Toys!: Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions

by Don L. Wulffson

Book Overview

A fresh, intriguing look at the stories behind great toy inventions, by Don Wulffson and illustrated by Laurie Keller.

Originally, Play-Doh only came in white. There's a good reason for this. You see, Play-Doh didn't start out as a toy. It started out as a product for cleaning wallpaper.

Have you ever wondered who invented Lego, Mr. Potato Head, or toy trains? In Toys are the fascinating stories behind these...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250034094
• ISBN13: 9781250034090
• Release Date: December 2014
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

An informative book!

This book is full of fun facts about toys. From the history of toys to the inventors of them, this book is fast-paced and easy to read. There are only a couple of pages for each toy listed, and several great toys to learn about: Legos, bicycles, and checkers, to name a few. This book is good for at-home learning (you could read about the toy in the chapter and play it together at home), or for elementary school science teachers, who are looking for stories on how these toys came to be (several can be used to explain physics and counting). This book is for grade level kids, but adults will get a kit about learning about toys, too!

Great for all Ages - I read it Aloud to my Students

I am a teacher and one of our Science modules is called Ideas and Inventions. I have used this book in my classroom for read-aloud time during this unit. The stories are interesting and to-the-point. The students are as interested in the various Toy origin stories as I am. I love discussing with them the humble origins that many of the most memorable toys of the last 100 years come from. You don't have to be a genius or wealthy to have a great, original idea.

Fascinating accounts of several toys' origins

Here is a book that can be read and enjoyed by "children of all ages." Although I purchased it when it first appeared (in 2000) and have since read it with grandchildren ranging in age from two to twelve, I never gave much thought to reviewing it until recently when one of the grandchildren borrowed it to read to a friend who was staying overnight. I'm told that the friend later purchased a copy and also shares it with friends. I guess Emanuel Rosen and Seth Godin (as well as countless others) would characterize this as an example of BUZZ. The concept for this book, written by Don Wulffson, is simple...and brilliant: Briefly explain the origin of several of the most popular toys. They include The Slinky, Lego, Mr. Potato Head, Silly Putty, toy soldiers, Checkers, Play-Doh, and kites. Did you already know that "Slinky's most recent accomplishment was in outer space. Bunches have gone aboard space shuttles. The purpose: to test the effects of zero gravity on springs." "Playing with a four-sided top called a dreidel is a Hanukkah tradition. Each side has a Hebrew letter, and the letter on which the dreidel falls determines of the player wins the prize." "Ironically, after becoming a popular toy, many practical uses have been found for Silly Putty. Mechanics use it to clean equipment, dry cleaners to remove lint, and zookeepers to make casts of animal footprints for purposes of identification." "Before the Christian era, the Greeks and Arabs made mechanical toys powered by air, water, or mercury." "In Europe during the Middle Ages, a `hobby' was a high-spirited, medium-sized breed of horse." "When China's first emperor, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, died in 210 B.C., he was buried with eight thousand life-size toy soldiers." "One variation of the game [checkers] was called `losing checkers.' The first player to lose all his pieces wins the game." "The ingredient that gives Play-Doh its distinctive aroma is vanilla." "The highest recorded speed for a Ping-Pong ball is 105.6 miles per hour." "A new pinball machine costs over $1,000. That's not a lot of money when you consider that the profit from one machine is $10,000 to $15,000 a year." "Kites were named in the sixteenth century after the kite, a type of bird in the hawk family. Kites have a broad wingspan, a long, tapering tail, and can remain in one place in the air by heading into the wind." These are but a few of several dozen interesting facts about the toys that Don Wulffson includes with his brief but entertaining as well as informative accounts of the origins of several of the most popular toys. Also noteworthy are the delightful illustrations provided by Laurie Keller. During this holiday season, especially, this would be an appropriate companion to one or more of the toys discussed in this book. With or without toys, I highly recommend it.

Fourth Grade Science Fanatics and Future Inventors read this

Great for boys and girls, makes you want to brainstorm and invent something while reading it. We borrowed it from the library and now we have it on our holiday wish list. This is something even the parents would want to read! PlayDoh, Toy Soldiers, and Slinky (my fav) are just a few good ones. This is a fun read even for those that aren't into science adventure camp and inventing!

toys & toys

Toys Amazing stories Behind Great Invemtions is a fantastic book.It's filled with stoies. One of the stories are about toy soldiers Little boys in Europe during the Middle ages played with wooden knights. Little boys in Greece played with clay soldiers.This book is the greates book I ever read. Don Wulffson made this book great. Laurie Keller made the picters great If you want to know how some of your favorite kinds of toys were made you should get this book.

Fun facts about toys!

Have you ever wondered who invented the bicycle, Legos, and other toys? You can find the answers to many of your questions in this book. I learned so many things I never knew before about a variety of toys,ranging from mechanical toys and toy trains to Twister and Trivial Pursuit to Mr. Potatoe Head and Raggedy Ann. It was a great book, easy to read, and made learning fun. I'm sure both children and adults will be facinated by what they read and learn. Now I want to go out and share the information with everyone I know!