“Extreme Bricks: Spectacular, Record-Breaking, and Astounding Lego Projects from Around the World”
By Sarah Herman; Skyhorse Publishing, 242 pages
I have a confession to make: I didn’t play with Lego bricks when I was a child. I was a Tinkertoy kid through and through. Instead of plastic bricks littering the floor, spools, sticks and flags decorated our living room carpet. Usually my creations had a flair for the abstract, but during the times when my older brother was home from college, the structures secured the cool factor with his complicated designs and moving parts. No wonder my brother became an engineer!
But back to Lego. Unlike Tinkertoy, Lego continues to not only remain popular, it manages to recruit new devotees with each passing decade. Museums, contests, and even the movies (have you seen the box office hit “The Lego Movie” yet?) keep the Lego momentum going, certainly pleasing Lego enthusiasts while, perhaps, puzzling those of us who remember the little bricks as nothing more than a plastic child’s toy.
If you fall into this second group, I won’t predict that this week’s book will convert you into a Lego-maniac, but it just might generate a little bit more respect for the simple, yet oh-so-complex construction toy.
Sarah Herman, the author of another Lego title “A Million Little Bricks: The Unofficial Illustrated History of the Lego Phenomenon” (also available at the library, by the way), presents a collection of truly awesome Lego models, mind-boggling in their scope, complexity and creativity.
