The LEGO BOOST Idea Book review

In The LEGO BOOST Idea Book, Yoshihito Isogawa demonstrates ways that the coding kit can go beyond what the official instructions teach

Author: Yoshihito Isogawa Publisher: No Starch Press RRP: £16.99 Available: Now

The LEGO BOOST Ideas Book seeks to offer a next step for those who have had fun with LEGO BOOST, and are ready to take their programming skills up a notch. Separated into three parts, split by difficulty level, it guides readers through a variety of functional builds to teach key coding principles.

In a primarily pictorial way, The LEGO BOOST Idea Book shows different functions that the system is capable of. Many of these are not explored in LEGO BOOST 17101 Creative Toolbox. While there may be plenty of online material available, there are often benefits to having a physical reference book handy, which this volume provides.

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To showcase different functions that BOOST is capable of, the book demonstrates how to use the hub for treaded vehicles, suspended vehicles and walking machines among others – but those three are particularly fun examples. Robotic capabilities that the pages unveil include chomping “teeth”, gripping arms and flapping wings. The section on drawing with a pen, showing how to have a machine create a repeating pattern, will be a fun one to try out.

All of the models are fairly crude, but this is intentional – it means that readers can clearly see how the function has been achieved. When replicating, builders can then pay more attention to the aesthetic and disguise the functionality with carefully chosen elements. Using just the hub initially, and then the hub with the interactive motor, The LEGO Boost Idea Book offers ideas for different ability levels.

Anyone who has purchased LEGO BOOST, which does not come cheap, may as well purchase this book, essentially as an add-on. Anything that extends the life and opens up the possibilities of 17101 Creative Toolbox is a worthy purchase, and The LEGO Boost Idea Book certainly does that.

This book was provided for review by No Starch Press.

The LEGO Boost Idea Book is available now from Amazon. You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

Author Profile

Graham
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.

Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

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Graham

Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education. Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

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