The LEGO Zoo review

A series of animal models are presented in The LEGO Zoo, a new title packed with building instructions

Author: Jody Padulano Publisher: No Starch Press RRP: £16.99 Available: November 6

The LEGO Zoo offers 50 unique animal builds, with instructions for every single one. Jody Padulano takes inspiration from the savannahs of Africa to the depths of the ocean to present a huge variety of beasts, birds and crustaceans in this children’s book from No Starch Press.

It bears repeating, that this is a book for children, unusually for the publisher that tends to focus on the adult connoisseur. That shows in the simple builds that run throughout the 208 pages. Those in the first chapter are not any more complicated than those that adorn the images on brick buckets, and although the “difficulty level” claims to increase, it only does so very incrementally.

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Considering the quality and accuracy of animal builds that some fans create, the builds that close the book out, and theoretically are the most complex, are still blocky and not especially aesthetically pleasing. The octopus and peacock are highlights thanks to relevant techniques being used, but the giraffe makes little effort to get natural curves with a rather rudimentary method of construction.

That said, the book offers considerable value for money – with 50 sets of instructions, children who are just embarking on their LEGO journey will be occupied for hours putting together the many animals contained within. It would have been nice if the instructions were interspersed with more animal facts though, or some other content to make the book more appealing to flick through.

The LEGO Zoo is not the strongest offering from No Starch Press, in fact it is not up to the usual standard that fans expect from the prolific brick book publisher. This may be due to the title being a translation of a book from a different publisher, rather than an original release. It perhaps works a stocking filler for a young child, but is definitely not a must-have for the LEGO bookcase.

This book was provided for review by No Starch Press.

The LEGO Zoo is to pre-order 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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