The Lego Book

by Daniel Lipkowitz

Reveal, explore, and celebrate the fascinating LEGO® story in The LEGO® Book. From its beginnings in a carpenter's workshop and the development of the first plastic brick, to the group's current position as an international brand, a timeline highlights key moments in LEGO® history.

Fascinating facts on every significant LEGO® product line, theme park, video game, artwork, competition, club, collectible and more combine with images from the LEGO Group's photo archives-many seen here for the first time-and inspiring ideas on how to make a variety of things from just a few bricks. Packaged in a beautiful slip case with cutting-edge design, this two-volume set also features Standing Small -a 96-page book celebrating the minifigure.

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick configuration and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2009 The LEGO Group.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, History, Childrens, Business, Pop Culture, Picture Books

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly recommended book for Lego lovers.
Hardcover book. With good quality sheets and beautiful illustrations with the Lego figures.
It tells you the whole story of Lego, you can see all the constructions, all the figures with their explanations... the photographs more than beautiful.

[Artiom Karsiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

My childhood was very few things: professional wrestling, Dragon Ball Z and, of course, LEGO.
Those three things were the cornerstones of everything that mattered to a 10 year old Artiom: they were my world. And nostalgia is a motherfucker, because I am now 26 years young and still love all three of those things. Yes, old folk don't have a monopoly on nostalgia.
This book was everything I hoped it would be - just a fun little ride through the company's history in colorful pages and beautiful presentations. I loved it so much that I decided against reading it in one sitting, because I wanted to salvage these pages: after each day in the office I came home to a few glossy pages of my childhood. Almost like therapy.
And I am so happy for their company - LEGO were already an international powerhouse when I was growing up, but now, with the success of The Lego Movie plus all of the licensed themes, they are working their way into the entertainment business (film, games, amusement parks and etc.) I love it, because my impression of them is that they are a moral and ethical company - today, when there are one too many evil multinational conglomerates, I try to root for every "non-evil" company there is. They made the list.

[Moses Gunaratnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best $2.29 I’ve ever spent!

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice coffee table book covering the history of TLG...

[Mahdi Essekelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lego Bricks foster collaboration and social skills.” (Daniel Lipkowitz, 7). The stupefying non-fiction book The Lego book was written by an imaginative author; Daniel Lipkowitz. This story is about the long story of the so-famous Lego Company. After all, who would think that there was so much in those small little toys that children played with? However, if you read this interesting story, your ideas will change about the whole world. The Lego Book taught readers many things, for example, the Lego Company started in Denmark by manufacturing silly wooden toys, for babies. The founder was Ole Kirk Christensen. His company continued to produce wooden toys until 1947, the year when his factory burned down. He then decided to make plastic for all ages. However, the biggest change happened in 1949, the year when Lego Bricks were invented. With the Lego Bricks, children could evolve their creativity in a simple way. Next stop was producing other Lego Bricks, for example, windows, doors, circular bricks, wheels, and infinite amounts of new Legos to make playing more fun for children. While the sudden evolution of Lego Bricks, the famous company had other plans. They intended to construct their companies everywhere in the world, which again was a success. The final mark of the Lego Company was when they accepted video games and films based on Legos. Coming back to the book, this book is mostly about history, but it also helps readers of all ages find what kinds of Legos they may enjoy. I really enjoyed reading about the interesting information about the bricks that changed the world forever.

The non-fiction book The Lego Book has very logical historical facts and fun advertisements about the worldwide Lego Company. This stupefying book, however, is different to the books people are used to; it is non-fiction. The reader recognizes this by the lack of characters and plot, replaced by many organized information. The fact that this book is non-fiction makes the readers realize more than ever the importance of these interactive bricks. Not only do you play with them, but also these Legos open people’s minds and imagination. Finally, readers appreciate The Lego Book as much as they could have questions. One question from my part would be; how many different kinds of Lego pieces are there? So make sure to read this book if you want to think in another way, a more pleasant and curious manner. This Non-fiction book will make anyone’s ideas revolutionary by teaching in a bearable way.

This book may have a long during effect on many people, similar to me; however, I want to share it to as many readers as I can. I recommend this experience to people from 3rd grade to 8th grade, due to the phrases being understandable to even the youngest readers. Unlike many fiction books, I recommend this book to boys and girls alike, because it is all about Legos and the Lego Company. Next, the last way to make this experience real is to be a fan of Legos and Lego products. If not, you can still read it, but it will be less enjoyable, placing boredom on its throne again. Lastly, I would really advise to read the book as a whole, not to skip around. In conclusion, this book was very enjoyable for me, so I hope it will be for interested people all over the world.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun slowly paging through this! I've been a fan of LEGO since early childhood, and I highly recommend this to any LEGO fan.

This book is about all things LEGO, from 1935 to 2018. I recognized several products in the timeline, and the "Sets to Remember" sections brought back fond memories.

There are 3 sections: LEGO Story (company history), LEGO Play Themes (details about many themes over several decades), and A LEGO World (LEGOLAND, games, movies, fan-created models, etc.).

The book walks through each theme (Castle, Pirates, Space, etc.), showing recent sets in each theme.

The photos of the LEGO factory are stunning.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The LEGO Book is THE book for both the beginning Lego fan and the seasoned veteran. This book is about as comprehensive as you can get without going overboard with information; every play theme LEGO has ever done gets at least a few detailed pages, as does the history of the company, the process of making pieces and designing sets, and even the fan culture. Much of the book was also a nice walk down memory lane for me, and I spent a long time on some pages just soaking in the nostalgia. If anyone were just beginning to dabble in the hobby, I would point them here for their education.

[Parxyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

What was fantastic about this book is entirely a subjective thing. This book, and its companion in the two-parter I picked up, were an interesting background on the history of Lego and purely a trip down nostalgia lane for me. If you were like me, and grew up on the blocks that Lego produces, then you'd be hard pressed to not have this on your shelf. You'll look through it and smile, that is a promise.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who likes LEGO. Had pretty much every set I had as a child in it, and I was surprised that 20+ years later I could still pick out the sets I owned. Goes from before my time with LEGO as a child to long after my time.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderous coffee table book about Lego history & sets... a trip down memory lane in full color that makes me want to dig my giant box of Castle Legos out & start building again. :-)

[Morbus Iff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest LEGO book ever: history, sets, culture.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. This book was full of interesting facts about Legos. I found myself reading this book over and over again. Learning about the history of Legos and past themes was cool

[amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lollipop life life and a day day from ft BC hhffidk I hate the book case I hint read it📹📹📹📹📹

[Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big hit for a first-grader! :)

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very well written and had a lot of great photographs. I would enjoy it more if I was more into Legos which I am sadly not. The book features the history of the Lego and contains hundreds and hundreds of photographs of sets I had never heard of, many of which I would not have been interested in as a child. I enjoyed some of the older sets that I remember playing with when I was a child.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, my name is Bill, and I'm a Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL). This book is so cool, and the companion book, Standing Small: A Celebration of 30 Years of the LEGO Minifigure, is also wonderful. These were a gift from my daughter's family for my 65th birthday, just recently celebrated. I'm looking forward to reading both continually for the foreseeable future.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book is the Lego movie camera toy. My favorite Lego wooden toy is the wooden duck. My favorite Lego logo is the 1934 black and white logo. My favorite minifig is the first ever Lego police minifig from 1978.

[Luther Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so many things about the Lego group I never knew before from this, although I think it should have the storylines of the play themes that had stories.

[Spiderhulk8150gmail.Com · Rating 3 out of 5]

During my childhood I like these 3 things basketball, superheroes and obviously LEGO’s this is the book that I used to make cars, planes exc.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read every bit of this book, page spread by page spread. Ben liked to see all the pictures, I loved learning all the trivia.

[Michiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

No really a ‘read’, but lovely to browse old sets and themes!

[Kteba · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME book! I LOVE it

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read this book tons of times but it always fun for LEGO fans!!!

[Matthew Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endlessly informative and fascinating.

[Jona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, but not wow.

[Mh Weyler]

For lego nuts. This goes more into the history of lego, its various collections, the pieces, and minifigures. It is a fascinating look at Lego through the years.

[Morris Yen · Rating 5 out of 5]

To know all the basics about LEGO -- read this!!

[Ashish Kolli · Rating 5 out of 5]

sitting on my shelf since 2012 ☺️

[Orsolya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chances are you have played with Lego bricks in your lifetime. Whether it was simply building your own crazy, imaginative contraption with those bright-colored bricks; or assembling a large pirate ship per Lego directions. Maybe you’ve even been inside a Lego Store or Lego Land. Whatever your connection to Lego is, one can’t deny that Lego is a firm foothold in the toy world. Combining elements of building blocks, model sets, and puzzles; who doesn’t LOVE Lego?!

Daniel Lipkowitz’s “The Lego Book” is a colorful and highly pictorial look at the history of Lego products. Ideal for the Lego collector, children, or merely for those seeking a “fun” coffee table book; “The Lego Book” is divided into various sections describing the history/background of Lego, playsets/themes, and Lego-related business ventures. Sadly, don’t expect an expose or in-depth look at Lego, as this is a low text book and merely highlights the business aspect without diving in too deeply (although the reader will learn interesting blurbs on the meaning of “Lego”, the material bricks are made out, etc).

The reader can’t help but revert back to childhood with the detailed photos and set-ups of the various Lego toys. Offering details on the development and creation of the sets; the reader will begin to view Lego playsets as more than a toy. The more “adult” highlight features a step-by-step look at the factory process of the production of Lego bricks (which is very futuristic and Jetson-esque with robots performing much of the work). This section can possibly lose the interest of some of the child readers (although short enough to make it quick). Equally adult-stimulating is the look at the brainstorming and graphic design elements which begin the life of a Lego theme/playset.

A great addition to “The Lego Book” are the sum-up pages at the end of each chapter which feature “Sets to Remember” within each theme. These pages take a historical look at the growth and development of the sets within a theme over time (example: various castle sets from the 70s to the present); which helps not only compare and contrast models but firmly entrenches the Lego world in the mind of the reader.

Lipkowitz did create some confusion and lacked clarity in describing the difference between play theme sets and adventure sets. Although “The Lego Book” featured sub-sections for these, it isn’t clear to the non-Lego “pro”.

“The Lego Book” doesn’t merely describe playsets, but also emphasizes all licensed and related Lego products such as Dupplo/baby product lines, clothing, magazines, books, clubs, video games, movies, street art, theme parks, etc. Positive selling points are the product codes captioned by each photo. This easily identifies the product for those readers who want to seek them out after reading (I tried this and it worked seamlessly).

“The Lego Book” may not be an intense look at the Lego company or how they even came up with the Lego brick idea (Lipkowitz only indicates that a fire destroyed the company’s wood toy distribution so they focused on the plastic); but it is a fun and colorful look at the Lego product lines. If you don’t get the urge to head to your local toy store to pick up a playset after reading… then you probably shouldn’t even be reading this book. Live a little!

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve had a look at my Instagram, you may have seen the odd Lego picture in there or two. I’m one of those people who grew up with Lego and still build in adulthood (my preferred theme is Lego Technics aka the ones that have gears, hydraulics and loads of tiny fingernail breaking bits). I bought this book for several reasons – to find out more about the company and its origins, to relive the Lego themes of my youth and to look at all the wonderful glossy pictures. I think this book is aimed more at the young (say 9 or 10 years and up) but it was still a fun read.

The book can be read in any chapter order, but being old and boring, I decided to start from the first page and read through. Younger fans may find it easier to jump straight to the gorgeous pictures of the different Lego themes (e.g. pirates, space, cars, castles etc.) and get inspiration for building. The history of Lego was fascinating about how the company started and the changes in the iconic bricks over the years. There are also pages explaining the brick and how there are unlimited possibilities to build and build. Illustrated timelines also show key points in Lego’s history and how Lego sets are designed is also mentioned. I would have liked a bit more on this because this is a big part of the AFOL world, but hey, I’ve got the internet too…

The section on the different Lego play themes make up the bulk of the book, covering every different theme over the years. Adult fans will be familiar with Town/City, Space, Castles and Pirates but the more modern sets demonstrate just how versatile Lego is. There’s Harry Potter, Star Wars, Monster Fighters, Ninjago, Bionacle and Mindstorms. Robots and monsters play alongside flying machines and vehicles to create play with the wildest of imaginations. I was really disappointed with just two pages on Lego Technic though – it’s evolved so much through the years with the addition of battery operated motors, remote controls and hydraulics (not to mention the size of the models). Technic seems to be a natural progression from Lego for me, but perhaps not everyone sees it that way. For AFOL fans, there are also pages on super models (I would love to build the Lego minifigure aka man that stands at 51cm tall) and modular buildings – the street set is still continuing in 2015. There’s also a small section about Lego CUUSOO/Ideas, where fans design their own sets and Lego builds the ones with the most votes. There are two pages about fan builders (those building their own models from Lego bricks).

The last section on other Lego merchandise was interesting – Legoland in Malaysia is something I’m torn about going to, because I’ve heard/read so many mixed experiences. It was useful to look at the pictures from other Legolands around the world, but I wasn’t really into the video game section. This book also predates The Lego Movie, so you won’t find anything about it here.

While this book is interesting, it’s aimed at a younger audience than AFOLs (understandably so). AFOLs may want to ‘share’ a copy with their younger fans or borrow it from the library.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com