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Life Lessons (With Zombies) In 'Minecraft: The Island'

Jason Sheehan

Minecraft the Island

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Okay, let's get this out of the way right from the start. The Island , the new book by Max Brooks (yeah, the guy who wrote World War Z , the very good zombie book that got turned into that not-very-good Brad Pitt movie) is about Minecraft. The video game Minecraft.

And not a nonfiction book about the creation of Minecraft and its impact on society. Not a guide to playing Minecraft (although, in a weird way, it kind of is). It's a novel, set in the Minecraft universe.

I think it's important to say that, because right up until I opened it, I kinda didn't believe that's what it was going to be. I don't know why. Brooks has done all kinds of things in his career (novels, nonfiction, G.I. Joe comics, a straight-faced guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse). But for some reason, I just didn't believe he'd go all in and make The Island what it is — an officially sanctioned story about a person (nameless) who somehow (never explained) ends up inside a world that works by the rules of Minecraft. Ends up in the game , for lack of a more artful way to put it — an exhausted trope that has existed since Tron . Since the dawn of video games.

But beyond that, The Island is one of four things, depending on who's reading it. If you're a grumpy adult, devoid of imagination, who picked this book up just because you recognized Max Brooks' name on the cover, it's a massive piece of fan fiction written by one of the most famous authors on the scene. It's fun, in its way, but you're gonna get bored (or annoyed, or both) very quickly.

If you're a weird book critic who (maybe, sometimes) reads WAY too much into things, The Island is a fascinating experiment in worldbuilding and storytelling. To see an author like Brooks forced to work within the strictures of a universe that literally makes no physical sense — where even something as basic as eating comes with its own set of rules that are fundamentally nonsensical and different than ours here on Earth Prime — is to see all the spokes and gears of craft exposed. I liked the thing purely as a master's thesis on internal consistency in genre literature.

If you're a kid — a Minecraft freak, or maybe just someone who's curious and likes a good story — it's a rollicking adventure yarn; Robinson Crusoe for the digital age. You actually don't even have to know anything about the game to like it. Everything's laid out for you on the page, from the odd physics to the creepers. Plus, there are exploding cows and poop jokes so, you know, good fun.

Planet Money

Minecraft's business model: a video game that leaves you alone.

Shots - Health News

Why playing minecraft might be more healthful for kids than tv.

And finally, if you're a parent considering whether or not this is appropriate summer reading material for the pint-sized nerds in your life, you should know that the entire thing is structured as a clever series of life lessons, couched in language and an environment that will make it more palatable to children who maybe don't like being lectured at for 200-some easy-reading pages.

This last is what I think Brooks wanted it to be. Most chapters start with a bit of sage (if broad) wisdom like "Panic Drowns Thought" or "Take Care Of Your Environment So It Can Take Care Of You." The text then goes on to show this aphorism in action. "Take Life In Steps" is about planning before doing. "Everything Has A Price" becomes a discussion of the moral cost of killing animals for food. And at the end of the book, Brooks includes a list of life lessons he learned while playing Minecraft, just in case you missed what he was doing.

But the kids reading it? They're not gonna notice, or not right away, anyhow. Brooks hides the medicine pretty well, and the pages zip along from action to complication to solution all in a fog of video game weirdness. It begins with the unnamed protagonist waking in the ocean, and swimming to a deserted island that operates by the clunky, cubist physics of the Minecraft world. The protagonist doesn't understand how this happened. He understands none of the rules of this place, and must discover its laws and limitations through trial and error.

The twist here? The protagonist is very much human. Comes from our world, and reacts in a believable (if simple) way to being dropped into a universe where different physical laws apply. He experiences fear and anxiety and triumph. He befriends a cow and some sheep. He fights for his life and, by the end of things, emerges wiser and better prepared for moving on. It is the Hero's Journey, Pocket Edition. A one-man Illiad.

And it even has some zombies in it. Because it just wouldn't be a Max Brooks book without them.

Jason Sheehan knows stuff about food, video games, books and Starblazers . He is currently the restaurant critic at Philadelphia magazine, but when no one is looking, he spends his time writing books about giant robots and ray guns. Tales From the Radiation Age is his latest book.

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Minecraft: the island, common sense media reviewers.

Clunky adventure story has life lessons for Minecraft fans.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Lessons about how to build, cook, and create apply

Planning, preparation, practice, patience, and per

The main character models planning, preparation, p

Mild cartoonish violence and peril fits the video

Parents need to know that Minecraft: The Island , by Max Brooks, is an engaging adventure story for those with at least minimal understanding of playing the Minecraft video game, and likely not interesting to anyone who doesn't know about inventory, building with blocks, creepers, and Endermen. The…

Educational Value

Lessons about how to build, cook, and create apply beyond the Minecraft world.

Positive Messages

Planning, preparation, practice, patience, and perseverance are important tools for success, as are compassion and mental health management skills. Includes lessons about integrity.

Positive Role Models

The main character models planning, preparation, practice, patience, compassion, dealing with anxiety, fear and failure, and caring for the environment, managing anger, learning from mistakes.

Violence & Scariness

Mild cartoonish violence and peril fits the video game adventure.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Minecraft: The Island , by Max Brooks, is an engaging adventure story for those with at least minimal understanding of playing the Minecraft video game, and likely not interesting to anyone who doesn't know about inventory, building with blocks, creepers, and Endermen. The writing is simplistic and the storytelling not at all subtle, but there are lots of great lessons about perseverance, dealing with anxiety and fear and failure, caring for the environment, and friendships forming in unlikely places. Problem-solving is a big theme throughout, and more mature readers will be able to translate the lessons in the book to new ways to approach problems in the real world.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (8)

Based on 1 parent review

social emotional Minecraft story

my son and I loved this series by Max Brooks. hands down best quality Minecraft fiction stories. Weaves in life learnings

What's the Story?

A castaway is alone on a strange island without any clue how to survive in the Max Brooks adventure tale MINECRAFT: THE ISLAND. After nearly drowning, they try to find food and create shelter but see that everything in this new world is made of blocks and the rules of the real world don't apply. While learning how to craft tools, harvest, and build, they have to defend themself from skeletons and creepers in order to stay alive and maybe, just maybe, make it off the island alive.

Is It Any Good?

The first-person perspective in this adventure is fun but reads like a person narrating every detail of their moves in a video game, and will only really make sense to someone familiar with Minecraft . Minecraft: The Island is a nonstop adventure for those who like to build and battle in the Minecraft video game, and an overly detailed, clunky read for anyone who needs to ask what a creeper is. The lessons here, though, are universal and hugely positive for all readers: planning, preparation, prioritization, practice, and perseverance are essential for success and happiness. There's a strong message to protect the environment, manage anger, learn from mistakes, and think through decisions -- all great things for readers of all ages to practice in their own lives, both onscreen and in the real world.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about whether the ways the adventurer changes his approach to survival in Minecraft: The Island might help change the outcome of the story. Do you think your motivation for doing something can change the outcome?

If you washed up on an island alone, what are the first five things you'd want to do, and why?

What other adventure stories had you read? Which are your favorites?

What's fun about reading a story based on a video game? Does it help you imagine what it would be like to live in the world of the game?

Book Details

• Author : Max Brooks
• Genre : Fantasy
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Friendship , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Del Rey
• Publication date : August 13, 2019
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
• Number of pages : 288
• Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
• Last updated : July 31, 2021

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The Top 16 Best Books About Minecraft

The highly popular and addictive game Minecraft is a sandbox indie game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson; later developed and published by Mojang. The game is available to play on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, mobile devices, and is coming soon to both Xbox One and PS4.

The creative and building aspects of Minecraft allow players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, gathering resources, crafting, and combat. Battle against enemy creatures, collect eggs from chickens or ride a pig! There's so much to do. It's a game that's appealing to both kids and adults alike. Gameplay has four modes:

• Survival Mode: requires players to acquire resources and maintain their health and hunger
• Creative Mode: players have an unlimited supply of resources and experience, the ability to fly, and no health or hunger
• Hardcore Mode: version of survival mode, differing only in difficulty; it is set to the most difficult setting and re spawning is disabled, forcing players to delete their worlds upon death
• Spectator Mode: player doesn't collide with blocks, is able to view, but not interact with, almost everything. This game mode isn't available in released versions yet , only in snapshots.

Here you will find a list of all the best books on the market that I have found to be your best assets to assist you from crafting to design ideas, to tricks and seeds. Enjoy!

Minecraft Traps By Minecraft Books

For anyone who loves Minecraft and trapping, this guide is what you need.

Learn how to make:

• Water Traps
• Extreme Traps

Become a Minecraft trap master today!

Minecraft : The Ultimate Reloaded 70 Top Tips & Tricks Your Friends Wish They Knew After You Beat Them! By Jason Scott

Whether you are on PvP Mode, where your goal is to be the last man standing, or you are just trying to create a "better" world compared to those made by your friends, it would be to your advantage if you take note of the tips mentioned here. From farming tips to how to swiftly take out the enemy, you'll find everything you need.

Minecraft Redstone Guide By Voltage Guides

Minecraft Redstone is an essential and imaginary element found only in the world of Minecraft . This Redstone is found in various forms all across the game world. It has so many uses we decided to make an entire guide dedicated to just Redstone. Learn how to make awesome traps, mechanisms, gates, and more. Become a Redstone master now!

Minecraft For Dummies, Portable Edition By Jacob Cordeiro

With this fun and friendly beginners guide , you will quickly grasp how to play Minecraft in the three modes of game play: survival, creative, and hardcore. The easy-to-understand writing style walks you through every step of the way, from downloading the game to choosing a gaming platform to defending your creations against monsters and winning the game by defeating the Ender Dragon.

• Explains how the use of blocks to build any creation and engage in gameplay with other players as well
• Details techniques for traveling across the various biomes found throughout the game
• Zeroes in on playing while in Survival mode to acquire resources in order to maintain your health and hunger
• Shares tips for playing in Creative mode - using the unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and lots more
• Helps you in Hardcore mode

Minecraft For Dummies, Portable Edition goes where you go as you create a world you won't want to leave!

Minecraft Furniture By Minecraft Books

For everyone who loves Minecraft and wants to create a beautiful home filled with great furniture, this guide is exactly what you need. Create the most amazing furniture on Minecraft today.

• Bedroom Furniture
• Bathroom Fixtures
• Office Room Furniture
• and tons more

Create beautiful furniture for your Minecraft home today!

Minecraft Amazing House Ideas By Voltage Guides

With this handy manual, you will be more inspired than you every imagines. View beautiful Minecraft homes and get inspired to create gorgeous works of art! Get started building your Minecraft dream house now!

Minecraft Servers List & Guide By Voltage Guides

With this guide, you will get complete access to multiple Minecraft servers. Hang with the coolest people and play with the best today!

Minecraft Seeds By Minecraft Books

This amazing collection of over 100+ seeds will allow you explore tons of new, beautiful, and dangerous places. This includes seeds for Minecraft and the Pocket Edition too.

Inside you'll find seeds for:

• and much, much more

Minecraft Sky Fortress Epic Building Guide By Minecraft Books

Want to be a Minecraft builder? Here's a complete guide on creating your very own Minecraft sky fortress.

• Step by Step Instructions
• Sky Fortress Background Info
• Tons of Inspiration
• and so much more

Create your own floating fortress today with this helpful Minecraft guide.

Minecraft Potions Guide By Minecraft Books

For everyone who loves Minecraft and wants to learn everything there is to know about potions, this guide is exactly what you need. Learn all that you need to know today!

• Potion Basics
• Ingredients
• Potion Effects

Become the ultimate Minecraft potion master today!

Minecraft Awesome Building Ideas For You! By Minecraft Books

Get ideas for your Minecraft world for all designs along with step-by-step instructions.

Learn how to build:

• Furniture ideas
• House designs

Minecraft Enchanting Guide By Minecraft Books

This guide is here to help you have full access to everything about enchantments on Minecraft !

• An Introduction to Enchanting
• How to Enchant
• All the Enchantments
• And Much More

Minecraft Farming Guide By Minecraft Books

This guide is here to help you have full access to everything about farming on Minecraft !

• An Introduction to Farming
• Growth Techniques
• How to Farm
• Specific Food and Item Tips
• And Much More!

Minecraft Pocket Edition Seeds By Minecraft Books

For anyone who loves Minecraft and exploring new words, this guide is definitely a useful tool. Find some of the coolest Minecraft Pocket Edition Seeds here.

Inside you'll find:

• Diamond Filled Seeds
• Various Biome Seeds
• The Coolest Seeds

Become the best Minecraft explorer you know you can be!

Minecraft Strategy Guide By Minecraft Books

For anyone who loves Minecraft and battling, this guide is a useful tool to get you through.

Learn how to be an ultimate fighter on Minecraft .

• A complete mob guide
• The Art of War (not the one By Sun Tzu)
• Combat Tips

Become a battle champion today!

Minecraft Encyclopedia By Minecraft Books

This is just the ultimate must-have resource for all Minecraft fans in my opinion. This Encyclopedia has everything you need to know about Minecraft .

Well there you have folks, my list of the top books on Minecraft .

For everything Minecraft , keep it tuned to GameSkinny for all your guides, tips, and news.

• Children's Books
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Minecraft: The Complete Handbook Collection: The latest updated & revised essential 2022 official guide book box set for the best-selling video game of all time – perfect for kids and teens Hardcover – 24 Nov. 2022

Purchase options and add-ons, for the first time, get all the brand-new handbooks together in one set.

With this four-book collection, you’ll have all the tools to enjoy your very best Minecraft journey.

Learn how to stay alive in the Survival Handbook, don your armour and fight battles with the Combat Handbook, ignite your imagination with the Creative Handbook, and become an inventor with the Redstone Handbook. This is the perfect gift for beginners or anyone looking to improve their Minecraft skills.

• Reading age 8 - 10 years
• Print length 384 pages
• Language English
• Dimensions 15.4 x 2.7 x 21.6 cm
• Publisher Farshore
• Publication date 24 Nov. 2022
• ISBN-10 0008499527
• ISBN-13 978-0008499525
• See all details

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From the Publisher

Collect all of the official Minecraft books to become the best Minecrafter you can be

Whether you're in Creative, Survival or Hardcore Mode, the official Mojang-approved Minecraft books contain all the advice you need to survive and thrive. With insider info and tips, these fun guides will help you on all your adventures in the world of Minecraft.

Product description

These stylish, full-colour books are the perfect addition to any Minecraft fan's shelf – or a great help for someone just starting out in the game. – Games Master

Book Description

The latest updated & revised essential 2022 official guide book box set for the best-selling video game of all time – perfect for kids and teens

About the Author

Mojang is a games studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. Mojang was founded in 2009 by Markus “Notch” Persson and Jakob Porser. Markus Persson is also the creator of Mojang’s best-selling game to date: Minecraft. 

The alpha version of Minecraft was launched in 2009, and the official game went on sale in 2011. Since then over 200 million copies have been sold, across multiple platforms. It is now the second best-selling video game of all time.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farshore (24 Nov. 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008499527
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008499525
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 10 years
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.4 x 2.7 x 21.6 cm
• 2 in Children's Books on the Internet
• 19 in Children's Books on Inventions & Inventors
• 26 in Children's Books on Architecture

About the author

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The BiblioSanctum

A book blog for speculative fiction, graphic novels… and more, book review: minecraft: the crash by tracey baptiste.

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre:   Media Tie-In

Series:  Stand Alone/Book 2 of Minecraft

Publisher:  Century (July 12, 2018)

Length:  288 pages

Author Information:  Website  |  Twitter

Minecraft: The Crash is the second official tie-in novel based on the popular survival sandbox video game, though unlike the first book, whose clueless protagonist wakes up in the strange blocky world of the game with no explanation, this standalone sequel is rooted more in our own reality. It is also, in my opinion, a more mature book. While the target audience for this series falls in the middle grade to young adult range, I feel that some of the story’s deeper themes will be lost on younger readers.

Still, depending on how you look at it, that might be a good thing. The Crash is a book that can be enjoyed on multiple levels. Obviously, you can expect a Minecraft novel to be adventurous and fun—and trust me when I say there will be no disappointment there. However, I was also surprised to find a more complex and deeper thread of meaning woven subtly into this novel. I won’t lie—the ending made me cry. It wasn’t that the story was unduly sad or made me miserable and distraught, but there was a powerful and bittersweet element to the conclusion that really pulled on my heartstrings and made me tear up.

The story follows two teenagers, Bianca and Lonnie, who have been best friends ever since the fateful day they met on the playground and bonded over a love for Minecraft. Almost ten years later, the game is still the glue that binds them, even though they go to different high schools and Lonnie is a junior, while Bianca is a newly-minted freshman. Then one night, while on their way to a homecoming game, the two friends get into a terrible car accident. Bianca finally wakes up sometime later in the hospital, after multiple surgeries to save her life. She learns from the doctors and from her parents that the accident was very serious, and that she could have been paralyzed from her injuries. No one tells her anything more, only that she needs to concentrate on getting better.

Soon, Bianca discovers that there are other children at the hospital, some who are very sick and are admitted for long-term care. To provide entertainment for their young patients, the facility is equipped with a state-of-the-art virtual reality gaming system so that users can play and interact with each other in-game. To Bianca’s delight, it even supports a VR version of Minecraft. One day, she meets AJ, a young boy who visits her room and invites her to his Minecraft server which has been heavily customized with mods that he designed himself. As Bianca explores AJ’s realm, she also meets Esme and Anton, two other teens who are at the hospital playing on the server.  She teams up with them, hoping to find Lonnie along the way so they can all work towards playing to the End, which is the final dimension of Minecraft. Strange things have been happening on the server, which isn’t running the way it is supposed to. Our characters find themselves trapped in the game, and it is their hope that reaching the End will help them get back to the real world.

Minecraft: The Crash raises several interesting topics. We all know that games can be useful educational tools. But can they also be used for therapeutic purposes? Bianca is a strong and resourceful character, but also extremely stubborn. She has a lot of questions, but after a while, it’s clear to see she’s neither physically nor mentally prepared to handle many of the answers awaiting her at the end of her journey. She frequently gets into arguments with her companions, especially Esme, whose personality clashes strongly with our protagonist’s. Anton is like the mediator of the group, who tries to defuse tense situations and get everyone to work together. Still, despite the constant conflicts and infighting, our characters’ time in the game ultimately becomes both a learning and healing experience—for all of them. While adventuring through Minecraft together, they had inadvertently created their own little support group.

This probably goes without saying, but this book will also be perfect for Minecraft fans. Readers who love the game will no doubt recognize something of themselves in the characters, who are all Minecraft enthusiasts. Each of them has their own building styles, from Lonnie who loves to plan his projects, to Bianca who is more of a “wing it” type of player who improvises as the inspiration strikes her. Then there’s AJ, who likes to build massive, intricately-detailed and elaborate structures, or paranoid Anton who surrounds his fortress base with explosives and other deadly traps. You’ll also find plenty of Easter eggs and other game references scattered throughout the story. The bulk of the book is the actual adventure, following our characters in-game as they gather, explore, craft, build, and fight. It’s all very entertaining.

That said, as I alluded to earlier, there are also some darker and sadder themes underlying this novel. Most of the characters in the story are kids who are very sick or injured. There’s also the question of what happened on the night of Bianca’s accident, along with the difficult truths she must figure out for herself. This novel genuinely surprised me, because I did not expect such an emotional conclusion, or that the final message would be so beautifully or poignantly written.

Overall, I would recommend Minecraft: The Crash . It features a fun and fast-paced adventure which would undoubtedly appeal to fans of Minecraft, though I daresay even non-gamers will be able to find a lot of joy in the book as it contains a story with themes that will speak to readers from all walks of life.

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Category: 4 stars , Gaming , Novelization/Tie-In , Young Adult     Tags: Century , Minecraft , Minecraft: The Crash , Tracey Baptiste

22 Comments on “Book Review: Minecraft: The Crash by Tracey Baptiste”

Never played it. I can not say the book sounds interesting cos of that , sorry kindecraft (wtf spellcheck) MINEcraft

Understandable. It would be hard to get into any tie-in if you weren’t familiar with the franchise that inspired it.

I’ve never understood the appeal of this game myself. I’ve seen others play it and I’m just all “meh”. It’s probably about on the level of “trombone” on my interestometer 😀

It is so interesting just how varied our collective interests are. But thank goodness you and I were blessed with the natural class, quality and taste of something so special as reading 😉

I played Minecraft a lot back when it was in alpha – and you wouldn’t think it to look at it, but it’s actually super addictive! Funny enough though, I didn’t play it at all when it finally came out and was in wide release. Hence it was really crazy for me to see how its popularity completely exploded.

Like Liked by 1 person

Whoa, this sounds so good! I don’t even play Minecraft but now I want to read it😁

OMG, if you read it, get some tissues ready. The ending is a total tearjerker.

There are some “Tron” vibes here that make this story quite appealing: I enjoyed both movies (the old, classic one and the recent reboot), so this might turn out to be a goo read. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

I can see a bit of that 🙂

I wonder if I could like this one. The idea is fun though so why not try it

Exactly! Why not 😀

Mmm, lovely review! I personally am not a video game fan, but any premise where deeper themes are discussed (like video games being a therapeutic outlet) and emotions are rampant, I’m game! I mean, I really like it when books manage to make me cry, so I’m glad that you found this moving as well. Terrific review! 😀

Yeah, this can definitely be enjoyed by non-gamers. Like I said, the deeper themes just hit me really hard – I came close to bawling 😀

I have to confess, I never expected these to be very good. I guess I shouldnt make assumptions!

Yes, they’re actually way better than I expected!

I’ve never played it or been that interested in it-I don’t even know what it is about but I have heard the name and know how popular a game it is.

It’s basically a survival type game where you have to build and craft yourself shelters and tools to stay alive – and there are dangerous creatures out to get you and monsters like zombie-like creepers that come out at night. Given your penchant for post-apocalyptic thrillers, you might actually really enjoy it 😀

I’ve never really understood the craze behind Minecraft ever since it was first launched and got hyped up, but it’s nice to see people have fun with it even to this day. I didn’t know about these Minecraft stories though, and would have totally overlooked them if you didn’t review this. I’m glad to hear that there was a level of depth that was… unprecedented in this book though. I’d have definitely appreciated that a lot. Great review! 😀

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The Crafter's Kitchen: An Official Minecraft Cookbook Review

• The Crafter's Kitchen cookbook by Mojang offers fun and engaging recipes, perfect for beginner chefs and Minecraft fans alike.
• With over 60 recipes divided by biomes, parents and kids can cook together while learning about the environment and cultures worldwide.
• While some questionable advice is included, the cookbook's simple recipes and engaging content make it a must-have for young fans of the game.

Cooking and gaming go hand-in-hand in many ways – from wildly popular game franchises that turn living room get-togethers into scenes from The Bear , to the shared precision of game design and baking that call for serious math and science skills – making video game cookbooks a no-brainer. With Minecraft continuing to be a powerful force within the gaming sphere despite being released over a decade ago, Mojang has decided it’s time for another official cookbook.

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Releasing on March 19th, The Crafter’s Kitchen aims to teach young chefs a thing or two about overworld cooking in the real world. With over 60 recipes covering a wide variety of dishes, The Crafter’s Kitchen offers families a new way to connect offline while learning culinary basics alongside some natural science facts about our own world.

Design & Organization

It may seem like the obvious choice, but it’s pretty cool that the cookbook is divided into different biomes, giving kids and parents a slight idea as to what type of recipes will be included in each chapter. Every biome is on display, including the End. The order of the biomes makes little sense at first glance, but the recipes are actually very thoughtfully laid out.

Each chapter has a clear upward progression, with easier recipes being listed first and often having subsequent recipes build on that first, basic dish. For example, the very first recipe is how to make pasta, followed by how to make gnocchi and then a flavorful tomato sauce. Each chapter also has one recipe that’s significantly more difficult than the others, usually in the middle or the end of the chapter. That’s great for precocious kids who are ready to jump into tougher instructions and for parents who want to actually work together for a recipe, rather than have their child or themselves acting as a “hold this, bring that” assistant.

As the book progresses past the halfway point, the recipes begin to get much more difficult. They still build on earlier recipes, both referencing previously taught techniques and calling for those dishes to be used as part of the ingredient list. The End chapter is especially tough, filled with complicated baked goods that draw heavily on all the other information in the book.

The overall layout of the book is pretty inviting and not half as intimidating as some other cookbooks might be. That's thanks to its neutral colors and the inclusion of a Minecraft character guiding readers. Plus, most of the recipes come with clear photos, and the instructions don’t often extend beyond a single, well-spaced column of just a handful of steps. While some kids will inevitably get bored after a few lessons, those who develop a genuine interest in cooking can go through the entire book and end up with a mastery of the basics. There are even some tips included that highlight the logic behind some techniques, such as why tenderizing is important or the fact that some soups and stews taste even better the next day, all written in easy-to-understand snippets.

Recipe Variety & Accuracy

Being organized by region is common enough for cookbooks, but many nerdy cookbooks focus so much on the culinary aspects of the content that the recipes are often incongruent with the tie-in franchise. By choosing to focus on biomes rather than recreate in-game food or try to make the dishes otherwise Minecraft -inspired, The Crafter’s Kitchen actually does a good job of sticking to the theme of each chapter. This also allows for a wide variety of dishes from cultures around the globe to be included naturally.

As a child of immigrants, it can be difficult to resist the urge to assimilate when it comes to meals, especially when friends come over or everyone is showing off their lunchboxes at school. However, The Crafter’s Kitchen makes no assumptions about the reader’s culture and offers international dishes without making a fuss about it. Sure, many recipes have some background information included, but all of the dishes are intermixed unceremoniously, celebrating each unique taste equally. Kids can make food from the US, Korea, Jamaica, Italy, and more, with some dishes offering alternatives to better serve staples found in different kitchens or simply broaden their horizons.

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That being said, this cookbook is made for children ready to start making real meals for the first time, and as such, most of the recipes are fairly basic. As previously mentioned, most of the recipes only have about five steps, which makes them incredibly straightforward and nearly impossible to mess up. Anyone who already knows how to cook won’t get much out of this book unless they’re sharing it with a much younger, inexperienced friend or family member.

Additionally, while the various flavors cover a wide spectrum of cuisine, and gamer chefs can certainly make a full day’s worth of meals from this book, they’re mostly things that children would like to eat, which makes perfect sense! Pasta, fried chicken, cake – if it would look great on a kid's plate, it’s probably in this book.

At the same time, these recipes don’t play around with the seasoning. Everything has reasonable seasoning, rather than the watered-down flavors that many children’s cookbooks tend to use. It’s clear that the goal of the book and the recipes it offers is to teach legitimate cooking techniques that kids can carry with them throughout the rest of their lives.

Bonus Content

Cookbooks can be a real feast for the eyes, depending on the target audience, but that's not the case with the art included in The Crafter’s Kitchen , which mostly consists of poor-quality snapshots of each biome. Where the book’s style really shines is with its photography. Although it’s quite rare, there are only a handful of the 69 recipes that do not have a photo. Visual learners rejoice! Basically, every dish has a photo somewhere in the book. One nice touch is that each photo isn’t a perfectly minimalist Instagram picture. The plates are full, and the surrounding surfaces look a bit messy, almost like a child was cooking. In the age of perfectly photogenic everything, Minecraft ’s cookbook wordlessly lets kids know that it's okay to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

Despite the Minecraft art being a bit of a flop, the character guide of the book, named simply “The Gourmand,” offers a plethora of interesting facts and information to help readers connect with the real world outside of Minecraft and cooking. Each biome can be found in multiple regions around the world, and every chapter discusses the unique properties of each, going over the types of plants and animals that inhabit these areas and what sort of challenges the people and the land face. These excerpts mainly focus on environmental information, which ties into the other half of each biome introduction: community calls to action.

These sections, placed right next to the environmental facts, are a great way to help children think about their impact on the world. The sections encourage kids to go outside their comfort zone, typically with a parent or guardian, to do things like composting or participating in a beach clean-up day. Some are even easier than that, encouraging kids to pick up after themselves when hiking, though some suggestions are questionable.

In particular, two suggestions stuck out as inadvisable, at least in some areas: rainwater collection and protesting. Rainwater collection is a great idea, but it simply isn’t safe everywhere; some areas even have laws against it. Similarly, though a bit more extreme, is the final excerpt that encourages kids to join a protest. At best, they can be seriously crowded and overstimulating for children. Although the book does instruct children to go with their parents, it’s certainly a debatable piece of advice. Hopefully, most readers stick with the community service suggestions, since the rest of the cookbook is aimed at kids around 10 years old.

Overall Impression

The crafter's kitchen: an official minecraft cookbook for young chefs and their families.

Featuring over 160 recipes from regions and cultures around the world, The Crafter's Kitchen: An Official Minecraft Cookbook for Young Chefs and Their Families aims to teach Minecraft fans how to cook! Ideal for kids learning to cook for the first time with their parents, each chapter features a different biome of the Minecraft world, from the deepest ocean to the highest mountain. Families can work together to create delicious recipes while learning about environmental issues facing our own world's unique habitats.

Author The Official Minecraft Team

Genre Cooking

Publication Date 3/19/2024

Age Range 8 - 12

Publisher Random House Worlds

Parents who want to spend more time with their kids doing something that they can both enjoy will find a lot to love about The Crafter’s Kitchen . The cookbook is incredibly inclusive and brings a wide variety of seriously tasty dishes to the table. Although the book may not be suitable for kids much older than 13 or so, it’s packed with facts and features designed to spark curiosity in young minds.

The recipes are super simple to follow, and the additional information provided will inevitably lead to questions about science, nature, and culture. Even without that, the engaging Minecraft narrative and beginner-level dishes will give kids basic cooking knowledge that they will use in the future, regardless of whether they become a chef.

With its cute, accurate, and ultimately engaging content, this newest Minecraft cookbook is a must-have for young fans. Minecraft players who want to learn to cook or connect with their Minecraft -obsessed loved one should pre-order The Crafter’s Kitchen now, or pick it up when it’s released on March 19th.

For more amazing video game cookbooks, check out Game Rant's collection on BookShop.org , the best place to support local bookstores online!

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Minecraft: Guide to Redstone (Updated) Hardcover – November 22, 2022

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• Reading age 8 - 12 years
• Part of series Minecraft
• Print length 96 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Dimensions 6.11 x 0.55 x 8.55 inches
• Publisher Random House Worlds
• Publication date November 22, 2022
• ISBN-10 0593158571
• ISBN-13 978-0593158579
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Worlds; Updated edition (November 22, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593158571
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593158579
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.11 x 0.55 x 8.55 inches
• #12 in Minecraft Guides
• #12 in Children's Computer Game Books
• #18 in Children's Video & Electronic Games Books

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The lasting impact of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’

Steven Hyden’s “There Was Nothing You Could Do” explores the blockbuster album, which turns 40 next month.

There’s a reason “Bruce Springsteen” is still a viable Halloween costume in 2024, and that reason is “ Born in the U.S.A. ”

The blockbuster album, which turns 40 next month, capped a dozen-year ascent to superstardom that turned a critically adored, ambivalent-about-fame singer-songwriter into a pop icon on a scale inhabited only by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé today.

The Boss’s red-bandanna-and-sleeveless-flannel-shirt phase was only a blip within a performing career that has now spanned more than half a century. More than a dozen Springsteen albums have been packaged behind portraits of his invariably careworn mug; only “Born in the U.S.A.” came swaddled in an Annie Leibovitz close-up of the denim-clad Boss-terior. But it was this synthesizer-heavy era that made Springsteen a permanent celebrity beyond the sphere of music fandom — and made it possible for the 74-year-old to continue filling stadiums even now, despite how profoundly the America beyond them has changed.

The disappearance of that metaphorical breadbasket, wherein the workaholic Springsteen briefly became an unlikely figure of national consensus, is the subject of ride-or-die Springsteen fan Steven Hyden’s new book, “ There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ and the End of the Heartland .” If the book can’t explain the slow fade of a country that at least seemed to want consensus — which, as Hyden observes, also confounds Springsteen’s podcast co-host Barack Obama — it is at least an astute and briskly written look at the circumstances and legacy of an album whose outsize popularity has made it paradoxically divisive among Tramps Like Us.

As Hyden points out in his preface, almost no serious Broooooce fan claims “Born in the U.S.A.” as their favorite. It was too contemporary-sounding, too accessible, representing the only time Springsteen directed his hopeful but essentially fatalistic worldview at fickle listeners who’d never sit still for the 43 relatively down-tempo minutes of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” or the bleary-eyed introspection of “Nebraska.”

The latter album was released in 1982 as the marathon “Born in the U.S.A.” recording sessions wore on like a Stanley Kubrick film shoot, and the two LPs are inextricably linked. (Musician and writer Warren Zanes’s 2023 book about the making of “Nebraska,” “ Deliver Me From Nowhere ,” is good, but Hyden’s is more broadly curious.) The song that would become “Born in the U.S.A.’s” title track, with its widely-misread-as-jingoistic chorus and cannonball drums, first appeared as an acoustic, percussion-free lament during the bedroom sessions that begot “Nebraska.” Like many “Born in the U.S.A.” outtakes, that somber version wouldn’t get an official release until the “Tracks” box set in 1998, near the end of a decade when Springsteen more or less embraced the notion that his time as a mainstream unit-shifter had passed. His solo acoustic tour behind his 1995 folk album, “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” covered a greater span of time than the “Born in the U.S.A.” tour had, albeit in much cozier venues. Springsteen opened these shows by asking punters to keep quiet so they could hear the songs — hardly the behavior of an aging rocker worried about his market share.

Hyden came of age during Springsteen’s ’90s wilderness era, and he’s previously devoted books to Pearl Jam and Radiohead — bands that became huge during the decade when Springsteen’s influence was at a low ebb. But that perspective helps him to perceive the long arc of the Boss’s career. He opens the book by recalling his first exposure to “Born in the U.S.A.” as a tyke — a little-discussed but important constituency for multiplatinum albums in this era. As with the contemporaneous megasellers “Thriller” and “Purple Rain,” “Born in the U.S.A.’s” bright production and sheer ubiquity made it a powerful gateway drug for impressionable music-obsessives-in-waiting. I’m like Hyden in this regard — a guy who first decided I was a Bruce fan in grade school, years before the self-loathing and political disenchantment elucidated in “Dancing in the Dark” and “My Hometown” would hold any rational meaning for me.

Hyden is an imaginative cultural omnivore, which means his critical examination occasionally takes the form of something like fan fiction. What if, for example, the Boss had decided to pursue his flirtation with acting — something we’d later get a taste of in the John Sayles-directed music videos for “Glory Days” and “I’m on Fire” — and agreed to star in “Taxi Driver” screenwriter Paul Schrader’s melodrama “Born in the U.S.A.” in 1979? In our universe, Springsteen simply pocketed the title of Schrader’s screenplay, repaying the filmmaker by writing a title song for the movie that was eventually released as “Light of Day,” starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett. But Hyden builds out this alternate timeline, wherein Springsteen, not Richard Gere, plays the lead role in Schrader’s “American Gigolo,” and then Springsteen, not David Bowie, writes and performs the title song for Schrader’s kinky 1982 remake of the ’40s horror flick “Cat People.” Not profound , maybe, but fun to ponder.

Or what if Springsteen had followed up “Born in the U.S.A.” with a sequel album made up of leftovers from the same sessions? Hyden presents his suggested track list for “Man at the Top,” the 1985 Springsteen album that never was (though all its songs are real), awarding it four out of five stars in an imaginary Rolling Stone review. More intriguingly, he posits a future-past wherein the early-’90s emergence of stars like Billy Ray Cyrus and Garth Brooks persuades Springsteen that heartland rock has gone country, and he repositions himself accordingly.

Your appetite for these kinds of fanboy thought experiments is a reliable gauge of whether this book is for you. If Springsteen’s red-headband, swole-arms incarnation is the only one you’d recognize at a costume party, it might not be. But if the sight of a bejeweled, haunted-looking man with slicked-back hair and a goatee makes your brain say, “‘Tom Joad’-era Bruce,” it definitely is.

Chris Klimek is a writer, critic and podcast host in Washington.

There Was Nothing You Could Do

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” and the End of the Heartland

By Steven Hyden

Hachette. 272 pp. $32

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