by Sam Bingham

Review by Mark Gezella – March 2003

I originally borrowed this book from the Guild Library without much forethought. It simply caught my eye as I thumbed through our selections at a recent meeting. But once I had a chance to peruse it

I was quite amazed at its contents.

What a surprise! The author describes how a basic set of homemade building blocks can be arranged, stacked, pinned, or strung together to create miniature marvels. The possibilities are limited only by the builder’s imagination. It shows how to construct bridges, castles, palaces, cars, missile launchers, catapults (can you say "trebuchet"?!) and a host of other items. It also contains some pretty good pictures in black and white (our own Eads Bridge is one of the features). In addition, there is some pretty good detail on how gothic arches, cantilevers and related methods of construction work.

It does spend quite a few pages on some silly things; puppets, parachutes, jumpers, etc. which are somewhat crude given the fact that everything is made from building blocks. However, the ideas are fresh and a different spin on some traditional children’s toys.

I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend this book. I think anyone who has an interest in engineering, buildings, things that move, or just a general curiosity of how things work would find this book interesting.

This book is currently available for checkout in the Guild Library.