We’ve featured several LEGO-themed books here at the Brick Show and its kind of helpful if we can look back at these soon to be released books and group them by month so we can better track their release dates. It’s like an overview of what to expect in the next months. Whether you’re an AFOL or simply would like to upgrade your LEGO-building skills, these books will be a great addition to your LEGO collection. Credit goes to Brick Set for the additional suggestions on what to include in our ever growing LEGO library. Book descriptions are courtesy of their respective publishers.
April, 2016
Birds from Bricks: Amazing LEGO Designs That Take Flight
Release Date: April 1, 2016; Author: Thomas Poulsom; Publisher: Quarry
Let your creativity soar with 15 projects using interlocking bricks and to make birds from around the world.
Interlocking bricks, such as LEGO(R), have fueled the imaginations of aspiring designers and builders for generations. In Birds from Bricks, horticulturist and LEGO enthusiast Thomas Poulsom guides you through re-creating nature’s feathered-friends in stunning detail. Assemble your very own cardinal, macaw, penguin, and more!
With detailed step-by-step instructions and full color photos of completed models, Birds from Bricks will let your creativity soar. Learn how to build 15 projects, featuring birds from around the world: North and South America, the Mid-Atlantic, Eurasia, Africa, the North Pacific, and Australia/New Zealand.
Each set of instructions includes entertaining and educational information about the bird’s characteristics and habitat. Poulsom’s creative and charming designs surprise and delight lovers of birds, nature, and–of course–LEGO.
DC Super Heroes Character Encyclopedia
Release Date: April 5, 2016; Author/Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
LEGO® DC Comics™ Character Encyclopedia is a comprehensive visual guide to the full range of LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes minifigures, including Batman, Superman, and their friends and foes.
Learn little-known facts and figures about all the characters from the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes universe including Green Lantern, the Joker, and Wonder Woman. Find out details on the various sets and where each minifigure appears, as well as their special weapons, cool gadgets, and amazing vehicles.
Featuring an exclusive minifigure, LEGO DC Comics Character Encyclopedia is the must-have guide to the LEGO DC Comics minifigures.
June, 2016
Ninjago Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
Release Date: June 7, 2016; Author/Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Contains an EXCLUSIVE brand-new minifigure!
LEGO® NINJAGO™: Character Encyclopedia, a New York Times bestseller, has been updated and expanded with 48 brand-new pages of LEGO NINJAGO minifigures and sets, making it the ultimate book for your little ninja.
Read each character’s ninja file to learn what makes each one special and unique, and find out which weapon each ninja uses. From Ninja to Nindroid, each character has a brilliantly photographed page filled with amazing facts and trivia, like which minifigure is the rarest and which minifigure can be found in the most LEGO NINJAGO sets. Explore the vehicles, weapons, and locations that make up the LEGO NINJAGO world.
Discover everything there is to know about the Masters of Spinjitzu in DK’s updated and expanded LEGO NINJAGO: Character Encyclopedia.
Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force
Release Date: June 7, 2016; Authors: Adam Bray and Cole Horton; Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Featuring the latest LEGO® Star Wars™ sets and minifigures, LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force is a fun and informative guide to a LEGO galaxy far, far away. . . .
A must-have for fans of the live-action Star Wars saga and its LEGO incarnation alike, this is the most up-to-date companion to LEGO Star Wars, with detailed information about the latest sets and minifigures and illustrated with extensive photography.
Featuring an exclusive new LEGO Star Wars minifigure, LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Forcefollows the same format as DK’s LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side and LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles.
July, 2016
Tiny LEGO Wonders: Build 42 Surprisingly Realistic Mini-Models!
Release Date: July 30, 2016; Author: Mattia Zamboni; Publisher: No Starch Press
Build a lot with a little with this collection of miniscale models! In this inspiring, step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to make the most out of your bricks by building miniature models of vehicles, spacecraft, airplanes, race cars, ships, and more. Fun, compact designs will inspire you to get creative with as few as 75 bricks. LEGO fans of all ages will get hours of entertainment out of building miniscale models that fit in the palm of their hands.
In Tiny LEGO Wonders, you’ll create miniscale models of real vehicles like:
- a space shuttle
- Boeing 747, Concorde plane, and helicopters
- Flatbed trucks and cement mixers
- France’s high-speed TGV train
- BMW and F1 race cars
- Muscle cars
- Cargo, cruise, wooden ships, and more!
Let your creativity run wild with these pint-sized miniscale models of real vehicles. All you need is a few bricks and a little imagination.
August, 2016
LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure
Release Date: August 2, 2016; Author/Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
A book with bricks that inspires kids to build, play, and learn, LEGO® Star Wars™: Build Your Own Adventure combines more than 50 inspirational ideas for building with enthralling story starters from the world of LEGO Star Wars.
Organized into five chapters based on different planets in the Star Wars universe, readers will use their builds to break prisoners out on Cloud City and spy on the Imperial Army on Endor. Model ideas will inspire readers of various ages and abilities, with an appropriate mix of easy, medium, and harder builds.
LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure will get kids inspired to build and play out adventures of their own, and it comes with bricks and instructions to build an exclusive LEGO Star Wars model to add to their collection.
LEGO City: Build Your Own Adventure
Release Date: August 2, 2016; Author/Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
A book with bricks that inspires kids to build, play, and learn, LEGO® City: Build Your Own Adventure combines more than 50 inspirational ideas for building with enthralling story starters from the world of LEGO City.
Organized into five chapters structured around different environments from the city world, readers will use their builds to aid a sunken boat in the city’s marina and help control a forest fire in a nearby park. Model ideas will inspire readers of various ages and abilities, with an appropriate mix of easy, medium, and harder models.
LEGO City: Build Your Own Adventure will get kids inspired to build and play out adventures of their own, and comes with bricks and instructions to build an exclusive LEGO City model to add to their collection.
September, 2016
The LEGO Animation Book: Make Your Own LEGO Movies!
Release Date: September 30, 2016; Authors: David Pagano and David Pickett; Publisher: No Starch Press
Have you ever wondered what your toys would look like on the big screen? In The LEGO Animation Book you’ll learn how to bring your LEGO creations to life with the art of stop-motion animation. Before you know it, you’ll be making your minifigs walk, talk, jump, and fly!
Inside you’ll find:
- A step-by-step guide for making your first animation
- Techniques for creating special effects like explosions and flying minifigures
- Acting methods for your minifigs—learn how to convey action and emotion
- The secret formula for bringing inanimate objects to life
- Tips and tricks for designing sets—make three buildings look like an entire city!
- Advice for dealing with practical problems like lighting, framing, and capturing consistent photos
- Building ideas for LEGO-based camera dollies and rigs
- Instructions and inspiration in the filming process, from storyboarding to post-production
- Recommendations for cameras, software, and other essential animation tools
Dive into the world of animation and discover a whole new way to play!
The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 4: Monsters, Mecha & More!
Release Date: September 30, 2016; Author: Megan H. Rothrock; Publisher: No Starch Press
Get set for LEGO building and adventure! In Volume 4 of The LEGO Adventure Book series, Megs teams up with The Destructor to fend off a mutual foe: the Frilled Brickzards. These crafty reptiles have quite the appetite for shiny LEGO bricks! It will take collaboration, clever building, and lots of imagination to restore peace to Megs and Brickbot’s world. With 40 step-by-step breakdowns and nearly 150 example models, The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 4 will take you on an exciting journey and fire up your LEGO building skills!
Geeky LEGO Crafts: 21 Fun and Quirky Projects
Release Date: September 30, 2016; Author: David Scarfe; Publisher: No Starch Press
Indulge your love for LEGO by making the challenging, quirky, and occasionally practical designs in Geeky LEGO Crafts.
Follow the step-by-step instructions to build handy bookends, geeky coasters, a stylish wine rack, adorable pencil holders, and much more.
The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book: 15 Designs to Spread Holiday Cheer
Release Date: September 30, 2016; Author: Chris McVeigh; Publisher: No Starch Press
This Christmas, LEGO is moving from under the tree to on the tree! With The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book as your guide, you’ll make classic globe and barrel ornaments, all out of LEGO, as well as original gingerbread houses, a merry Santa, arcade cabinets, and many more.
Packed with step-by-step instructions for 15 charming builds, The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book is the perfect family activity this holiday season.
Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide, 2nd Edition
Release Date: September, 2016; Author: Pawel “Sariel” Kmiec; Publisher: No Starch Press
The LEGO® Technic system opens a new realm of building possibilities. Using motors, gears, pneumatics, pulleys, linkages, and more, you can design LEGO models that really move.
The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide, 2nd Edition is filled with building tips for creating strong yet elegant machines and mechanisms with the Technic system. Author Paweł “Sariel” Kmieć will teach you the foundations of LEGO Technic building, from simple machines to advanced mechanics, even explaining how to create realistic to-scale models. Sariel, a world-renowned LEGO Technic expert, offers unique insight into mechanical principles like torque, power translation, and gear ratios, all using Technic bricks.
The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide, 2nd Edition contains 11 updated and expanded chapters on transmissions; gears and power transmission basics; wheeled steering systems; wheeled suspensions; tracked suspensions; pneumatic systems; pneumatic devices; building strong; basic concepts; basic units and pieces; and axles, bushes, and joints. The updated edition also has entirely new chapters on wheels, the LEGO RC system, planetary gearing, and 3D printing your own LEGO pieces.
You’ll learn how to:
- Create sturdy connections that can withstand serious stress
- Re-create specialized LEGO pieces like casings and u-joints, and build solutions like Schmidt and Oldham couplings, when no standard piece will do
- Build custom differentials, suspensions, transmissions, and steering systems
- Pick the right motor for the job—and transform its properties to suit your needs
- Combine studfull and studless building styles for a stunning look
- Create remote-controlled vehicles, lighting systems, motorized compressors, and pneumatic engines
This beautifully illustrated, full-color book will inspire you with ideas for building amazing machines like tanks with suspended treads, supercars, cranes, bulldozers, and much more. Your Technic adventure starts now!
October, 2016
Brick Animals: 40 Clever & Creative Ideas to Make from LEGO (US Edition)
Release Date: October 1, 2016; Author: Warren Elsmore; Publisher: Barron’s Educational Series
LEGO builders, rejoice! The celebrated author of Brick City, Brick Wonders, Brick Flicks, Brick Historyand Brick Vehicles is back with this new title that offers 40 original, ingenious, and unique buildable projects to make from LEGO pieces. In Brick Animals, anyone with a drawer full of LEGO bricks will be able to build and customize cute animal models, including a cute cat, wild swan, big polar bear, friendly monkey, and more. Based on the brick selection found in some of LEGO’s Classic series, each project is a great way to test out unusual building techniques or to mix up pieces from existing kits that have already been broken up. Free your inner architect with these fun projects that really get your creative juices flowing. You can follow the instructions to the letter or go off in your own direction–it’s your choice! Many of the designs in these books use fewer than 100 bricks, so you don’t need a lot of bricks to get started. Discover loads fun projects showcasing advanced techniques that are perfect for every LEGO enthusiast.
Brick Cars: 40 Clever & Creative Ideas to Make from LEGO (US Edition)
Release Date: October 1, 2016; Author: Warren Elsmore; Publisher: Barron’s Educational Series
LEGO builders, rejoice! The celebrated author of Brick City, Brick Wonders, Brick Flicks and Brick Vehicles is back with this new title that offers 40 original, ingenious, and unique buildable projects to make from LEGO pieces. In Brick Cars and Trucks, anyone with a drawer full of LEGO bricks will be able to build and customize amazing vehicles, including a Ford Model T, SUVs, monster trucks, fire engines, and more. Based on the brick selection found in some of LEGO’s Classic series, each project is a great way to test out unusual building techniques or to mix up pieces from existing kits that have already been broken up. Free your inner architect with these fun projects that really get your creative juices flowing. You can follow the instructions to the letter or go off in your own direction–it’s your choice! Many of the designs in these books use fewer than 100 bricks, so you don’t need a lot of bricks to get started. Discover loads of fun projects showcasing advanced techniques that are perfect for every LEGO enthusiast. showcasing advanced techniques for every LEGO enthusiast.
365 Things to Do with LEGO Bricks
Release Date: October 4, 2016; Author: Simon Hugo; Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
365 Things to Do with LEGO® Bricks inspires you to look at your LEGO bricks in new and exciting ways. This interactive book features imaginative play and building ideas, from LEGO projects that take just a few minutes and require a handful of bricks to inspirational build ideas and activities to keep you occupied for hours.
Visual tips and advice from LEGO fan builders will encourage you to get creative and have fun while learning new building skills such as building your own LEGO pet, challenging your friends to make the tallest LEGO tower against the clock, and creating a LEGO treasure hunt.
Featuring a timer and random number generator for selecting activities, 365 Things to Do with LEGOBricks is full of games and activities that will keep you busy every day of the year.
Awesome LEGO Creations with Bricks You Already Have
Release Date: October 11, 2016; Author: Sarah Dees; Publisher: Page Street Publishing
LEGOs are great fun but expensive. This book creates hours of fun, new worlds and new toys from the collection of LEGOs kids already have. Each project includes a parts list so you can verify that you have all the pieces and even buy supplemental pieces if you want, but most projects avoid specialty pieces and feature ones likely to be in most people’s collections. The book engages kids with fun, kid-friendly language and cool facts about the things they are making.
Like other popular LEGO idea books, this book is packed with characters and life-like scenes, but takes the next step with detailed step-by-step instruction photos to help kids build more complex animals, robots, vehicles and buildings. The book features full-size photos of life-like scenes that are simple enough for kids to build on their own. Also included are a few no-instruction challenges where kids can create a unique toy using only the photo as inspiration.
Frugal Fun with LEGO Creations is the perfect play-time guide for parents, relatives, siblings and care-takers, and the activities are also simple enough that kids can create and play independently. This family-friendly book is sure to spark the imagination of your kids and keep them entertained for hours.
November, 2016
The Collectible LEGO Minifigure: The Ultimate Guide to Collectible Minifigures
Release Date: November 7, 2016; Authors: Ed and Jeff Maciorowski; Publisher: Krause Publications
No description available.
The Greatest LEGO Builds of All Time
Release Date: November 15, 2016; Author/Publisher: Thunder Bay Press
LEGO bricks have been used for decades by children and adults to create dazzling and playful buildings, vehicles, and unique works of art. In The Greatest LEGO Builds of All Time, sixty of the most jaw-dropping builds of all time are presented in full color, with close-up photos, scale representations, historical commentary on the structures, and details on how each building was constructed using LEGO bricks. Included in this collection are the Empire State Building, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Sydney Opera House, as well as other iconic structures created by LEGO crafters from around the world.
