View source for Two Player Big Fun Book by Lydia Crook

{{infobox2
|title=Two Player Big Fun Book
|author=Lydia Crook
|reviewer=Louise Jones
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=No
|isbn=978-1782401421
|pages=112
|publisher=Ivy Press
|date=September 2014
|aznuk=1782401423
|aznus=1782401423
|cover=1782401423
|website=http://www.lydiacrook.co.uk/home.html
|video=
|summary=A perfect 'rainy day book' packed with lots of fun activities for two best friends.
}}
My house is full of technology designed to inspire and entertain: computers, iPads, games consoles, mobile devices...yet despite this, the kids seem to constantly complain that they are bored. Maybe the problem is that we are so used to ''being entertained'', that perhaps we have forgotten how to entertain ourselves. Lydia Crook, paper engineer, aims to change all of that by bringing out our creative and playful side in the excellent (and completely absorbing) ''Two Player Big Fun Book''.

I should start with a warning: if you have any pressing engagements or urgent jobs to do, DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK! It is a serious time stealer. I should know. I opened it with my daughter on a rainy Saturday afternoon and we were still busy with our competitive scribblings late into the evening. The book has a way of sucking you right in and whispering gently ''...oh go on...turn the next page...you know you want to...''

The book has a good mixture of activities, ensuring that there is something for everyone. Some challenges are competitive; others collaborative. There are fiendish maze races, colouring in, dot to dot puzzles and good old classics like Battleships, Table Football and Categories. One of my favourite games was a really simple one called 'Sprouts'. It is terribly addictive and I would urge anyone who hasn't played it before to look up the rules and have a go.

This is the perfect rainy day book and I would imagine that it would be a real sanity-saver when holed inside a caravan on holiday with a storm raging outside.

The one drawback of the book is that once you have completed it, you have finished. There is no going back once all the pages have been filled in. Fortunately, many of the games can be played using a pen and paper, so even when the book is finished, you will have come away with enough inspiration to carry on playing some of the games you have learned.

One of the games that really made us giggle was the excellent 'What's the Story', where each player is given a story and the other player has to fill in words without knowing the context. Player 1 might shout 'noun' and player 2 has to think of a noun which is then inserted into the text. Once the story is finished, Player 1 reads out the finished story. This was our result:

“Wesley was learning to play the SOFA, but was progressing LAZILY because he had to use his CAT. Sometimes, his pet BOOK tried to help, but wasn't very good because its fringe was too DANGEROUS. After lots of time spent SITTING, they both felt HAPPY with their BISCUIT TIN.”

Our Marathon Saturday session means that we are already halfway through the book. It feels great to be 'unplugged' and to get back to simpler forms of entertainment. Many thanks to the inspirational Ivy Press for my review copy."

Need more inspiration from the lovely Lydia? Try [[Paper Play by Lydia Crook|Paper Play]]

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