If you haven’t heard of Minecraft then you either don’t have children or you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years. The video game, which most describe as being somewhat like digital Lego, is a phenomenon unlike many others. But the free-play nature of Minecraft is not only appeals to kids but also to educators who are starting to use the game in in classrooms to aid creative thinking and problem solving.
We took a collection of the best Miecraft books on the market and gave them to kids to review. This is what they had to say:
Minecraft Beginner’s Guide
Markus Alexeji Persson and Jens Bergensten are really good Minecraft players. In this book they give you tips on how and where to start playing this game.
It can be quite confusing, especially for adults like my mom and dad.
I didn’t find the book very helpful but that is because I have been playing Minecraft for a long time. But if you haven’t played Minecraft before then you should start your book collection with this one. You will learn tricks and skills needed for the game. It will teach you how to find resources, make a shelter, craft tools, armour and weapons, and protect yourself from monsters. – Viaan Naicker
Minecraft: Combat Handbook
Now this was an amazing book.
Mobs are creatures, like spiders and zombies. They attack you in your world and try to kill you. You also have to watch out for enemy players when you play Minecraft.
This book teaches you all the tricks to defeat different mobs and enemies in the game. You can learn how to build a fort, make armour and weapons, set traps and defeat enemies in combat.
The handbook tells you how to identify a mob, and its strength. If you know this, you can position yourself to attack a mob in different ways so that you can cause maximum damage. – Viaan Naicker
Minecraft: Construction Handbook
The Minecraft Construction Handbook is great because it teaches you how to build cool objects like houses, gardens, floating islands and lots more.
This book helped me a lot because |I was not a very good builder and |it gave me tips and tricks to build |cool stuff.
I built a house this weekend and|it was the best one I have ever built.
If you love Minecraft like I do and |want to learn about building some |really cool stuff, then get this handbook.
It has taught me to be a good builder, so it will do the same for you. – Saskiya Naicker
Minecraft: Redstone Handbook
In Minecraft, all stones are mined in different places and have different uses.
Redstone is mined in caves and is very important because it is used to power things. It is like electricity.
The Redstone Handbook tells you what redstone looks like and where you can find it. It also gives you tips on how to use it so your traps and machines can work well.
Then you can keep icky creatures away and you can live safely in your world.
I built a really nice door for my house which can open automatically thanks to redstone. This is my favourite handbook. – Saskiya Naicker