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The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO Review

See why The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO is worth reading.

Many people do not think of LEGO as an art medium.  They are so wrong. LEGO can be used to create wonderful works of art.

Nathan Sawaya is one of the people who is doing amazing art with LEGO.  I am so impressed with him and what he is able to create from these colorful little bricks.

There are many ways that people use bricks to create art but what Nathan does is simply incredible to behold.  We were fortunate enough to get to see his sculptures in person by attending an exhibit of The Art of the Brick.  If you get a chance to go, do not pass it up.

I knew I had to add this book to our best books for boys lists as soon as my son saw it at the museum bookstore.

This beautiful LEGO book is available for those who don’t get to attend the exhibit or would like a nice keepsake to remember the experience by.

Find out all about The Art of the Brick. A very interesting book that all LEGO fans should see.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. All opinions are my own and I share things I think would be of interest to boys.

Special thanks to No Starch Press for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own–of course.

The Art of the Brick

As I said earlier, we were able to see The Art of the Brick Exhibit in person. We shared our whole experience in our post but I’ll just say here that it was – WOW!

The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO

Back to the book: The Art of the Brick: A Life in LEGO is worth checking out. Obviously it is not that same as seeing the sculptures in person, but this is a very nice book.

The book is reasonably priced and is packed full of color photos.  While this is not a book for children, I do think that an older boy who is very interested in LEGO, and in the lives of those who create with LEGO, would find it enjoyable to look at.

Since most of the LEGO books that I review have building instructions included in them I wanted to point out that this one does not.

There are stories about the pieces Nathan has created.  There are mentions of depression, death and fear. For example, The Fear of Fear: Hands is a grey body, with the hands in pieces below him, depicts the fear of losing one’s hands when you are an artist and the fear of creating and of expectations.

There are also stories of leaving his career as a lawyer to become an artist.  My son and I both enjoyed the book very much and reading about the meaning behind each sculpture made them all the more real to us.

It is a book about an artist, his life, his relationship with LEGO and how he came to be an Artist in LEGO Bricks.  <<< See our interview with him.

This is a great book and we are happy to have it as a remembrance of our day together visiting the exhibit. I hope you enjoy it and our other best books for boys selections.

You might also enjoy his books for younger kids: Cool LEGO.

Alli

Tuesday 23rd of June 2015

Just WOW! What a fantastic exhibit to see in person. I'm jealous. I can't wait to check out the book. It's on my shopping list!

Sheila Rogers

Thursday 25th of June 2015

It was really quite incredible! Your boys will love the book.

Clare

Friday 22nd of May 2015

The art is AMAZING - I think I'll check out the book as I know a couple of 'boys' who would enjoy it!

Sheila Rogers

Saturday 23rd of May 2015

It is, isn't it Clare? I was really amazed when we went to the museum to see the pieces in person. I hope you enjoy the book!