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United States of LEGO®: A Brick Tour of America
United States of LEGO takes readers on a journey across America that has never been seen before. Photographer Jeff Friesen composes artful LEGO brick dioramas, each revealing a scene with a witty caption that celebrates what makes every American state unique, incorporating toy-scale monuments, colorful citizens going about their daily lives, and new spins on state history.
Here is a fresh vision of every state assembled with bricks, from Washington’s steaming rivers of espresso to the ancient reptiles in Florida (we’re not talking about alligators here). Brick Minnesotans tirelessly shovel snow but are ready to pose with a friendly “okey-dokey!”
Giving readers even more than a cross-country tour, United States of LEGO reveals intriguing secrets of the states for the first time. Have you ever wondered who extinguished Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara’s passion in Georgia, what’s fishing for fishermen in Alaska, or how NASCAR drivers earn extra spending money in North Carolina? The answers will surprise and delight you.
Readers will also find thrilling scenes from history re-created in meticulous detail. Who can forget Lewis and Clark’s intrepid manservant, Gaston? Okay, the history textbooks did, but not United States of LEGO . And what ever happened to the giant turkeys that once roamed Massachusetts? Your education may have missed these tender birds whose fate is detailed here.
Every captioned photograph is infused with good-natured humor, and occasional ill-humored nature, such as the Maryland crabs who are through with being lunch. Speaking of lunch, the famous Kentucky Frying Chicken awaits your order within these pages. Don’t delay! Good citizens of all ages will enjoy exploring every state’s unique character in enchanting LEGO dioramas.
Here is a fresh vision of every state assembled with bricks, from Washington’s steaming rivers of espresso to the ancient reptiles in Florida (we’re not talking about alligators here). Brick Minnesotans tirelessly shovel snow but are ready to pose with a friendly “okey-dokey!”
Giving readers even more than a cross-country tour, United States of LEGO reveals intriguing secrets of the states for the first time. Have you ever wondered who extinguished Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara’s passion in Georgia, what’s fishing for fishermen in Alaska, or how NASCAR drivers earn extra spending money in North Carolina? The answers will surprise and delight you.
Readers will also find thrilling scenes from history re-created in meticulous detail. Who can forget Lewis and Clark’s intrepid manservant, Gaston? Okay, the history textbooks did, but not United States of LEGO . And what ever happened to the giant turkeys that once roamed Massachusetts? Your education may have missed these tender birds whose fate is detailed here.
Every captioned photograph is infused with good-natured humor, and occasional ill-humored nature, such as the Maryland crabs who are through with being lunch. Speaking of lunch, the famous Kentucky Frying Chicken awaits your order within these pages. Don’t delay! Good citizens of all ages will enjoy exploring every state’s unique character in enchanting LEGO dioramas.
- GenresNonfictionHumorGeography
112 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2014
19 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 10, 2020
The details in some of these models is so funny. This was great.
November 1, 2014
I liked the Lego creations, but the book was unnecessarily mean spirited & stereotyped. Connecticut residents driving mini-mansions on I-95? People driving through Rocky Mtns managing to survive missing two weeks of their favorite show, how many calories protestors in D.C. are burning? Seemed completely random in terms of number of vignettes per state.
September 22, 2014
it was cute some really great pics
June 17, 2016
The United States Of Lego: A Brick Tour Of America, by Jeff Friesen
On one level, this is precisely the sort of book that one would expect children to read, if reading is defined very loosely. It consists of between 50 and 100 pages of pictures featuring Lego blocks (and Lego people) with various humorous captions organized in alphabetical order by the state of the union. Its contents, at least on a superficial level, are easily accessible to small children or those who are fairly childish (or, perhaps more kindly put, young at heart). For example, A picture of a robot in an automobile manufacturing plant in Michigan has the following caption: “Machines will never replace humans in manufacturing or caption writing. Ha!—This automated caption generated by Dumbchuckle Software’s Groaner 5.1 (44),” while the blue Lego house on the next page with white snow on the roof and ground has the humorous caption: “’Twas the snowstorm before Halloween” for the same state (45). Each of the pages in the book shares this basic pattern: the state being mocked named on top, a scene created out of Lego blocks taking up most of the page, and a humorous caption on the bottom of the page.
The fact that the book can be read on the literal level without difficulty by small children, who would likewise also be able to appreciate the photos of a fireman dousing the flames for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, or a picture of two reptilian life forms on a Florida beach—namely an alligator and an old man in a speedo, or a picture of Georgia O’Keeffe’s wacky cartoon portrait phase for New Mexico, or a picture of Ohio kids enjoying living in a swing state by swinging side by side in contrasting blue and red painted clothing, or any other number of humorous and odd pictures, only makes the book more fun for those adults who can read additional layers of meaning beneath the goofy surface meanings. As it happens, the author knows a surprising amount about the states for someone who lives in Nova Scotia, riffing on Canon Beach, Oregon and the Bonneville Salt Flats and making a biting joke about the dangers of mining and Arthur Fonzarelli’s career of cheese harvesting after jumping the shark. Fully grasping the humor of the book requires a great deal of cultural knowledge for a book featuring Lego scenes from an author with a distinctly twisted sense of humor.
The audience of this book may not be large, but it is the sort of audience that is likely to be appreciative of the author’s sardonic humor and immense skill at crafting memorable Lego scenes. A few qualities, if combined, would ensure that a reader enjoys this book: a love of Legos [1], a wide degree of knowledge about the United States and an almost encyclopedic memory for random trivia, and a love of comical material that is aimed at a distinctly juvenile audience [2]. This is the sort of book that a sufficiently youthful adult would read with a lot of laughs and snickers and wry grins, reflecting on matters of politics and culture, while reading aloud to children and trying diligently to explain the source of the humor as they look puzzled at what Fonzi and cheese have to do with Wisconsin, why the sight of Davy Crockett wearing a cat as a hat in front of the Alamo is so uproariously funny, or what is nightmarish about frosted tips and Italians along the New Jersey shore, or why it is so bizarrely appropriate that the Iowa State Fair a “Stick O’ Butter” stall right next to a doctor with a defibrillator. This is a rare book that educates readers about the stereotypes of states with juvenile humor, and that can be satisfyingly read by young and old as long as the old are willing to explain as well as smile and laugh at what they are reading.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
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https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
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On one level, this is precisely the sort of book that one would expect children to read, if reading is defined very loosely. It consists of between 50 and 100 pages of pictures featuring Lego blocks (and Lego people) with various humorous captions organized in alphabetical order by the state of the union. Its contents, at least on a superficial level, are easily accessible to small children or those who are fairly childish (or, perhaps more kindly put, young at heart). For example, A picture of a robot in an automobile manufacturing plant in Michigan has the following caption: “Machines will never replace humans in manufacturing or caption writing. Ha!—This automated caption generated by Dumbchuckle Software’s Groaner 5.1 (44),” while the blue Lego house on the next page with white snow on the roof and ground has the humorous caption: “’Twas the snowstorm before Halloween” for the same state (45). Each of the pages in the book shares this basic pattern: the state being mocked named on top, a scene created out of Lego blocks taking up most of the page, and a humorous caption on the bottom of the page.
The fact that the book can be read on the literal level without difficulty by small children, who would likewise also be able to appreciate the photos of a fireman dousing the flames for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, or a picture of two reptilian life forms on a Florida beach—namely an alligator and an old man in a speedo, or a picture of Georgia O’Keeffe’s wacky cartoon portrait phase for New Mexico, or a picture of Ohio kids enjoying living in a swing state by swinging side by side in contrasting blue and red painted clothing, or any other number of humorous and odd pictures, only makes the book more fun for those adults who can read additional layers of meaning beneath the goofy surface meanings. As it happens, the author knows a surprising amount about the states for someone who lives in Nova Scotia, riffing on Canon Beach, Oregon and the Bonneville Salt Flats and making a biting joke about the dangers of mining and Arthur Fonzarelli’s career of cheese harvesting after jumping the shark. Fully grasping the humor of the book requires a great deal of cultural knowledge for a book featuring Lego scenes from an author with a distinctly twisted sense of humor.
The audience of this book may not be large, but it is the sort of audience that is likely to be appreciative of the author’s sardonic humor and immense skill at crafting memorable Lego scenes. A few qualities, if combined, would ensure that a reader enjoys this book: a love of Legos [1], a wide degree of knowledge about the United States and an almost encyclopedic memory for random trivia, and a love of comical material that is aimed at a distinctly juvenile audience [2]. This is the sort of book that a sufficiently youthful adult would read with a lot of laughs and snickers and wry grins, reflecting on matters of politics and culture, while reading aloud to children and trying diligently to explain the source of the humor as they look puzzled at what Fonzi and cheese have to do with Wisconsin, why the sight of Davy Crockett wearing a cat as a hat in front of the Alamo is so uproariously funny, or what is nightmarish about frosted tips and Italians along the New Jersey shore, or why it is so bizarrely appropriate that the Iowa State Fair a “Stick O’ Butter” stall right next to a doctor with a defibrillator. This is a rare book that educates readers about the stereotypes of states with juvenile humor, and that can be satisfyingly read by young and old as long as the old are willing to explain as well as smile and laugh at what they are reading.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
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July 1, 2020
Lots of really fun things to see and build
I like this the LEGO builds were kind of basic At least compared to hi end Lego modular sets But still they were better than I could do and are very creative.
I like this the LEGO builds were kind of basic At least compared to hi end Lego modular sets But still they were better than I could do and are very creative.
June 15, 2020
It had nice pictures and a few good puns, but other than that, it mostly had me wishing it was over already.
September 8, 2024
Just some cute Lego imaginations of the 50 states
May 5, 2025
Cute. Not as witty as I hoped, and I was really hoping for more in-depth and interesting Lego builds.
April 9, 2017
Jeff Friesen has way too much time on his hands. But at least whe get to see what wacky ideas he has done with LEGO bricks and scenes set up to represent some aspect of the 50 United States. A quick, semi-entertaining read. I really did like the West Virginia scene!
May 12, 2015
A fun take on Legos representing each state.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews