I've been keeping an eye out for Christmas presents. Now that the girl is really getting into books and freebuilding, I thought it might be a good idea to gift her a LEGO related book. So off to my local library I went and checked out the LEGO Awesome Ideas book by DK Publishers. And just so you know, the following is not a paid review. However, I do have Amazon links for the book scattered throughout the post. If you find my review was helpful, please support our site by purchasing using our affiliate links, which are of no additional cost to you.  

Description of LEGO Awesome Ideas Book

Let me just say upfront, this book is really awesome, just like it states in its title, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The description from the publisher, DK Publishing, has more information on what you will find in it:

LEGO® Awesome Ideas is an all-new ideas book that unlocks the secrets of LEGO building and shows fans how to create a world with their imagination. Beautifully clear photography and informative text demonstrates how entire models are built up while also providing step-by-step visual breakdowns and offering alternative ways to build models.

Explore each chapter as it steadily creates a themed world and ultimately showcases a dynamic diorama of the complete build, showing readers that they too can build up an entire LEGO world from scratch — model by model, brick by brick.

With creative model ideas and visual tips and techniques, LEGO Awesome Ideas will inspire anyone, from beginners to accomplished builders.

 

What You Will Find in the LEGO Awesome Ideas Book

The author starts the book off with a "What every builder needs to know..." section. This is a good primer for those who just don't know where to start or may not have all the basic skills for building solid designs. The book then splits into five categories and each category has some of the following ideas for building:   OUTER SPACE: mech walker, robots, forklifts, doors and walls, a lab, aliens, space plants, scenery, spaceships   MODERN METROPOLIS: Basic buildings, modular buildings, museum, roofs, cars, furniture, plants, farms, lights, signs and fruits and veggies, farmhouse   THE WILD WEST: Wagons, scenery, cavalry fort, jailhouse, saloon, steam train, train carriages, old mine, riverboat, outlaw hideout   FANTASY LAND: A fantasy house, fences and pathways, waterfall, tree slide, castle wall, towers, catapult   THE REAL WORLD: A cell phone, kitchen scale, bathroom, science kit, gingerbread man, baking items, popsicle, candy, "box of chocolates"   Each section then splits up into the following groupings:

• How to build - Here you can see a break down of a model from start to finish. It's not a step by step instruction guide, but you can get the idea of what to build next and see what bricks were used for the model.
• What else can you build? - Here you see different things you can do to various features in the model built.
• Model galleries - This section displays smaller models use to add elements to a larger scene.
• Expanding your world - Here you'll find more ideas for adding to your larger scene.
• Builder secrets - Want to learn special building techniques? This is the section you will find that information.
• Showstoppers - This section shows one really awesome design related to the section.
• Dioramas - Here you can see most the designs shown to you in the section on a two-page spread.

The book then ends with a list of parts and their names. Pretty helpful for those who want to stop calling LEGO pieces "thingamabobers".  

My Take on the LEGO Awesome Ideas Book

Just so you know, this book has some heft to it. It's a hardcover book with 200 pages and comes with a 3D style cover that changes design as you move it from side to side. (You can see the cover changing in the photo above.) It makes a great coffee table book... or a solid paper weight. I absolutely loved the book. It immediately drew me in while viewing the Space section. The beautiful photography is a clear winner, allowing you to see how a build is created and making sure the brick lines are clear enough to see. Interestingly enough, since the husband and I are working on moonbase builds at the moment, the Space section was very timely and we got a lot of ideas for our own build from it.  

Bottom Line

This is a book that truly lives up to its name. Lego Awesome Ideas is an excellent addition to any LEGO library. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, while this really is a great book, you will need to have various types of LEGO bricks. Could be an issue for someone just starting their collection, but if your child has numerous sets or even just the free monthly mini builds, they should have a lot of what they need to make some of the ideas in this book. Otherwise, I would not hesitate to gift this book to any aspiring builder, young or old. The LEGO Awesome Ideas is a book that truly lives up to its name, so much so, we purchased our own copy for home!  

What do you think of the LEGO Awesome Ideas book?