Brand-new inspiration for your LEGO lovers

Chances are, if there is a new LEGO anything, my kiddos have heard about it. But buying a new LEGO set every time they want one (read: always) can get expensive. So how do you inspire your kids to keep building with the pieces that they already own? Fortunately, that's where an excellent new book comes in, with novel step-by-step ideas--and big-time inspiration--for the kids' old LEGO stash. Nice. Meet The LEGO Adventure Book, a brick-by-brick guide to building cars, castles and more--with pieces you already own. I'm a visual learner, and written directions usually intimidate me. But this guide is so colorful and clear, you just want to dive into your LEGO stash and make magic happen. The author of the book is a woman, Megan Rothrock, a nice fact to point out to daughters to encourage them to branch out from the more princess-y LEGO fare. Rothrock enlists her friends from around the globe to help her, and holy cow, they are talented folks. My favorite models? The old-fashioned fighter planes and the yellow castle, for sure. My kids have taken to reading the book and then coming up with their own twist on the projects. I love to see their imaginations revved up again--they're even setting up their own Flickr galleries. (Megan, take notice! They are trying to get your attention for the next edition.) The LEGO Adventure Book is available at your local independent bookstore, or at our affiliate, Amazon.