Like other Klutz titles, this is an activity book with far more to DO than to read. The book is divided into two sections: the first is the glossy description, tips & instruction pages that are a lot of fun, give a little background info for each starfighter and even some info for the related characters. Seeing what is basically Darth Vader's driver's license was a highlight of this section.The second half is pre-designed template sheets for you to pull out and fold. What's great is you get several copies of each ship in case you make mistakes or more likely in case you have 4 kids who ALL want a Millennium Falcon! And they might, because the artwork is wonderful and incredibly detailed.
The book comes with an "Ages 8 & up" suggestion and it is very accurate to my experience. While I found the instructions refreshingly straight-forward, the only child who was able to do most of the folding himself was 8. If your kids are younger, be prepared to do pretty much all the folding yourself.
Most of the starships included look great when folded and some look just ok. The TIE Advanced X1 (TIE fighter) looks a little too much like a toilet-paper roll with wings. The X-wing and Jedi Starfighter looked the best.
There are ships from all across the Star Wars film saga. When folded carefully they look great (mostly) and fly pretty well. For the price of 1 plastic Star Wars toy (and I have nothing against having more toys!), consider this alternative that involves both fine AND gross motor skills, assuming your kids do some folding, and you don't get caught up having fun doing all the launching yourself!
For more info, visit the Klutz website here.
Here's a cute video of a mom & son building the Millennium Falcon : http://youtu.be/eLFGhRw6IUs
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