One of my friends is into birds, big time! His name is Thomas Poulsom. You might recognise the name from the Lego Ideas set 21301, Birds. Well he has written a book showing how you can build another 15 different birds from all around the world. And I have been lucky enough to have been sent a copy to review.

I was totally amazed by the original birds Thomas made and so when I heard that there was going to be a book full of bird instructions I was very excited. The book arrived recently and as soon as I opened it up I was blown away by how clear the instructions are laid out. Each bird has a parts list so its easy to get the bits together before you start. The steps are small and the sometimes complicated SNOT techniques are clearly explained. The book is in full colour and there is even a colour key for each bird.

I thought I would build a bird and see how easy it is to follow the instructions in real life. I chose the Canary (Serinus Canaria), collected up all the parts and built it. It was easy to follow and didn't take too long to finish!. Here is where I found a couple of weak points in the construction. However by adding a couple of plates I was able to strengthen the bird considerably. More an oversight than a fault. Overall the bird looks stunning. The half a stud connections in the wings are delicate but as this is a display model, thats not too important.

I can recommend this book not only if you are into birds but also if you like Creator style builds and are looking for more realism in the finished model. I plan to build a few more birds in the future. The book is published by Quarry and has a retail price of $24.99/£15.99/$29.99 CAN. Its available at Amazon (use the link on this page!) and is even available as a Kindle download. Nice work Thomas, now where are the instructions to that Hedgehog?