If you've followed my blog for a while, you know that I love making quilts to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital. So when my friend Lisa brought of the idea of an Usborne Books "party" to help send books to the children at Seattle Children's Hospital, I jumped at the chance. Here's more from Lisa to share some of her favorite books and let you know how your book purchases can also benefit the kids at Seattle Children's..and don't forget to read all the way to the bottom to enter the GIVEAWAY!!
I am excited to be partnering with Polly to provide books for the
Seattle Children’s Hospital. I am committed
to raising a generation of readers and I love sharing Usborne and Kane Miller
Books because they can be the carrot to get kids hooked on reading.
The book drive will go through March 31st, and you can participate in our book drive in two
ways.
- One, purchase books for the
children in your life. They make great
gifts for birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, summer reading, car trips, etc.
- Two, donate directly to our book drive. All sales and donations will be matched at
50% in free books for the hospital.
Usborne Books are high quality, engaging, educational and
affordable. Many of my favorites are
under $10.00. We have over 1700 titles
for ages ranging from infants to high school levels, so there’s something for
every kid on your list. Read on for some
book recommendations and great reading tips.
Infants/Toddlers
We have lots of books that are great for infants and
toddlers. For infants, the
Baby’s
Very First Black and White Library is a good place to start. The
That’s Not My series is also
good. The illustrations are outlined in
a bold black line so that infants can see them and they are full of textures
for toddlers to enjoy. My favorite
Touchy-Feely books are our newest series,
the Playbooks. All the books in this series have very
bright, fun colors and lots of textures, cutouts and interactions on each
page.
The
Big Playbook even has a sound panel.
My
First Word Book is the perfect book for growing vocabularies with new
talkers.
Our growing line of
noisy
board books are crowd pleasers. Kids
can’t keep their hands off my copy of
Noisy Orchestra. I love how it shows what each instrument
section sounds like and then combines them together in the end. And the music is nice to listen to. Another favorite is
Noisy
Nursery Rhymes. I can’t keep these
in stock at my events because they are so popular. Nursery rhymes are a great way to introduce
toddlers to some of the intricacies of language and they provide early positive
experiences with literature that can kindle a lifelong love of reading.
Preschool to 1st
Grade
Preschool to 1
st Grade is a fun time as children
are learning to read. We have many great
books for early and emerging readers.
Our
Phonics
Readers have fun, engaging stories with lots of great pictures. For a great value,
Ted
& Friends and
Farmyard
Tales are both combined volumes of reader books. They each come with a CD so kids can listen
to the stories when parents are not available to read. They are great for the car. Another great resource is the
Very
First Reader Set. This 15 book set
features progressively harder books. The
first books are dual level meaning there is a section for the parent to read
and a section for the child. The child’s
part starts very basic but the parent part allows for a more engaging
story. At the end of each book are
puzzles to check for comprehension as well as a guide of what phonics are
introduced in each book.
For story time,
Gobble,
Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book,
Cuddle Bear and
Dan the Taxi
Man are some of my favorite picture books.
Gobble, Gobble Moo has a bunch of farm animals that are imitating the
sounds of a tractor using animal noises.
It is fun to read aloud and will have little ones giggling all the way
through. Cuddle Bear can be purchased
with a
Cuddle
Bear plush that can make a great companion for a snuggly story time. Dan the Taxi Man has a fun jazz rhythm when
read aloud.
Hey
Jack and
Billie
B Brown are perfect beginning chapter books for emerging readers. They have limited words per page, large print
and illustrations on every other page spread.
They are not overwhelming but still give new readers the satisfaction of
reading chapter books. They also have
fun stories about dealing with all sorts of situations our young readers might
experience in their own lives.
2nd Grade
to 5th Grade
The
Silver Spires
series is a fun set for 3
rd grade and up that delves into the
complexities of friendships and rivalries.
For the same ages, the
Extreme
Adventure Series is full of nail-biting, non-stop action.
I Am Jack is a
wonderful book for discussing bullying.
It’s based on the real experiences of the author’s son and portrays his
emotions, struggles and triumphs.
Finally, the
Conspiracy
365 series is designed for the reluctant reader. The plot is quick moving and the language is
not too complex. It is for ages 10 and
up and once a reader is hooked on the first book, there are 12 total in the
original series with
others
that follow with the same characters.
6th Grade
and up
For our older readers, I recommend the
Phoenix
Files series. It’s a science
fiction/action series designed for ages 14 and up. Also,
The Last
Thirteen for ages 11 and up. This is
another science fiction series that will consist of 13 books. The remaining books will be released each
month until December.
Activities, Arts and
Crafts
For the budding artists, we have books for
coloring,
stickering,
doodling and
art. Some of our most popular ones for younger
kids are
I
Can Draw Animals and
I Can Draw
People. Our new title, the
Step-by-Step
Drawing Book, is a great addition and even includes areas to try drawing
right inside the book. Our
Wipe-Clean
series is great for interactive, repeated use. We currently have 13 titles available ranging
from very basic
Doodles to
practice pencil control to more complex skills like
First
Words and
Telling
Time. They come with a dry erase
marker, but I recommend getting some Crayola dry erase crayons if you plan to
give these books to a child who may draw on their clothing or furniture as dry
erase does not wash out very well.
Must have non-fiction
No library is complete without non-fiction books to show the
wonders of the world. Our
non-fiction books
feature bright, beautiful engaging pictures with bite sized pieces of
text. Non-fiction is important to
increasing vocabulary. It is nearly
impossible to progress past a 4
th grade vocabulary without
experiencing non-fiction writing. Our
Beginner Discovery series
is perfect for introducing our young
readers to all sorts of amazing topics.
For 8 and up, the
Discovery and
Discovery
Adventure series are popular.
I also love our
encyclopedia
set. It includes three volumes:
Science,
World
History and
Geography. Within the books are links to the Usborne Quicklinks
site. These links connect the child with
multiple websites that have been screened for safety, reliability and
appropriateness. Therefore, these three
encyclopedias can be the spring board to a wealth of research for virtually any
school project. No home should be
without this fantastic set.
For a bit of fun along with lots information, our
See Inside flap book
series is popular. Studies have
shown that children learn more from flap books due to the engagement of more
senses. Don’t forget to check these out—especially
Your Body.
How to Help
Reading Tips
Three things to do TODAY to help your child develop good
reading habits:
- Create three book boxes (shoe box, basket)
filled with plenty of reading materials. Place one by the kitchen table, or
where your child eats breakfast, one in the bathroom, and one next to your
child’s bed.
- Place a reading light by your child’s bed.
- Allow your child to stay awake 20 minutes longer
at bedtime if they choose to read in bed.
To host a Facebook party to earn free books for your family
or to do your own book drive for an organization,
contact me. If you mention this post, you’ll receive $10
in extra free books when we close your party.
Lisa Monson
Usborne
Books & More
Education
Leader
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