Book Review: From an Idea to LEGO

The book From an Idea to LEGO by Lowey Bundy Sichol is a part of a series of books providing a history of well-known companies, such as Google, Disney, and Nike, for children. But since this is a LEGO blog, we’ll just focus on this one.

I’m pretty well-acquainted with the history of the LEGO company from having been a fan for many years, and a lot of the information in this book is also included in the animated film The LEGO® Story made by LEGO a few years ago. The book does add some details that I didn’t know, however, like the story of how before Billund airport was built, LEGO company employees would park their cars along the airstrip to light the way for planes!

The “From an Idea to” books are intended for children ages 8-12. There are illustrations (by C.S. Jennings) on just about every page, and every few pages there is a “Fun Facts” box or a glossary call-out explaining a key word from the page. In the back there are notes from some of the pages and even a bibliography. But the tone is light and fun, and yet it is quite informative and accurate, at least as far as I am aware. I think for children of the appropriate age, this book (and presumably, the others in the series) is a great way to get them to take an interest in the history of businesses they already know of and care about, and could be a launching-off point for kids to take an interest in other topics related to the history or structure of business.

Cover price: US$15.99 but available for as low as available from Amazon for US$5.99 as of this writing.

Disclaimer: the publisher sent me a free review hardcover copy of this book.