Parent's Guidebook to Minecraft®, The

by Cori Dusmann

Is Minecraft a game? A computerized construction toy? This book helps you to understand exactly what Minecraft is, why kids love it, and why it may offer much more than what you've come to expect from a game. The Minecraft Guide for Parents is written for parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone else who has kids swept up in the Minecraft phenomenon.This handbook explains how to install, set up, and play the game, so that even adults with minimum computer literacy can step in and help their children--and even play alongside them. Moving beyond the basics, this practical guide explores larger questions such as online safety, be it playing in multiplayer worlds or posting on forums or YouTube. It also examines the social and academic advantages to be found in Minecraft and offers realistic solutions to challenges such as time management and conflicts over computer use.With a simple, friendly, and open style, The Minecraft Guide for Parents is inviting and accessible to all, regardless of computer or gaming skills, and offers practical help and new ways to connect with children who play this exciting and creative game. You'll learn Make playing Minecraft a rewarding experience for your kids--and the entire family.Set limits and ensure the computer doesn't become a source of conflict.Take advantage of the social aspects of Minecraft and keep your kids safe online.Gather supplies, craft items, and build structures.Avoid monsters--or remove them from the game altogether.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 22, 2013

About the author

Admittedly and unabashedly adapted from my book jacket:

"Cori Dusmann is an educator, writer, and homeschooling gamer parent who lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with her 14-year-old son.

With a B.A. in child and youth care, Cori has spent over 20 years working with children and youth ages 2 through 17 in a variety of settings from daycare to classrooms to a residential psychiatric hospital.

Working predominantly with children with challenging behaviors, she has found gaming to be a source of common ground.

Cori is also a writer and reviewer and regularly reviews for Quill and Quire, the Canadian publishing industry’s monthly magazine, and her reviews have been printed in the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, and The National Post."

And on to the real, important stuff... I am a life long learner, of all things awesome. I'm constantly evolving, and loving the journey. My son is my life, in all the healthy ways, we game together, travel together and take plenty of breaks from each other too. He is the reason I started playing Minecraft (though I was a gamer long before he came along), and he inspires me with his grounded life views and his pie in the sky dreams.

And, besides all the resume-y stuff, I'm honoured to have been asked to be staff on the Minecraft server my son introduced me to and that we both play on. Rawcritics.com has become my a vast part of my life, many of the players there incredibly close friends. Its not for younger players, but for those mature 12 and up types, looking for a safe, family friendly place to play, come on by and say hi. In game, I'm known as whimseysgirl, whimsey, whims.

If you have Minecraft or parenting questions, please find me at https://www.facebook.com/CDusmann, and I'll help if I can!

Reviews

[Davida · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very hard book for me to finish, but I made a promise to William that I would. The author seems like a very kind person and mother. The difference between us is that she actually enjoys playing games on top of wanting to connect with her son! But I have been known to play some Zelda and Super Mario way back when, so perhaps I could get into Minecraft.

In any case, I am proud of myself for trudging through this book.

[J Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to understanding what the hell my 9 year old was talking about. Withers, endermen, potions, spawning, et cetera. I have felt comfortable, after reading this book, playing alongside my son as he spawns dogs, kills zombies, and attacks villagers. I'm sold on the school of thought that while video-gaming and technology can be isolating, it can also be a key to unlocking imagination. Minecraft, to me, seems like digital legos. I would play with legos for 4 or 5 hours at a time and then clean them up. Minecraft doesn't have the cleanup, but does spark creativity. I am more comfortable letting him spend two or three hours on Minecraft knowing that I can drop in on his world, or carry on a conversation about what he's doing in Minecraft. I found this book accessible and mostly helpful. I am not one for digital copies of texts I'll refer back to, but the price on this book as a digital text I can easily tab through on iBooks made the purchase a no brainer. I'm glad I can at least talk to my son now about his all-consuming passion with at least some knowledge.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves the pocket edition of Minecraft and has been asking for a live account. I love seeing him play with his siblings and have debated for months about letting him get a live account and get set up on a server. I decided I needed to learn a bit more about the game in order to make a decision and figure out the steps involved. This book was really helpful. My son actually read it too and we have enjoyed talking about both the game and book together.

"We worry about letting our kids online, and rightfully so. The Internet can be a scary place, and we should be wary of it. But it's far better to educate our children and keep communication open than to simply deny them that which they desire the most."

[Raegan Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a psychological and sociological viewpoint as a child counselor and mother, Cori Dunsmann, explains Minecraft to parents. I’m not a parent, but often work with middle and highschoolers and appreciate her message of moderation and communication in regards to video game playing.

[Christa Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a good job of explaining how Minecraft works and how it is impacted her family for the better. It widened my understanding of my sons' obsession with the game

[Brie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've skimmed through the book and read about half of it so far, and I love the way that it is written. It is very helpful in explaining the world of Minecraft, and I think that anyone who is interested in learning more about the game should check out this book. My sister and I both play the pocket edition, and we are looking at getting the computer version of the game, so overall this book is very helpful. We're going to try to get our mom to read it, and maybe she'll start playing Minecraft with us, haha.

[Ludmila Kovaříková · Rating 4 out of 5]

Čteno česky. Jedna z nejužitečnějších, které jsem na toto téma četla. Ostatní příručky předpokládají, že alespoň něco víte. Plus body za šíři záběru, např. informace o instalaci modů, texture packů apod., i když povrchně. Méně přínosné byly kapitoly o smlouvách s dětmi. Nicméně obdivuji autorku pro přístup ke hrám a dětem. Z celé knihy přímo čiší obdiv, který má ke kreativitě teenagerů, obvykle opomíjené nebo odsuzované (blogy, vlogy, videa). A já s ní souhlasím.

[Tim Scholze · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every parent, whether their children play Minecraft or not. Dousmann does an excellent job of pointing out the social side of gaming and how she has dealt with the fears and trepidations she had about her own son becoming involved in Massive Multiplayer Online Games. A true win-win for the whole family!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW, I won this from Goodreads some time back and put it aside for my grandson's dad. Well, today I read it and OH MY GOSH, what kids have to learn to play the game. Mining for ore to make a knife is one of the tools to learn. I'm intrigued enough tom learn the game myself.

[Barbara]

Hoping all the homeschooling propaganda dies down to focus more on Minecraft. So far, common sense and not very useful

[Jerry Fultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[Mary Brodd]

I came to the conclusion that I will simply never play Minecraft, and returned this to the library. I'm glad my kid enjoys it, but I'm just not a game-player. Onward and upward!

[Chris]

Read to pg. 98

[Jane]

Another one the husband is reading instead. I don't care enough about Minecraft, although I probably should.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

VEry interesting for me since I knew virtually nothing about minecraft