writing skills. THat the book has 12 sections - one for each month of the year, is a great way to get kids to practise writing and come to love it.

Writing stories, essays, narratives etc can be a daunting task for many children. This book serves to remove that fear barrier as well as banish that "Do-I-have-to-write-when-I-can-be-playing-somethingelse" attitude. With interesting and many different story starters and ideas, children are allowed free rein of their imagination which will manifest in their writings.

Writing has to be practised frequently to get better. No better way for children to pick up this skill and improve than by using this book.
Isabelle Lim - Singapore