Minecraft English Ages 8-9: Official Workbook

These are fantastic. Ive brought 4, for my two children. I love how the problems are based along a storyline of characters in Minecraft. My children have quite enjoyed completing a few pages. As a reward for correct answers you earn emeralds along the way. The questions are perfect for what they are learning in school. Cannot fault this at all. 10/10

I would really rate this book at 3.5 stars if I could. This book has a few points I feel slightly uneasy about. 1) If your child has not been into Minecraft before, they will have to have some extra time spent on finding out what this or that means in Minecraft world. Also, some of those topics, like 'drowned', are quite off-putting. Maybe for a grown-up only, but I'd rather they read about something else. Yes, I know, 'c'mon, it's Minecraft book!', but still.. 2) It also feels like not that much of the language is really to be produced by the child. The child reads and writes something very concisely. It feels more like an easy, non-committal conversation not that much work with the language a child could really learn from. They do develop exam skills like this, I believe, which is not bad at all, but it is not that much of fluent rich language I would rather be after. 3) It probably echoes the points above, but I just feel like there is not enough of practice there. It is most likely due to the fact that it is not a language developing book, it is a book to keep a minecrafter who is reluctant to do writing and reading motivated and doing their maths and English, but non-reluctant minecrafters might fancy this book too. And those will want for more. Overall, I think it a great idea to introduce a book like this to the generation that will be Minecraft-savvy. It helps children learn. But I would consider it is healthier for a child's psyche to have a workbook about creating Minecraft, looking at the characters as characters rather than continuing the illusion of the other world in this one.

This workbook is certainly value for money because there is so much here. There is a right balance between the ‘story’ of the workbook and the tasks to complete.This series is ideal for fans of Minecraft to give a boost at Year 4 English skills. Answers are provided at the back and they are clear to follow. The paper in this workbook is good quality and pens don’t tend to bleed through.At the start of the workbook there is a clear explanation for parents and it indicates that parental support may be required for explaining. The book follows the characters of Kim and Sami on an adventure where you collect emeralds for correct answers. These can be ‘exchanged’ on the final page at a market. I like that harder questions on the pages are indicated with a heart, as this provides a visual prompt for children that they will find it more challenging. Collecting emeralds are based on correct answers, so parents need to mark the work quite regularly so children can see how much they are accumulating.Topics covered include: proof-reading, punctuation, word classes and writing skills.There are lots of bright pictures that will appeal to children however, some pages have a lot of writing, especially as the ‘story’ develops.This is a nice idea: it’s a Minecraft story and a workbook. It’s an engaging workbook that covers a range of skills that are appropriately challenging.

I have various relatives who adore Minecraft and it is a great way of sneaking in some education if you wrap it in Majong wrapping paper. The ‘Minecraft Maths’ and ‘Minecraft English’ books come in a series of different age ranges and cover topics that fit in with the curriculum of that year. You can see as the books age up that the problems advance and ask more of the reader.The books themselves are A4 and have a good thickness of paper so the answers do not bleed through. A typical question will be asked but with a slight Minecraft twist. You are rewarded with emeralds, that you can 'spend' at the end. Throughout there are some images taken from the game and there is a story that follows a Minecraft character giving you a sense of accomplishment when you are done.The Minecraft skin of the book won't fool more observant children as these are proper maths and English questions that are being posed. They have the structure of modern learning i.e., prescribed. The kids got on better with many of the questions than me as I learned in a more freewheeling style. As an aid to reluctant Minecraft fans, they are perfect, but would also suits any child that likes the game and wants some extracurricular work.

I’m extremely impressed with this educational book. It uses a story, which is threaded through the pages to identify and explore the parts of English grammar.The child is encouraged to use a dictionary, and to explore the sense and meaning of words. It’s clearly designed to challenge and provoke thinking and would, in my opinion, give better results if worked on with an adult. It would be an invaluable tool for home schooling.It’s designed for 8-9 year olds and would probably stretch even a child of nine, but not so much as to discourage continuing.Pages are clearly laid out and spaces are provided for written responses.Answers to all questions are listed at the back of the book.I've always believed that a sound knowledge of the English language is the basis for a sound education. I ordered this book for my six year old granddaughter and it is clearly very advanced for her, but it has provided a structure that we can use to bring her to the standard at the earliest possible opportunity.