Lots of Things to Spot at School

We homeschool, so normally Lots of Things to Spot at School would be a title I would avoid! However, my five-year-old is starting a once a week homeschool enrichment program in the fall, and acclimating her with what to expect in the classroom isn't a bad idea.

The book takes kids through their day, showing them the classroom, playground, lunch time, the school show, museum field trip, spring fair, etc. On each of those pages, there are items to spot and questions to answer (how many __? Can you use these letters to make a word? Where is the __?).

The end of the book has games and sticker activities to complete. It's a fun and engaging activity book that opens up some dialogue about the school year.

Happy Reading,

Amy

Underpants for Ants - Usborne Phonics Readers

It's kind of a ridiculously cute story. My kids love Underpants for Ants, because, ya know, the ants are cold and they need pants. Of course!

The rhyming text and phonic repetition are great for early readers. Each of the phonics readers is $6.99, but you can get the Phonics Readers Starter Collection for $42.99, about 12% off, and it includes 7 paperbacks: Bee Makes Tea, Cow Takes a Bow, Fox on a Box, Hen's Pens, Big Pig on a Dig, Underpants for Ants, and Goose On the Loose.

Happy Reading,
Amy

Ted and Friends - Usborne Phonics Readers

 

I was so excited when the Ted and Friends series arrived on my front steps! My five year old is just learning to read and this was exactly the sort of book she needed.  

It has 12 different stories that are easy to read and are actually enjoyable (unlike a series I won't mention that is popular, phonics based, and painful to endure...).

The illustrations are lovely and my daughter loves the flaps. My son likes finding the duck on every page, and I like that the stories were written in consultation with a language expert to best help my kiddos learn to read.

 

The accompanying CD is great for read-along practice. This entire collection of Ted and Friends is only $19.99 - pretty remarkable when the individual paperback phonics readers each cost $6.99 and don't include a read-along cd!

Happy Reading,

Amy

My First Word Book

 

My First Word Book is a great first dictionary for babies and toddlers. The book itself is a large, sturdy board book, but it's not a 500 page dictionary that's hard for little hands to hold (we had one of those when the kids were little - the spine lived a very short life).

The pictures are bright and colorful.

And the topics covered are highly relevant to toddler life. ;-)

 

A great addition to your library!

Happy Reading,
Amy

There's a Mouse About the House

I probably wouldn't have purchased There's a Mouse About the House without seeing it in person - it just didn't jump out at me. I'm glad it was in my intro kit, because my kids reached for this one right away, and I ended up being pretty impressed with it, too!

Basically, there's a mouse who is looking all over the house for something to eat (my hungry kids can relate). The mouse is a small cardboard mouse with a rope tail, and he slides through small slits in the book to get from one room to another on his quest for food.

He follows the dotted lines, which go from the left to the right, which helps teach directional tracking, a very important early literacy skill (the reading teacher in me was impressed). Holding the mouse and guiding him along the path helps develop fine motor skills as well.

Kids learn to turn one page at a time, because if they turn two (or three or five), the mouse won't be there peeking into the next room. Score another point for early literacy education! And, the story is fun. I mean, there's a mouse in the house - how could you go wrong?

If your kids like this one, check out A Squirrel's Tale for more slip-through-the-slot action. 

Happy Reading,

Amy

Things That Go!

I'm not sure I've ever met a kid who didn't like things that go. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but transportation seems to be a vital part of early learning! The thing is...I have never been that into...things that go.

So when I looked at this book, 1,000 Things That Go, my first thought was, "There's no story." Guess what? There doesn't need to be.

My son, three, took one look at the cover, grabbed the book, and started going through the whole thing. When he knew what one was, he eagerly told me what it was, what it did, and where we might have seen one. And when he didn't know, he got really concerned and said, "And this one?" 

No plot necessary. Just lots of things that go!

From steam engines to rocket ships, Roman chariots to racing cars - if it goes, it's probably in this book! If your little reader likes things that go, also check out The Big Book of Big Trucks, That's Not My Truck, or our sticker book of Trains, Trucks, & Tractors.

Happy Reading,
Amy

Baby's Very First Big Play Book

  

Baby's Very First Big Play Book is filled with opportunities for sensory exploration! 

This board book has paths to trace, textures to feel, flaps to lift, and sounds to hear! (And while I'm not generally a big fan of noisy books, this one isn't crazy loud and annoying. The kids like it a lot more than I do, but I suppose I'm not really the target audience!)

My kids love that fuzzy owl.

This book is sort of a collaboration of our popular touchy feely and noisy books. See the other titles in the Very First Touchy Feely Series or the rest of the Very First Noisy Books at my Usborne Bookshop!

That's Not My...

These sturdy board books are a huge hit with babies and toddlers! Let's be honest, even my five-year-old still loves these.

 

The pictures are bright and every scene has a patch of texture to explore. The books are designed to develop sensory and language awareness, and the repetitive nature of the text makes them a natural choice for kids to "read" aloud to you!

 

There are titles to match every interest, with That's Not My....Angel, Bunny, Dinosaur, Dolly, Dragon, Duck, Elephant, Fairy, Fox, Frog, Goat, Hamster, Kitten, Lamb, Lion, Mermaid, Monkey, Monster, Panda, Penguin, Pig, Pirate, Plane, Pony, Prince, Princess, Puppy, Reindeer, Snowman, Tractor, Train, and Truck!

 

The "That's Not My...Animals" starter collection is a great value at $39.99, a 20% savings over buying the titles individually. This set makes a great gift for baby showers (or buy the set and gift one book at a time to some sweet babies in your life)!

Happy Reading,

Amy

My Usborne Story

Hi! I'm Amy and I'm a book-a-holic. I've been addicted for as long as I can remember. First, it was picture books - as many as I could get people to read to me. Then, it was early chapter books - I remember a special fondness for all things Beverly Cleary and Bobbsey Twins. Of course, I moved on to Christopher Pike, RL Stine, and the Sweet Valley High books, and then I hit the hard stuff with Stephen King and Michael Crichton. Before long, I'd fallen in love with Salinger and Hawthorne, and my fate was sealed: I had become a lifelong reader.

It made sense that I became an English and Reading teacher, where I got to share my love for words with middle school students. I filled my classroom library with all sorts of reading materials across many reading and interest levels, and I scoured recommended reading lists and book fairs for new material for my students to dive into. I had a good number of Usborne non-fiction titles among those in my classroom, but I had no idea I'd one day open my own corner bookstore with their brand.

I left the classroom after the birth of my first child, and by the spring of 2014, I was homeschooling our 5 and 3 year olds while expecting our third (and final!) baby. A friend hosted an Usborne book party, and when I glanced at their catalog, I realized their "That's Not My..." series was one of my children's favorite amongst our rather vast collection, and the older non-fiction titles looked very familiar - they were updated versions of the ones I'd collected for my classroom years ago! "I love Usborne!" I thought. I never attend home parties and am not really a fan of having products pushed on me by well-meaning but over-enthusiastic acquaintances, but these were actually something I already had in my home and had very specifically added to my classroom - but I used to buy them through amazon.

Turns out, Usborne is not a fan of the amazon model of bookselling, and they quit selling their books through that channel in 2012, focusing instead on using consultants to spread the word about these quality books. I was deep in diaper-changing mode in 2012, so I completely missed this shift.

After looking through the catalog, my wishlist for building our homeschooling library was so large that becoming a consultant just made sense in order to get a discount. I have no sales minimums, so I don't have to sell YOU on the books - I can just buy them myself! But I really do love Usborne books and want to share them with my family and yours. Take a look for yourself - maybe you'll find a book or two for your kids, or maybe like me, your list will grow so long that you'll want to become a consultant, too!

If you find yourself in the latter category, you've made the discovery at the right time! Right now you can become a consultant for $69 and get the large consultant kit for the small kit price (it's usually $125, with a retail value over $370 - there are 25 books in the kit!). You can check out the kit here or feel free to email me for more info.

Happy Reading,
Amy