Get your family's brains going with 57 more creative calisthenics for the mind

In China, for centuries it has been acknowledged that early childhood training supports lifelong intellectual growth. For generations, parents have taught their children "brain games"—delightful amusements that challenge the intellects of young people while appealing to their senses of fun and play. While growing up in China, Baifang learned scores of such games that both challenged and intrigued her. Now she shares 57 new stick-puzzle, number, and shape games for children and parents everywhere to share and enjoy. A terrific way to stimulate parent-child interaction, these quick and challenging puzzles and brain teasers enhance creative capacity and logic, fostering problem-solving skills and mathematical awareness.

Baifang came to the United States from China in 1977 and earned a degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Since then, she has worked on various media and cultural exchange programs with China. She is also the author of Chinese Brain Twisters.

It's time for a new Thanksgiving tradition. After the pies, after the contented sighs, keep the reverence for the day going with this singularly stunning puzzle. Straight from the collection of John Derian, the artist and designer whose work with printed images of the past transports the viewer to another time and place, Crested Turkey is a nineteenth-century chromolithographic portrait that confirms the wonder and wisdom behind Benjamin Franklin's famous remark that in comparison with the bald eagle, the wild turkey is a much more respectable and courageous creature. And so handsome too! Featuring: 1,000 interlocking pieces Mini-poster (6 3/4" x 9 3/8") for reference or framing Completed puzzle size: 18 7/8" x 26 3/8"

Piece together the power of stars with this 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle showcasing the 12 zodiac signs. With an illustration for every star sign, Seeing Stars is the perfect puzzle for astrology lovers. The bold, bright illustrations and stunning, eye-catching details make this puzzle perfect for framed as wall art, once complete. Illustrated by the well-known design house Evi-O. Studio, this is a fresh and modern take on the zodiac.

The most mind-bending puzzles on the internet appear weekly in Oliver Roeder's "The Riddler" column. Presented by Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, an online mecca for statistics nerds, the column attracts a rabid community of puzzlers (including the coach of the U.S. Math Olympiad team and a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) who rush to submit solutions and extensions. Now, FiveThirtyEight presents the first-ever Riddler collection, featuring the column's most popular problems, which draw on geometry, logic, statistics and game theory, along with six never-before-published puzzles. The simplest require a mere flash of insight, whilst the toughest involve deep applications of analysis and probability theory. Can you rig an election? What's the best way to drop a smartphone? Can you solve the puzzle of the overflowing martini glass? Designed to appeal to a range of skill levels, The Riddler will be the perfect gift for any maths or puzzle enthusiast.

Sudoku X is a brand new and irresistible twist on the sensational worldwide puzzle craze. It offers something new that no other Sudoku puzzle has offered before, the instantly recognisable 'X' formed by the diagonals. This first Sudoku X book includes 100 puzzles, varying in difficulty, and also in shape and size. As well as the classic 9-by-9 grid, there are 6-by-6 and 8-by-8 grids - all featuring Sudoku X's unique diagonal gameplay. This book will be a must-have for seasoned gamers looking for a new challenge but it also includes a full how-to section making it accessible to players who are new to Sudoku. Sudoku X is the essential fix for the millions of Sudoku addicts, both in the UK and overseas.

Learn how to take the "tease" out of brainteasers, and increase your puzzle IQ with this eye-opening guide to solving puzzles. Revealing the basic principles and strategies of cracking logic problems, it shows you, step-by-step, how to solve ten of the most common types of puzzles, from basic deduction conundrums to more complex mathematical bafflers. Packed with practice puzzles and offering hours of amusement and mental challenge, Increase Your Puzzle IQ gives you the know-how you need to decipher even the most puzzling of puzzles.

Why are 1997 dollar bills worth more than 1980 dollar bills?

In a box there are 20 balls, 10 white and 10 black. With a blindfold on, what is the least number you must draw out in order to get a pair of balls that matches?

Which clock keeps the best time? The clock that loses a minute a day or one that doesn't run at all?

I have two current U.S. coins in my hand. The two coins add up to 15¢. One of the coins is not a nickel. What two coins do I have?

How much dirt is there in a hole that is 1 foot wide by 1 foot long by 1 foot deep?

Who better to challenge with a book of puzzles and brainteasers than the caffeine-buzzed java drinkers of the world? Helene Hovanec and Patrick Merrell, puzzleworld celebrities and collectors of coffee trivia, have compiled more than 40 crossword puzzles, word searches, graphic mazes, and Sudoku to solve alongside a good, strong cup of joe.*
Quirky trivia, fun factoids, and quotations from famous coffee imbibers engage readers between puzzles. From botanical facts about coffee trees to consumption statistics about today's coffee-obsessed world, there's enough information to make a coffee connoisseur of every reader. Puzzles, trivia, and coffee quips -- a piquant blend of rich, coffee flavor for the latte-addicted among us.
* "There is some disagreement over the origin of the term "cup of joe." Many think it originated with Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who abolished wine from his officers' meals, leaving them with nothing stronger than coffee. Others think it may have begun as a mispronunciation of the French word, "chaud," which means hot and rhymes with joe."

Wiggling a pencil so that it looks like it is made of rubber, "stealing" your niece's nose, and listening for the sounds of the ocean in a conch shell- these are examples of folk illusions, youthful play forms that trade on perceptual oddities. In this groundbreaking study, K. Brandon Barker and Claiborne Rice argue that these easily overlooked instances of children's folklore offer an important avenue for studying perception and cognition in the contexts of social and embodied development. Folk illusions are traditionalized verbal and/or physical actions that are performed with the intention of creating a phantasm for one or more participants. Using a cross-disciplinary approach that combines the ethnographic methods of folklore with the empirical data of neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology, Barker and Rice catalogue over eighty discrete folk illusions while exploring the complexities of embodied perception. Taken together as a genre of folklore, folk illusions show that people, starting from a young age, possess an awareness of the illusory tendencies of perceptual processes as well as an awareness that the distinctions between illusion and reality are always communally formed.

Now anyone can play chess with this straightforward, jargon-free introduction. Written especially for beginners, it's the most comprehensive manual available and includes everything from explanations of each piece to orchestrating endgames. In addition to expert advice, simple instructions, and more than 200 easy-to-follow diagrams, novices will find: basic tactical principles, aggressive openings, the top-ten traps and attacks, specimen games to learn and crib from, and a test your chess IQ section. Basic Chess is the book you need to master the game.

A smart way to teach children to think logically and creatively One of the most precious gifts you can offer a child is a sharp mind. The 56 puzzles in this delightful collection were passed down through generations of Chinese families who wanted their children to develop concentration and mental agility. Baifang spent hours enjoying them with her family and friends as she was growing up in the north of China. Now living in San Francisco, Baifang is passing them on to her own children and to families everywhere. Each puzzle inspires clear, precise, and inventive thinking. Some teach math concepts; others involve spatial relationships and visualization. All of them have fascinating solutions and help improve memory and problem-solving skills. An inexhaustible source of challenging fun, these are mental calisthenics for stimulating interaction between lively minds from ages 8 to 80.

Are you up to the challenge of 200 new Su Doku puzzles, arranged in easy, medium and difficult categories? Keep your mind sharp and test your powers of deductive reasoning with these ever-popular number puzzles. Ideal for whiling away those long commutes, travelling on holiday or relaxing at home. The best value su doku puzzles around.

Put London Bridge back together again while brushing up on your city knowledge with the London Map Puzzle. The perfect gift or keepsake for Anglophiles of all ages (5 years and up). This 500-piece square puzzle (51cm x 51cm) is part of the new Map Puzzle series: puzzles featuring a beautiful overview map, accompanied by fun illustrations and facts. Collect the Japan and New York City Map Puzzle to complete the series!

Paul Williams' personal collection of interesting facts, puzzles and conundrums will fascinate all ages. It is divided into five sections according to the reader's likely ease or familiarity with the concepts and processes involved - from easy through moderate and tricky to difficult and fiendish.

What is 4% of 75? Can you calculate 60 + 60 x 0 + 1? Which is bigger, an 18-inch pizza or two 12-inch pizzas? Join award-winning maths presenter Kyle D Evans on an entertaining tour of viral maths problems that have gone wild on social media in recent years. From the infamous 'Hannah's sweets' exam question to percentages 'life-hacks', viral maths problems seem to capture the public's imagination without fail. In Maths Tricks to Blow Your Mind, Kyle presents over 50 viral maths problems with background information, explanations and solutions to similar problems, all in a humorous, accessible and inclusive manner. Want to dazzle and delight your friends and family? This book shows you how!

Sixy Sudoku puzzles bring a whole new dimension of logic, making a 6 x 6 possibly even more fun than a 9 x 9 Sudoku! There is no plain hard work, just a lot of logic and insight. Peter Ritmeester, founder and owner of PZZL.com, is the inventor of Hyper Sudoku where four gray regions also contain 1-9. By applying this idea to 6 x 6 Sudoku, an additional level of logic is created. Pocket Posh Sixy Sudoku Easy to Medium Puzzles features a foreword, an extensive how-to-play section, 200 easy to medium puzzles, and complete solutions at the back. The rules: insert the digits 1-6 just once in each a) row, b) column, c) bold outlined area AND d) in each white and gray rectangle.

Challenge yourself at home with word and number puzzles Killer Su Doku poses an even greater challenge than the Fiendish Su Doku puzzles.Here are 110 previously unpublished puzzles for hard-core Su Doku addicts. Published to coincide with the launch of Killer Su Doku in the The Times this September,this takes Su Doku to the next level. The puzzles use the same 9x9 grid but there is a double challenge. The aim is not only to complete every row, column and cube so that it contains the digits 1-9, it is also necessary to ensure that the outlined cubes add up to the same number. Killer Su Doku is enormously popular in Japan and the craze will no doubt catch on in the UK.

Part of an exciting series of sturdy, square-box 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles from Flame Tree, featuring powerful and popular works of art. This new jigsaw will satisfy your need for a challenge, with the beautiful Bex Parkin: Birds & Flowers. This 1000-piece jigsaw is intended for adults and children over 13 years. Not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts. Finished Jigsaw size 735 x 510mm/29 x 20 ins. Includes an A4 poster for reference. Bex Parkin is an incredibly talented illustrator. Having spent many years based in London working in a range of artistic jobs, she now lives in rural Staffordshire. Her passion for print, pattern and colour was largely inspired by her work sourcing vintage and antique textiles for the fashion industry, which can be seen throughout her artworks.

Challenge yourself at home with word and number puzzles The latest volume in the hugely popular Killer Su Doku series from The Times, featuring the highest-quality puzzles with an extra element of arithmetic. This addition to the successful Times Killer Su Doku series will test your skills to the limit, adding the challenge of arithmetic and taking Su Doku to a new and even deadlier level of difficulty. The puzzles use the same 9x9 grid as Su Doku but with an added mathematical challenge. The aim is not only to complete every row, column and cube so that it contains the numbers 1-9, it is also necessary to ensure that the outlined cubes add up to the same number as well. With 200 new Moderate, Tricky, Tough and Deadly Killer Su Doku puzzles, there is no chance to ease yourself in with simple puzzles. For those who like to live dangerously and push beyond their mental comfort zone, steel yourself for The Times' next, terribly tough instalment.

From the bestselling author of Brain Games for Clever Kids and The Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book. _____________________ Put your puzzling prowess to the test with the huge variety of tricky, visual puzzles featured in this book. Challenging your non-verbal reasoning and logical thinking, Dr Gareth Moore presents over 100 visual puzzles that will surprise and delight, boosting your ability to solve problems in different ways and testing your mental agility. Among the puzzles to be found here are: Spot the difference, pairs, matching Mental rotation and cube folding Hanjie Sliding pieces Shape counting Optical illusions 3D Reasoning Visual sequences Code breaker Extreme mazes Jigsaw In short, this engrossing book offers dozens of different creative challenges that will boost your brain power and keep you engaged.

No need to stop the puzzle fun with Big Book of Sudoku Volume I! Sharpen your mind and practice deductive reasoning with this second volume of sudoku puzzles for adults, including more than 540 challenges across four difficulty levels: Warm-Up, Challenging, and Tough. When you are done, test your skills on the ultimate Samurai Sudoku Puzzle—5 puzzles linked together by one central puzzle! Can you become a master samurai? Challenge accepted!

•     OVER 500 PUZZLES & SOLUTIONS: Hours of fun and entertainment to enjoy.
•     VARIETY OF LEVELS: From levels 1 to 3 increasing levels of difficulty including Warm Up, Challenging and Tough.
•     LAY FLAT: Spiral-bound and paperback lays flat for ease of use at home or on the go.
•     MAKES A GREAT GIFT: For the sudoku puzzle lover, these books make great gifts for any birthdays, stocking suffers, road trips, and more.
•     BRAIN BUSTERS™: Part of the Brain Busters Puzzle Collection from Parragon & Cottage Door Press. Look for other books including word finds, crosswords, picture puzzles, and more.