Description: Thorne takes the fear out of participating in an inaugural pinewood derby race. Unlike other pinewood books, it's not about building the most spectacular car or winning the race; it's about spending time with a child building something together. It's about planning the activity so both people have fun, learn about friction and gravity, and walk away with a car to be proud of--even if it isn't perfect.
Brief description:
Pinewood Derby-winning dad Troy Thorne is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, and spent over 10 years in the advertising field. He is an active scouting volunteer, builds furniture and canoes, and works with his son who was a national finalist in the All-Star Derby Design Contest.
Review Quotes: Most kids speak with great nostalgia when the subject of Pinewood Derby cars is brought up. Designs from the speedy and elegant to the loud, and in my case at least, ridiculous. However there are a growing group of both parents and kids who know don't know a thing about how to craft a racer or what's possible to do in the first place. Our friend Troy Thorne over at Fox Chapel Publishing recently wrote Getting Started in Pinewood Derby to try and remedy that. Troy has an excellent way of breaking the process down and giving step by step instuctions that builders of any age can both understand and duplicate complete with sweet pictures and helpful tips that get you over the rough spots. There are also a dozen plans in the book that can be cut out and used as templates to replicate his designs exactly and give the other competitors a run for their money. Couple this with the painting ideas, axle and wheel prep, weighting and test run instructions and you've got 95 pages of racer building know how to back you and the young'n up. When we met him at Maker Faire a few years ago our first question to Troy was "Do your designs really work?" He pointed us over to his booth where he had close to 50 lightning fast racers on display with a test track set up behind them and told us to find out for ourselves. We did. They Do. If you're looking for step-by-step awesome in a book that will put a smile on your kids face and be competitive entry into the local race Mr. Thorne's Getting Started in Pinewood Derby is a great start.