Like a super-exploding box of TNT this absolutely STUNNING book exploded through our letterbox and caused a huge amount of fuss. Egmont's "Minecraft: Blockopedia" is no ordinary Minecraft book, it's a block in itself and has to be a real contender for "Book Design of the Year".

Clad in a black monolithic box that screams Stanley Ku-brick (see what we did there?) at you, it's a real treat for the eyes before you've even opened the cover (and the whole forced perspective design has royally messed with your senses.

So what's inside? A block-by-block breakdown of the world's most popular game. Kids love it, adults secretly run off and play it when the kids are asleep, and it's become something of an obsession as the game has spawned merchandise, Lego (which is a real head flip - a game about building spawning a bunch of sets for building things with) and of course lovely lovely books.

Open up this fantastic book for deep knowledge about Minecraft's world. Ice? Nice!

There are two schools of thought when it comes to learning all the intricacies of Minecraft (and it is a game that looks deceptively simple, don't be fooled by the graphics - inside the game beats the heart of a living breathing world that's just waiting for you to shape it in whichever way you choose). Some folk stick to learning their 'craft online, with the various wikipedias, youtube videos and other sources of info. That feels a bit too much like cheating to us. So with the Blockopedia you'll get the inside track on every type of block and material in the game, plus a few you may not have even encountered yet (so be warned, there may be spoilers ahead but they're well posted!) but won't necessarily be shown the best methods of how to short-cut the game (aside from one tiny instance of learning a very quick way to make stone which is absolutely ingenious!)

We'd never even seen a daylight sensor before. Now we know what they're for and how to use them!

Charlotte seized this book and that was the last I saw of it for a while, as she'd tuck herself up in bed at night with it (and her torch - though thankfully not the Minecraft 'flaming' kind) teasing nuggets of information the next morning that 'silly old daddy' won't know. I was petrified that the book might get damaged as the hexagonal pages are a bit tricky to get hold of as you're flipping through, but the book is beautifully presented and made of sturdy stuff so it'll last a lifetime if treated right.

Really though, it's all about the detail in this - it's exhaustive, knowledgeable and authoritative, a real "must buy" for your own little Minecraft obsessives. Perfection comes at a price though, but hunt around for a good deal on this one and you'll find lots of retailers lopping a tenner off the hefty £30 RRP. Put it this way though, it's not just a book it's a real collector's item in its presentation box, so if you want something that's going to really up your game as well as be something that looks utterly gorgeous laid on your coffee table fooling people into thinking you've left a real life minecraft block there, then this is definitely for you!

If you'd like to see more from Egmont's amazing Minecraft book range, do check out our Minecraft Theme Week for more!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte is obsessed with The Nether at the moment, and loved learning about the best ways to stay alive in that particularly inhospitable environment thanks to this awesome book!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Utterly amazing, beautiful, stunning - we almost ran out of superlatives for this one. It's like "The Knowledge" for Minecraft fans, wrapped up in a truly jaw-dropping book design. Whoah!

(Kindly sent to us for review by those awsome folk at Egmont UK - our deepest thanks!)

Can you imagine sitting down to computer class, expecting the usual boring 'how to use a word processor' lessons, or the use of some dry educational website, but instead your ICT Teacher announces "Today we're going to play a game. Today we're going to play Minecraft!"

Charlotte, for one, would be ridiculously excited but can Minecraft actually be used as a valuable educational tool?

The ethos behind Minecraft Edu - A special school-friendly remix of the traditional Minecraft game - believes that children can engage with learning valuable programming and 'net citizen' skills through the creative and social side of Minecraft, not to mention some of the aspects of the game that lend themselves well to creating machines, circuits and problem solving.

With educational discounts, and a very easy setup and administration suite, Minecraft Edu can be set up by a class and enjoyed in minutes. Class and teacher-led activities fit into the Minecraft framework, encouraging children to collaborate on projects and problem solving. Children can create their own in-game avatars and use these to 'see' themselves in the class's virtual world.

30 million Minecraft Edu users are utilising this intuitive learning program for various areas of study, from STEM to history, from art and design to programming.

Dive in and investigate Minecraft Edu by visiting the project's webpage, officially supported by Mojang, the original creators of Minecraft.

As wonderful as Minecraft is, new players might notice that as soon as the sun goes down, the whole landscape changes from a friendly blissful vista full of animals, plants and building opportunities to a dark place full of menacing threats. Even in daylight you may run into trouble so with the "Minecraft: The Official Combat Handbook" by Mojang and Egmont, you'll be well prepared.

Silly Zombies, don't they know Diamond armour is tougher than they are?

Like a mini monster-ography, The Combat Handbook details the strengths and weaknesses of some of Minecraft's most notorious baddies. Spiders are tricky, always seek to fight from the high ground. Zombies are slow and cumbersome but can still pack a wallop. As for skeletons? We'll you'll probably read more about our experiences with them elsewhere in our Minecraft Feature Week. They're a right royal pain in the proverbial!

Kitting your character out with armour and weapons, you can turn from a gibbering wimp to a serious fighting machine. We should point out that we don't condone videogame violence for your younglings but this little tome may be the difference between staying alive for your first night in the game, or losing all your hard-earned goodies to a wandering creeper.

Charlotte's best bit: We hadn't met any witches in the game, but Charlotte seems really fascinated by them in the book. I think they're best avoided!

Daddy's Favourite bit: This book might be a little spoilery if you've not entered the Nether so beware of that - but it is very very useful as an elite survival guide for a sometimes dangerous blockworld!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Egmont Publishing)

The major draw of Minecraft for us is building! As we've previously mentioned in our other Minecraft articles, imagine having a near-infinite construction set to play with, and a vast landscape to build in and you can certainly see why delving into the secrets of "Minecraft: The Official Construction Handbook" has a lot of appeal.

The book taps the knowledge of one of the top UK construction teams, FyreUK, for amazing tips, tricks and some truly stunning building!

FyreUK's amazing buildings are really eye-catching

Using this book, you'll learn to unlock the holy grail of block building, setting up the perfect pad for Minecraft Steve to live in and feel safe in when monsters and shambling nightmares come out at night.

Helpfully detailing the components you'll need, with clear screenshots to show you how to get started with some of the simpler projects, you can really let your imagination fly. FyreUK specialise in producing architectural feats of wonder, from amazing palaces and castles, to windmills and sailing ships.

Another brilliant addition to Egmont's official Minecraft range (and our favourite of all the Minecraft handbooks!)

Charlotte's best bit: The amazing interiors in the Royal Palace model. Love those thrones!

Daddy's Favourite bit: So many brilliant tips from how to make floating islands, to using parts for purposes other than intended!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Egmont UK)