No comments about The New York Times Large-Print Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Volume 8: 120 Large-Print Puzzles from the Pages of The New York Times (New York Times Large-Print Crossword Puzzle Omnibus).

3 comments about The Everything Kids' Travel Activity Book: Games to Play, Songs to Sing, Fun Stuff to Do - Guaranteed to Keep You Busy the Whole Ride! (Everything Kids Series).

1. This was a great book to send home with the grandkids as they made their way back to CA from a long car trip to Iowa. I am sure it kept them busy for a good long time.



2. well, my son loves it he now behaves just sitting on his car seat he really enjoy the book.



3. I have a 3 & 5 year old and found really very little that would be of assistance to help them stay busy on a car trip. This is more of a hands on book for older kids with puzzles, mazes, word games, etc. Reading is definitely a must. I would say it'd be a help with any child over 7 who has a basic reading knowledge, and can follow written instructions.

5 comments about Great Wire Jewelry: Projects & Techniques.

1. This book was recommend by the instructor from a chain maille class. It is a good resource. Photos and layouts are good.



2. This book a the bible for chain maille jewelry as is covers all the basic chains. This book was originally printed in Scandinavia(Denmark, I believe)and in the book is in spare Nordic fashion. This is the only book I'm aware of that covers Viking Knit which has become popular in the last few years and another technique called Crown Sinnet braiding. But has all the basic patterns, The European 4 in 1, Open round chain maille, the Queen's link or box, the flower or rosette, the spiral and the double spiral. Also included is the Jens Pind,the 1/2 persian 4 in 1 and the foxtail. (The Japanese weaves are in the companion Silver Wire Jewelry. A chart showing wire guages and recommended mandrels are at the back of the book.
   All graphics for the projects are line drawn using red and blue to help learn and complexity is denoted by one Viking mask for easiest to 4 Viking mask for the most difficult. Also, there are photos of every project along with variation.



3. Very disappointing! Instructions incomplete or difficult to understand. Illustrations are not that much help and at least one appears to have an error (pg. 42) Save your money and get better instructions on the internet for free.



4. I found this book to have great ideas for making chains. The one real problems is her wire sizes are not accurate. 20 gauge wire in not 1.0mm, 18 g wire is. All the wire sizes were wrong so it was hard to decide what size wire would work with which size ring. I generally don't have a lot of wire to waste.
   
   The Jens Pind's instructions were also very hard to follow and again it didn't flow right because of the wire vs ring size problem.
   
   I did like many of her designs and have made several of them. I would love to see her book come out with a second edition after more careful editing.



5. 
   This brief book offers a range of techniques for making wire jewelry. The list includes basic chains made from jump-rings, no soldering needed, but a range of other techniques as well. It opens with "Viking knitting," a technique that can be varied in many ways. Clear directions show how to start the knit, then loop the wire back onto itself around a dowel to form an airy tube. The directions continue by pulling the knit through a drawplate to narrow the cylindrical result, tighten it, and work harden it. Finally, the author shows how to cap the ends for a necklace, earrings, or other finished work, or how to use the knit over a core of other material. A little later, "Knitting on three nails" shows a crochet-like technique that also has a huge range of possibilities, in enough detail for any diligent crafter to follow. The last section describes a variety of different ways to use circular links to make chains and mail. Again, I have to compliment the author on clear, legible diagrams for just about all of the links shown.
   
   Just about, but not quite all. A few techniques get a little hard to read, but someone with a little experience and patience should be able to work them out. I can't say the same for the two sections on braiding, though. When braiding five or more wires together, the first few moves matter a lot, and Peterson does a fair job of showing them - then stops before the repeating pattern of the braid emerges. Perhaps having another reference at hand would help; I just can't see that these sections would get a beginner off and running.
   
   These are all cold worked techniques, so work well when torches and corrosive cleaning solutions are impractical. Unfortunately, the torch-free approach has some problems. I've handled Viking knitting that was annealed after the last stage of being worked, and it takes on a softness you have to touch to believe. Also, I find annealing necessary in getting the kinks out of wire that's been handled roughly, so it will make smooth and even jump rings.
   
   These weaknesses don't undo the good that this book has to offer. It presents clear directions for techniques I haven't seen described elsewhere, and uses only a safe and minimal set of tools and materials. There's a lot of fun to be had in and beyond these projects, and I can't wait to try them all.
   
   -- wiredweird

5 comments about Stanley Newman's Sitcom Crosswords (Other).

1. Stanley crossword puzzle books are so much fun. It's a great way to (not) watch television when your husband has the remote.



2. Its o.k. but the clues could be a little more clear or could even use a few more words to help solve the clue



3. I have enjoyed this book as I have enjoyed his others. My passion is TV and Movie crosswords so, this book was a great addition!



4. I like these crossword books because I have a chance of solving them on my own! Sometimes crosswords can be a bit too in depth.



5. Easy, fun crosswords that take you back to lots of old sitcoms! Just wish there were more of them - there were just 50 puzzels!

No comments about I Spy Funny Teeth (Scholastic Readers).

2 comments about God of War: Chains of Olympus Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides) (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides).

1. This guide is well laid out. The bestiary, photos, and campaign walkthrough are top notch. I really liked the sections that explained the Greek myths, which provided extra background info about the characters in the game. It was definitely an abbreviated history lesson. The guide also contains lots of concept art in the back. You also get a nice rundown of all the hitpoints for all the enemies. All the combos are explained. If you are a fan of the series, you can't go wrong with this little guide.



2. The GoW guides are some of the best out there because the include every tiny bit on what you have to do in the game. I also liked that the Bestilery has improved and is a lot more clear. The only problem I have with this is that it doesnt show you the bonus costumes that you unlock as Kratos. So overall this is a very good guide and it comes in handy a lot.

3 comments about 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets (1000 Best).

1. Bought this book on the recommendation of Frank Schoebete (not sure this is the correct spelling of his last name), who is a gambling authority who said in his online newsletter column that this was one of, if not the only such type book he would recommend.



2. for an absolute beginner or for a seasoned gambler, this book is easy to understand and is full of useful tips. the book is written in a numbered order 1 - 1000, with the tips broken down into chapters or sections pertaining to each facet of the gaming industry. I found myself reading this book two times over trying to remember as many tips as I could. A must for any first time casino tripper!



3. I bought this as a gift for my mother because occasionally she likes to go to the casino and play the slot machines. She really liked this book.

4 comments about Tangrams: 330 Puzzles.

1. Ce livre de 334 pages est vraiment complet. Il a une introduction très instructive. Il est divisé en onze parties: Letters and numbers, Animals (tangram zoo, cats, dogs, birds, horses, bats, sea creatures...) Mankind (shoeshine boy and customer, acrobats, medieval ladies...), around the house (pipe, shoes, chairs, pistol..), boat and bridges, stories and pictures (the house that jack built, the story of cinderella, a game of billard, the orchestra), a little mathematics (! ), chinoiseries (some chinese characters, "Buddha hand"...), paradoxes and illusions, double tangrams (house, cyclist, sport car, telescope, microscope..) et the fifteen-piece puzzle (a pavillon in the moolight, a man asleep in a drifting boat..). Les solutions sont données à la fin du livre. Les illustrations et les explications sont très claires. L'auteur a écrit un livre vraiment complet sur les tangrams.



2. This book have 334 pages and it is very complete.
   The introduction is very instructive.
   There are 11 parts: Letters and numbers, Animals (tangram zoo, cats, dogs, birds, horses, bats, sea creatures...) Mankind (servants, Sam Loyd's portrait gallery, horsemen, medieval ladies...), around the house (watering can, baby carriages, stocking, pistol..), boat and bridges, stories and pictures (the house that jack built, the story of cinderella, a game of billard, the orchestra), a little mathematics (! ), chinoiseries (some chinese characters, dagger, raincot, "drinkink alone"), paradoxes and illusions, double tangrams (rocket, coach, sport car, television set, lion..) et the fifteen-piece puzzle (a pavillon in the moolight, a man asleep in a drifting boat..).
   The solutions are given in the back of the book. The illustrations and the explanations are very clear. The author wrote a book really complete about tangram



3. The tangrams themselves all have to be enlarged in order for my students to use them but I do that in Photoshop and it is working fine. I like that all the answers are there as well. Lots to pick from.



4. Tangrams are a fascinating set of puzzles, but quite frankly, the descriptions of many of the figures require a selective use of your imagination. Using seven standard pieces, (five triangles, one square and one rhomboid), you are to arrange them to create a figure. The 330 puzzles in this book will sometimes be easy to create and other times they will test your resolve. Solutions to all of the puzzles are included at the end.
   When she was two years old, I bought a set of tangrams for my daughter and we worked at them for hours, she enjoyed making figures and sometimes created credible ones of her own. We spent hours doing this and it was father-daughter time that was well spent.

5 comments about Embroidery Machine Essentials - Basic Techniques: Jeanine Twigg's Companion Project Series #1 (Jeanine Twigg's Companion Project Series).

1. This is a wonderful book for beginner machine embroidery students. The ideas given are varied and very easy to follow. I highly recommend this book. This is part of the Jeanine Twigg's Companion Project Series. All books in this series have been most helpful and easy to follow.



2. I have three of Jeanine Twigg's books on machine embroidery. They are all excellent resources featuring plenty of illustrations, great ideas, and clear instructions. Plus, the free designs are great!



3. I wouldn't go high on this book. It doesn't teach you much, only describes some simple techniques and ideas on what can you use embroidery, for example on a cushion cover (like you didn't know that before). To use the given designs that came on a cd-rom, you have to have a special software that costs you a small fortune. I am giving it 3 stars for the colors and designs only.



4. This book, as it says in the title, is a "companion" to the Embroidery Machine Essentials", "How to Stabilize, Hoop, and Stitch Decorative Designs".
   
   This book has some really cool projects and creative ideas in it. It also has a CD-ROM included with some nice designs on it. Some of them are "take-apartable", which means you can use just a portion of the designs or rearrange the elements the way you want to.
   
   The only drawback to the book (the reason for 4 stars) is that it really depends on the original book for a lot of the basics. I guess that is not so bad, and I did buy the parent book, but had I not, it would have been more than a little irritating. Just be aware that this book, while having good projects and nice designs included, really needs the parent book for the full experience.
   
   By the way, the original book is very good, for newbies like me, with the basics.



5. The designs included with this book are very juvenile and nothing you would want to use on a real project. The instructions are spare and incomplete. You are constantly referred back to her book for info which is time consuming for $20.00 I expect more. Don't waste your money. A big disappointment.

4 comments about Self-Esteem Games: 300 Fun Activities That Make Children Feel Good about Themselves.

1. Like Barbara's other books, Self Esteem Games is a well-written, easy to read, fun guide to a serious subject. Is appropriate for parents and professionals alike.



2. Wonderful book for parents, teachers, baby-sitters, etc. Gave the Hebrew edition (available in Israel) to a friend who enjoyed using it to entertain the children on a trans-atlantic flight. I highly reccomend this book and others by Barbara Sher, including "Extrodinary Games with Ordinary Things"



3. Most activities in this book are only appropriate for very young children. I am a fan of Barbara Sher's other books so I bought this without browsing it first. Many of the '300' activities are chants with various words. For example: "we've all got a name, first and last, tell us your name and we will laugh". Another activity is to let the child smell food flavorings. Fun stuff if you're 3 but there isn't much for an 8 year old.



4. This is a great book to be able to grab when you need an activity. One thing that I really enjoy about B. Sher's activities is that the are low prep. and you know that anything you find in her book will be of value to the children.