Usborne Activities For Kids

New 2012 Sticker Dolly Dressing Dolls are Here!

2011-12-26T18:40:00.000-05:00

My daughter, even though she is 10 now, still loves Usborne's Sticker Dressing Dolls. They are a HUGE hit at every book fair I do - from preschool on up through Jr. High believe it or not. Girls just can't get enough of these dressing sticker dolls!I'm excited to report that we have two new ones. The two new girly girl sticker books are Sticker Dolly Dressing Dream Jobs and Sticker Dolly Shopping Girls. For boys we have a new Dressing Heros. Such fun!

Enjoy!

Kristie

The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne - Great Way to Teach Young Kids About Cold Weather and Snow

2011-11-26T15:51:00.000-05:00

The Snowy Day, by Anna Milbourne, is a fun, fun book to teach kids about cold weather and S N O W! We live in the south where a snowflake is a rarity and ponds don't freeze over, so this was a loved book by my kids. I often wish we lived up north just so they could play in the snow. But then I remember how awful it is to live in S N O W for a few months out of the year. Snow belongs on ski slopes according to me.

For kids who don't experience snow much, and for those who do, this is a beautifully illustrated book that explains in story form what snow is, how it's made and even what happens to the frogs in ponds when the pond freezes over for the winter. It's a great supplement for any school weather curriculum for young children. It's also a beautiful picture book to read to your children, especially in the HOT summer months when we are wishing we had a snow day ourselves.

Purchase

Dr. Seuss's Books Can Instill a Love of Books in Any Child and Makes Reading FUN!

2011-10-01T23:17:00.000-04:00

I always loved when my mom read any Dr. Seuss book to me. I particularly loved the Sneeche's and the Sleep Book. When I was pregnant with my son, my dad surprised me with a box of all my Dr. Seuss books from when I was young. I was so happy to see them! They were like long lost friends coming home!

My kids have grown up the same way I did - being read to each and every night. Even though they are starting to get a little older, I still read to them, and they still love to be read to. They even still pull the Dr. Seuss books off the shelf to read.

Reading Dr. Seuss books to your kids can be so much fun! These are the best books to just get down and utterly silly with your kids. My kids just laugh and laugh with some of the inflection and tone I put into reading Dr. Seuss.

My favorite Dr. Seuss book to read to my kids is Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? It's a fantastic book that rhymes and has great rythm as you read, just as every Dr. Seuss book has. This one is particularly fun because it immitates all sorts of different sounds and eventually you and your kids are immitating the sounds too. This turns out to be a fun and great exersice as your kids are learning their letters and sounds. There's lots of "hoo, doo and moo" which shows kids that the "oo" sound most of the time is made with two "o's" together. There's other fun sounds as well, such as "tick tock", "grum grum", "pop pop" and "blurp blurp".

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? was even voted #25 on the list of Best Read Alouds for Young Children on Listopia. You can find other fascinating read alouds for you and your children on this list as well.

Below is the main reason why I love this book so much. By the time we get to the last page of the book, we are reading a little faster very rythmicly and everyone is excited! Then the last page comes and I read it as fast as I can. The kids are still amazed to this day that I can read it as fast as I do. Before my son learned to read, I remember him saying "I want to read like you mommy!" - which is music to any mom's ears.

So how fast can you read this?

"MOO MOO
BUZZ BUZZ
POP POP POP

EEK EEK
HOO HOO
KLOPP KLOPP KLOPP

DIBBLE DIBBLE
DOPP DOPP
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO (although it does take some extra time to say DOOOOOOOOOOO)

GRUM GRUM
GRUM GRUM
CHOO CHOO CHOO

BOOM BOOM
SPLATT SPLATT
TICK TICK TOCK

SIZZLE SIZZLE
BLURP BLURP
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

Quoted from Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? , by Dr. Seuss, c. 1970, Random House, Inc., New York.

What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book to read with your kids?

Kristie

Usborne Books Internet Specials - Great Savings for Great Books

2011-09-24T19:38:00.000-04:00

Did you know Usborne Books provides their customers with savings of up to 70% by purchasing from their internet specials? These sales change every two weeks, usually on a Monday, so you can come back for more great savings! All purchases from the internet sales page are elegible for customer special rewards and FREE books with purchases of $85 or more. You can really stock up on a lot of great books by taking advantage of all these specials!

USBORNE BOOKS INTERNET SPECIALS

Running a Home Business While Home Schooling

2011-09-21T22:33:00.002-04:00

No sooner did we decide to home school our oldest son, then I decided to become an Usborne Books consultant. I thought it would help provide the extra added income we would need. Plus it just looked like too much fun with all these books!

Running a home business can be hard when your top priority is supposed to be the education of your kids. Since we are "free" to manage our own school schedule and our own business schedule, mixing the two can be difficult at times. And keeping the two separate can be difficult as well. Below are tips on how to successfully manage both without pulling your hair out. These tips are not in any particular order. They are all tips I have acquired either from my own experience or from others' whom I know have dealt with the same situation. We all have survived. Some others' businesses haven't, but that's ok. At least all the kids have survived and are educated. That's the main thing, right.

All these tips can be applied to any home business too, not just an Usborne Books or direct sales business.

Tips on How to Successfully Home School

While Mom is Running a Home Business Too

1. On our dry erase board in the kitchen I keep this posted:

God

Family

School

Usborne

It keeps me in check as to what comes first. Notice the Usborne business is last on the list AFTER school.

2. DO NOT answer the phone while school time is in session. The kids get frustrated, and you get side tracked. Utilize your voice mail.

3. Make sure you preplan your school day the night before. It's so easy to get wrapped up in preplanning your work day that you forget to plan the kids lessons for the following day. Or you could do it on Sunday evenings and plan the whole school week.

4. If you have meetings or events that need to be done during a school day make sure the kids still get their work done. Consistency is key to learning and the kids need to stay on track.

5. If you bring the kids with to an event, bring along their school work. In the fall I do a lot of booths at the fairs. The kids love coming along. They get to hang out at the fair, work the booth, but they also bring their backpack of school work with so they get their daily work done. They may have a lightened load on those days, but they still need to do it.

6. Let your kids help with your business. If they are younger they can help by putting stickers on your information, they can help by carrying stuff out to the car. My daughter has become my best helper at setting up booths. By letting them help in your business, they learn about business, they see what you do to be successful, and it instills a great work ethic in them.

7. Keep balance in your family life. I've seen many consultants and moms trying to get a business up and running who will put all their time and effort into creating a big business fast instead of devoting the time to their kids' education. I know for some moms, they need recognition. Some of you may strive to be the top in your company and earn all sorts of National awards. If you don't earn those, does that mean your not successful? Of course not. I have watched too many people who were obsessed at earning the awards, that they put their kids education on the back burner. Everyone of those moms I know, no longer do the business they were striving so hard to achieve at. And luckily they saw the light and are now putting homeschooling ahead of business.

Here's a story from my own struggle with that - Last year, I picked up a bunch of events from two other consultants who had decided to retire. I added in WAY too many events last fall. Balance was not happening properly in family life. Luckily I have a husband who has a flexible job and is home a lot so he was able to take care of them. They ended up a bit behind on their school work - which was ok, we finished later than usual that school year. But I could tell things were "off" that whole year. And do you know...when I went to our National convention this summer...I earned a National Award for largest increase in personal and central group sales! For me, that was confirmation of how I had felt all year - I did too much.

8. Just as I mentioned to be consistent in the kids' school work. Be consistent in your business. Make sure you set aside time each day to work on your business. Even if you can get 5 phone calls in, you are working your business. On Fridays, which seem to be our crazy run around activity day, I still try to get some calls in before we start all our running around.

9. If your kids are sick, still set aside a little time to work on your business. I know someone who let their business go totally downhill when their son was sick for 2 months. It wasn't a life threatening illness, and we knew he was going to get better. But she sat and snuggled with him the whole time to make him feel better and didn't make those 5 calls a day like I had mentioned. Didn't do one event. Life happens. But if you let it get in the way of your business, your business can suffer to the point where you have no business anymore. I've seen consultants who have given birth to their 7th kid continue to keep their business going by still doing just a little bit during those first weeks of new motherhood. I've seen consultants who have nursed their dying mothers keep their businesses running because they chose to stay consistnet. Staying consistent doesn't mean working 8 hours a day at it. It means making a few phone calls each day, and getting out there and still doing an event every week or two. You spent the time to build your business, why let it go. If you had a boss, would he you quit your job just because your kid was sick, you had an accident, or someone you love has died? I think not. Your business is your job, treat it like one.

10. Weekends are NOT for working. Unless, of course, you have an event for your business on the weekend. If you don't, weekends are family time. Turn off the computer, let the voice mail pick up messages and relax. If you do have a business event on the weekend, make sure you make up for that fun time during the days following with your kids so they don't resent you being gone.

11. Have fun! Let your kids see the fun you have with your business. Have fun with them while educating them. We've been blessed with this extra special time with our kids. Enjoy it, and make the most of it.

By keeping balance in your home life, home school and business, it is completely possible to run a successful home business while home schooling. I have home schooled for six years, and have built a business during that time that was able to provide for our family while my husband was laid off. I also have built a team of over 300 during that time and am in the upper management level of Usborne. I've done that all while homeschooling my children! So YES! You too can build a business AND homeschool your children.

Kristie

Teaching Kids The Difference Between Animal and Plant Cells With an Expansion About the Vacuoles in Plant Cells

2011-09-20T20:53:00.001-04:00

Today for school we were working on the difference between animal cells and plant cells. Of course having just about every science book Usborne has to offer, we had plenty of books to choose from to expand more on this topic. We chose What's Biology All About? It has a great figure of the difference of an animal cell and a plant cell. As you can see there's a HUGE difference.

Animal Cell

Plant Cell

All cells are quite similiar, but plant cells have a few extra features to them. Notice the added features in the photos above, and I will list them below. Definitions of each are listed below that as well.

Animal Cells                          Plant Cells

Nucleus                                 Nucleus
Cytoplasm                             Cytoplasm
Cell Membrane                     Cell Membrane
Mitochondrion                    Mitochondrion
                                             Chloroplasts
                                              Vacuole

Nucleus - the control center or "brain" of the cell
Cytoplasm - a thick liquid that fills the cell
Cell Membrane - controls what enters and leaves the cell
Mitochondrion - breaks down simple substances to provide energy for the cell
Chloroplasts - makes food by using the green chlorophyll that's inside them
Vacuole - little pockets in the cytoplasm of the cell

Something the kids were interested in was to learn more about what the vacuole of the plant cell is. So we went on an online hunt and found this fascinating video by J S Mead that shows food vacuole formation and contractile vacuole action. Watch the full video. It got more interesting as it went on, and at the end, according to my son..."The cell poops!".

CELL VACUOLE VIDEO

ONION CELL EXPERIMENT

Can you see cells? YES! You can!

If you have a microscope at home you can look at some onion cells.

Here's how:

1. Cut an onion in half and in half again. Pull apart the layers and snap one layer in half.

2. Peel off the thin onion skin.

4. Put the onion piece on the microscope slide with a little dab of water.

5. Fasten the slide under the clips.

6. Turn the knobs on your microscope to lower your lens. Use your eyepiece to focus and you should see rows of cells.

7. Find some other items to look for cells under your microscope. What types of items can you find cells on? Please post them below.

Have fun looking!

Kristie

Everyone Needs a Pirate's Handbook for International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2011-09-19T19:32:00.000-04:00

It's International Pirate Day! That means if you don't already know how to talk like a buccaneer, you just may need this book to help ye. Full of pirate tidbits on how to talk and act like a pirate, Usborne's Pirate Handbook, is a must read for any up and coming matie who wants to sail the Seven Seas. It also covers what a pirate's life was like, the ship, the food, the flags, disease, and the the not-so-niceties of living the "pirate life".

Purchase

Other books in this series are Knight's Handbook and Princess Handbook

Two Fun Poems by Jack Prelutsky

2011-09-08T22:48:00.000-04:00

My daughter loves poetry. Well she loves fun, catchy poetry. When we read these poems by Jack Prelutsky for school today they really caught her attention. She doesn't even like dinosaurs, but she loves these poems! They are catchy.

And I love how Seismosaurus teaches kids different words that mean

HUGE!

IGUANODON

Iguanodon, Iguanodon,

whatever made you fade,

you've traveled on, Iguanodon,

we wish you could have stayed.

Iguanodon, Iguanodon,

we've sought you everywhere,

both here and yon, Iguanodon,

but failed to find you there.

Iguanodon, Iguanodon,

you were a gentle kind, but now you're gone, Iguanodone,

and left your bones behind.

SEISMOSAURUS

Seismosaurus was enormous,

Seismosaurus was tremendous,

Seismosaurus was prodigious,

Seismosaurus was stupendous.

Seismosaurus was titanic,

Seismosaurus was colossal,

Seismosaurus now is nothing

but a monumental fossil.

A Boy's Path to Reading

2011-08-13T19:35:00.001-04:00

As a child I was an avid reader, thanks mainly in part to my father. He read ALL the time, read aloud to me, and he instilled a love of reading in me. I can't thank him enough for that. I specifically remember the day he gave me his original set of Bobsey Twin books. I was reading more of a picture book on the striped chair in the living room, and he came up to me with the Bobsey Twins books. He said, "It's time for you to start reading books that don't have all those pictures in them." I was mesmerized by his Bobsey Twins books. I devoured them right away, and sought out more books to read.

My son, who is now 13, loved to be read to as a kid. In fact he still loves it. We read EVERY night. He'd pick out some books, I'd pick out some books. We probably spent 2 hours each night reading together. He learned a ton cause he loved non-fiction books even at a young age. We also read the Thomas the Tank Engine books and other age appropriate books. Even when he was in the tub, he'd play, and I'd read to him. We were constantly reading.

When he got into early elementary where most kids are expected to start reading chapter books, he had no interest in them. He'd still read the non-fiction books and still loved for me to read to him. I started getting worried that I had OVER read to him!

I didn't push him, and was thrilled that he liked to glance through magazines and still read the non-fiction and still enjoyed for me to read. I kept reading to him so he'd at least experience the chapter books he should be reading at the age he was. He loved it!

Then, just a few years ago, I caught him in his room reading a chapter book! It wasn't just any chapter book. It was the first book in the Conspiracy 365 series. He had heard all the hype about the book and wanted to check it out so he grabbed a copy out of my inventory. He quickly hid it under his pillow when I walked into his room. The next day his father caught him reading Conspiracy in the tub! From then on that boy read chapter books!

Since then he's read just about every type of series of books he can get his hands on. He starts with book one and reads every title in the series. He's read the whole Narnia series, and this summer I was amazed that he read THE WHOLE Harry Potter series - read it in only about half the summer. And guess what he's reading now. You guessed it...Moby Dick. Tears just about whell up when I think of him reading such a classic. For a child who I was so worried would never even read a Magic Tree House book, he's reading MOBY DICK!

So clearly I did something right. ALL that reading aloud to him must have instilled that love of reading. It's a wonderful gift, and I am so glad I have been able to give that to him. That, and I do believe a little serial novel helped nudge him to read chapter books independently.

Start Your Usborne Books Business with the MORE for Less Kit!

2011-08-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

Do You Want More Freedom? More freedom to spend time with your kids while they are doing all their oh-so-cute things as they grow up? More freedom to be home to cook dinner for your husband and family when they get home from work and school? More freedom to be able to home school your children? More freedom to pursue a fun and rewarding career? More freedom to do just about anything you want?

Do You Want More Choices? More choices to be able to bring in an income stream to your family? More choices in how to run your business? More choice of vacations? More choices on what you can purchase and when?

Do You Want More Business? More people scheduling parties with you? More people purchasing from your website? More repeat business? More events to showcase your product at? More ways for you to earn income with your business?

Do You Want More Income? More $ each month to pay the bills? More $ to save for retirement? More house? More tuition for the kids? More of anything you may need or want?

Do You Want More Success? Do you want a more rewarding career? Do you want to work with a company who rewards your success and supports you every step of the way in your business? Do you want to be a leader?

Then You Want Usborne's MORE for LESS Kit!

Business Overview

Start your Usborne business with one of Usborne's best kits we've had since I've been with the company! For just $69 you get 25 books, supplies, your website and great training.

With No Minimums or Monthly Quotas, it's worth the TRY.

Try it out for your 3 month incentive period and you will be on your way to Usborne Success!

And with Usborne's Success Kit rebate, you very well can earn the cost of your kit back! That makes it FREE!

Join my team, the Usborne Success Builders, and I will help you find Usborne Success too!

FYI - here is a list of the books that are in the MORE for LESS Kit:

100 Things for Little Children to Do on a Trip

All Star Cheerleaders, Tick Tock, Taylor

Baby's Very First Touchy Feely Animals

Big Book of Big Dinosaurs

Big Box of Cards

Brush Your Teeth, Max and Millie

Complete Book of Farmyard Tales

Conspiracy 364 - Set 1 Jan - April

Counting Rhymes

Ely Plot

Encyclopedia of Science

Everyone Poops

Find the Duck

Gobble, Gobble Mooooo Tractor Book

How Big is a Million

I Can Draw Animals

Illustrated Math Dictionary

My Sister's a Pop Star

See Inside Your Body

Sticker Dolly Dressing Movie Stars

There's a Mouse about the House

Write Your Own Story

Goodness! It's worth it even just for the books! That's a $380 value in books!

Get Started Now!

Cute Wedding Gifts for Your Jr. Bridesmaids and Flower Girls from Usborne Books

2011-08-12T20:35:00.000-04:00

My husband and I just celebrated our 15th Wedding anniversary this week. I got to thinking that the following two books would have been such a cute gift for the little members of our wedding party. Kids love sticker books and they love to color, so these wedding themed activity books are perfect!

The Weddings Coloring Book includes 20 pages to color with wedding cakes, dresses and flowers. This book also includes stickers that girls can use to decorate the pages. Throw this in a cute celophane bag with crayons and tie it with pretty ribbon, and your little flower girl will be delighted!

Sticker Dolly Dressing Weddings has become a very popular title in the Sticker Dolly Dressing Series. This book came out before the Royal Wedding. The day of the Royal Wedding, my daughter noticed right away that Kate's dress was somewhat similar to the dress on the front of Sticker Dolly Weddings. I'm not saying her dress was designed from our book, I just think it's neat that my daughter remembered the book and noticed the resemblance.

Girls of all ages will have fun dressing the bride as she gets ready with her friends for her special day.

If you have ring bears or young ushers Usborne also has Sticker Dressing Knights, Soldiers and the Pirate Sticker Book.

Happy Wedding Day!

Kristie

New and Fun Christmas Activity Books from Usborne Books & More

2011-08-11T19:30:00.001-04:00

I know Christmas is right around the corner, but it will be soon. Usborne's Christmas titles are always such a huge hit that they sell out quickly so I wanted to highlight them now for you so you can get them ordered before we run out! Below is the list of my and my children's top 5 Christmas books.

1. Usborne's Advent Calendar to Color is our favorite new title this year! It's going to be so fun for the kids to color their scene in each day. By Christmas their Calendar will be all done and will be a family heirloom to treasure each Christmas hereafter. For only $7.99, it's a steal! I would have loved one of these when I was a kid.

2. Usborne's Christmas Stencil Cards are so much fun! You can creat just about any Christmas craft item with these. They help in making home made Christmas cards, Christmas drawing scenes, and craft that you need Christmas items for. They also help in teaching kids how to draw these figures for the holiday season.

One thing my kids love to do with these is to stencil each of them on different colored paper, decorate them, and cut them out. Then they punch a hole at the top and string curling ribbon through them to make a garland. It's so cute to hang on the fireplace, tree or anywhere else. We have LOTS of these garlands around our house.

3. Christmas Sticker Dolly Dressing is one of the funnest of the Sticker Dolly Dressing series according to my daughter. She loves to do a new book each year. This is definitely one of Usborne's most popular Christmas activity book! One of the reasons why she likes it so much is because it has festive scenes with holiday events and also the outdoor scenes when the dolls in the snow and ice skating. We are in the south where it doesn't snow, so she loves to dress them with all the extra winter clothes. I gave my daughter her first one on Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season! Makes for a wonderful Christmas gift for girls to give their friends too.

4. Illustrated Stories for Christmas is a beautiful book for your independent reader. It's a collection of classic Christmas stories such as A Christmas Carol, The Elf and the Toymaker and Twas the Night Before Christmas. Beautifully illustrated, this is another Usborne Christmas book that will become a family heirloom.

5. That's Not My Reindeer is one of Usborne's Christmas Touchy Feely books. Each page has a different texture on it, so babies and toddler LOVE to touch each page. They are so excited when they find their reindeer at the end of the book. Other Christmas That's Not My's in this series include That's Not My Santa, Penguin, Angel, and Donkey.

Come back for more info on Usborne's Christmas activity books. There's more to share!

Kristie

Sew some Fairies on National Thread the Needle Day

2011-07-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

Did you know there was a National Thread the Needle Day? Not just sewing day, but actually thread the needle day! We celebrate this day every year on July 25th. Who knew?

I was a pretty lucky kid. My mom was a fantastic seamstress and made a lot of my clothes. They didn't look handmade, they looked like they came from fancy boutiques. So, of course, my mom taught me to sew. I can't quite sew like she did back then, but I can thread a needle! And I can do it fast!

To celebrate the fun task of threading needles I thought I'd share this fun Usborne book of "Fairy Things to Stitch and Sew". If you would like some fun, easy sewing projects to do with your girl, a group of girls, or as a home school project, this book has a bunch for you to do! Each sewing activity comes with simple steps and teaches simple sewing stitches. It's such a perfect book to get your little girl interested in sewing. And what little girl doesn't want to make some fairies?

Recommended for ages 6 and up, and for only $6.99 you can't go wrong! If you need a birthday gift, and some thread, needles, scissors, pinky and purply material, beads and sequins along with Fairy Things to Stitch and Sew and it'll make a wonderful gift!

Purchase Fairy Things to Stitch and Sew

Happy Sewing!

Kristie

The Moon Landing Got Kids Interested in Studying Space - One of the Best Books for Kids to Study Space is Usborne's First Encyclopedia of Space!

2011-07-20T00:12:00.004-04:00

Forty two years ago today my dad sat me down in front of our black and white TV and said "I want you to watch this. Pay attention so you remember it." I'm glad he told me that. I made sure I paid attention, and I do remember watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon for the first time in man's history. Since then kids have been entranced with learning about the moon and space - my own son included!

If my son grows up to be an astronomer or astrophysicist I won't be surprised. He loves everything about space. He studies everything he can find on the subject. I'm not sure where that all started with him, but I do know that his first space book was Usborne's First Encyclopedia of Space. It's geared towards kids 8 and up, but he LOVED to have

me read it to him when he was 3. Clearly his love for space started before then,

as I bought the book out of his preschool book fair flyer cause I knew he'd love it. Little did I know that 3 years later, it would be that very book that would get me started in my Usborne Books business!

The First Encyclopedia of Space takes kids through everything they need to learn at a young age on space. It covers all the planets, the moon, stars, the sun. It's put together in classic Usborne fashion with cutout images and small snipets of information on each page. No wonder my son wanted me to read that all them time to him! It's such a fun and engaging book.

And! It's internet linked so after you go over a page with your child, or he/she reads the page themselves, they can go online to usborne-quicklinks.com to explore more on the subject of space. Almost every page in the book has internet links to it. For example on the Satellites page, the quicklink is Build Your Own Satellite online. This provides even more fun activity for the kids on space. There's even online games connected to many pages based on the subject.

If you have your own space buff, or are teaching children about space you can purchase the book here. Purchase

If you'd like to be kept up to date on specials, literacy tips, fun activities for your kids, and Usborne book giveaways, join us on Facebook.

Happy Reading!

Grief Counseling for Harry Potter?

2011-07-15T23:55:00.006-04:00

I just came across an article on grief counseling for muggles as the last Harry Potter movie has just been released. I read the comments to the article, and I'm not so sure the people commenting "got it". And I'm not so sure the article really touched on why people will be grieving over the end to Harry Potter.

Granted, I only read the first two chapters of the first Harry Potter book. I think I may have seen the first three movies, at home on video or dvd. But my son grew up with Harry Potter. He LOVES Harry Potter. He has read all the books, seen all the movies I don't know how many times, has all the toys - even every Harry Potter LEGO set, and had a Harry Potter 7th birthday party. I didn't know it was his 7th birthday party, til he just came and told me it was his 7th. He even just ran to get the cake topper (Harry on his Quiddich broom) he has saved for 7 years. Harry Potter encompasses his childhood, as does Harry with so many other children under the age of 15. It also encompasses peoples lives of many ages.

My son went with his best friend to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 today. I never really cared what was in the books, but I asked him if he would tell me how it ended. He told me, and I actually started tearing up. Why? Harry has been a part of this household for a very long time. He has been a part of our lives. It's sad to know that there won't be anymore new Harry's to pick up off the floor. No new stories, and we don't get to watch his adulthood - which may be what J K Rowling wanted. She may have wanted to keep him young. And she definitely made him the hero of good and evil. And boy, if we ever needed that, we need it NOW!

Have a Blast With Your Kids Making These Easy Craft-Friendly Fireworks!

2011-07-02T20:30:00.001-04:00

Here's a simple 4th of July, or Indepence Day as we call it, craft for your kids to make. These firecrackers light up your 4th of July party with some sparkle and pizzaz. No! There's nothing that is seriously going to blast off with these. Simply made with paper, foil and some dabs of glue. Enjoy!

This craft and many other crafts can be found in Usborne's Big Book of Playtime Activities. Awesome book that walks you through step-by-step to create fun projects with your kids. Even mom will become an artist with this book!

Have a very wonderful Independence Day with your family!

Never Look for a Card Again with 20 Birthday Cards to Color

2011-05-08T18:33:00.006-04:00

Usborne Books has really done it with their set of Greeting Cards to Color. Now they have come out with 20 Birthday Cards to Color. They are just too cute! My daughter was so excited when she opened the first box of them that she did up all her birthday cards for an entire year! The cards are colorful, need some coloring and come with a colorful envelope. Even the backs for the cards are cute!

These make for a great gift, and they are also great to have on hand for all those birthday parties your kids get invited to. They can either color the card to give, or give it plain for the birthday child to color and decorate themself.

Other cards in this series are 20 Thank You Cards to Color and 20 Christmas Cards to Color. I can't keep these in stock! You may want to plan ahead for Christmas and get your Christmas ones now!

It's Really Cool to Send Usborne Books to Africa. Help Ethiopia Reads with their Wishlist of Books.

2011-04-21T21:40:00.008-04:00

Your generosity will be matched by 50%!

Help stock Ethiopian libraries with books.

We have an urgent and exciting request.

1. In May, Books for Africa will ship a container with 40,000 books to Ethiopia Reads libraries for children.

2. Books for Aftrica has a warehouse full of books but not the simple, colorful non-fiction books that the libraray managers in Ethiopia ask for most.

3. Usborne Books will match all donations made on the Ethiopia Reads wishlist at 50% - so your donation will grow by half!

4. Go to this page - you can order one book or a hundred books to be sent to Ethiopia. Your donation will automatically be matched by 50%!

5. Go to this page if you would like to purchase books for the beloved children in your life. Usborne will match these purchases as well!

It's that simple...that hands on...and more helpful than a spare raincoat in a typhoon!

The children of Ethiopia thank you for your incredible support!

Raising A Boy Who Loves To Read - Or A Boy Who Will At Least Pick Up A Book

2011-02-03T13:12:00.010-05:00

By THOMAS SPENCE of the Wall Street Journal

When I was a young boy, America's elite schools and universities were almost entirely reserved for males. That seems incredible now, in an era when headlines suggest that boys are largely unfit for the classroom. In particular, they can't read.

According to a recent report from the Center on Education Policy, for example, substantially more boys than girls score below the proficiency level on the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test. This disparity goes back to 1992, and in some states the percentage of boys proficient in reading is now more than ten points below that of girls. The male-female reading gap is found in every socio-economic and ethnic category, including the children of white, college-educated parents.

The good news is that influential people have noticed this problem. The bad news is that many of them have perfectly awful ideas for solving it.

Everyone agrees that if boys don't read well, it's because they don't read enough. But why don't they read? A considerable number of teachers and librarians believe that boys are simply bored by the "stuffy" literature they encounter in school. According to a revealing Associated Press story in July these experts insist that we must "meet them where they are"—that is, pander to boys' untutored tastes.

For elementary- and middle-school boys, that means "books that exploit [their] love of bodily functions and gross-out humor." AP reported that one school librarian treats her pupils to "grossology" parties. "Just get 'em reading," she counsels cheerily. "Worry about what they're reading later."

There certainly is no shortage of publishers ready to meet boys where they are. Scholastic has profitably catered to the gross-out market for years with its "Goosebumps" and "Captain Underpants" series. Its latest bestsellers are the "Butt Books," a series that began with "The Day My Butt Went Psycho."

The more venerable houses are just as willing to aim low. Penguin, which once used the slogan, "the library of every educated person," has its own "Gross Out" line for boys, including such new classics as "Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger."

Workman Publishing made its name telling women "What to Expect When You're Expecting." How many of them expected they'd be buying "Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty" a few years later from the same publisher? Even a self-published author like Raymond Bean—nom de plume of the fourth-grade teacher who wrote "SweetFarts"—can make it big in this genre. His flatulence-themed opus hit no. 3 in children's humor on Amazon. The sequel debuts this fall.

Education was once understood as training for freedom. Not merely the transmission of information, education entailed the formation of manners and taste. Aristotle thought we should be raised "so as both to delight in and to be pained by the things that we ought; this is the right education."

"Plato before him," writes C. S. Lewis, "had said the same. The little human animal will not at first have the right responses. It must be trained to feel pleasure, liking, disgust, and hatred at those things which really are pleasant, likeable, disgusting, and hateful."

This kind of training goes against the grain, and who has time for that? How much easier to meet children where they are.

One obvious problem with the SweetFarts philosophy of education is that it is more suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals. If you keep meeting a boy where he is, he doesn't go very far.

The other problem is that pandering doesn't address the real reason boys won't read. My own experience with six sons is that even the squirmiest boy does not require lurid or vulgar material to sustain his interest in a book.

So why won't boys read? The AP story drops a clue when it describes the efforts of one frustrated couple with their 13-year-old unlettered son: "They've tried bribing him with new video games." Good grief.

The appearance of the boy-girl literacy gap happens to coincide with the proliferation of video games and other electronic forms of entertainment over the last decade or two. Boys spend far more time "plugged in" than girls do. Could the reading gap have more to do with competition for boys' attention than with their supposed inability to focus on anything other than outhouse humor?

Dr. Robert Weis, a psychology professor at Denison University, confirmed this suspicion in a randomized controlled trial of the effect of video games on academic ability. Boys with video games at home, he found, spend more time playing them than reading, and their academic performance suffers substantially. Hard to believe, isn't it, but Science has spoken.

The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.

People who think that a book—even R.L. Stine's grossest masterpiece—can compete with the powerful stimulation of an electronic screen are kidding themselves. But on the level playing field of a quiet den or bedroom, a good book like "Treasure Island" will hold a boy's attention quite as well as "Zombie Butts from Uranus." Who knows—a boy deprived of electronic stimulation might even become desperate enough to read Jane Austen.

Most importantly, a boy raised on great literature is more likely to grow up to think, to speak, and to write like a civilized man. Whom would you prefer to have shaped the boyhood imagination of your daughter's husband—Raymond Bean or Robert Louis Stevenson?

I offer a final piece of evidence that is perhaps unanswerable: There is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties?

Mr. Spence is president of Spence Publishing Company in Dallas.

I LOVE the writer's last statement that there is no literacy gap between homeschooled boys and girls. I can't help but think that part of that reason is because we foster reading and let the kids read what they enjoy reading instead of insisting that they read a certain book and take a test on it. They don't have to read to the test! It's for pure enjoyment!

And, by the way, Usborne Books / Kane Miller has an awesome line of adventuresome books that boys love to read! I will be hightlighting those over the next few weeks. In the mean time you can look at Kane Miller's greatest "boy book" Conspiracy 365. This is a serial novel that keeps boys on the edge of their seats. My son, who didn't like to read chapter books until he got a hold of Conspiracy 365, couldn't put the book down! Want to get your preteen and teenage son reading? Order him Conspiracy 365 .

Ted and Friends - Usborne's Fun Phonics Readers Now Combined Into One Volume With CD

2011-02-02T17:28:00.005-05:00

Children love to learn to read with Ted and his friends. My own daughter was raised as a reader with these fun, friendly characters illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.

Usborne Books just released an updated version of it's compilation of phonics readers, better known as Ted and Friends. This latest version includes ALL phonics readers published by Usborne Books, and it also includes a delightful CD that reads each story to your up and coming reader.

When this book first arrived at our house, my daughter recognized the name of the book and oohed and awed over it. She was thrilled to see that all the titles were included and insisted on listening to the CD. Each individual title is read on the CD by a women with an english accent. The sound effects, especially the animals' sounds, round out the CD and makes it so much fun to listen to. After listening to the entire CD while reading along with the book, my daughter declared this "the best of all the Usborne Books".

Titles included are Fat Cat on a Mat, Ted in a Red Bed, Goose on the Loose, Big Pig on a Dig, Shark in the Park, Toad Makes a Road, Mouse Moves House, Hen's New Pens, Sam Sheep Can't Sleep, and Ted's Shed. Usborne's famous Cartwright Duck to find is also on every page. I'm not so sure anyone ever grows out of finding that duck!

Purchase

Sticker Dolly Dressing Around the World

2011-01-24T13:37:00.010-05:00

New for 2011 - Usborne Books has done it again for little girls with Sticker Dolly Dressing Around the World. These sticker books are such fun for girls, and many of them have an educational flare to them as well.

My daughter absolutely loved this Sticker Dolly book. She was fascinated by all the fancy clothes from the various cultures around the world. The clothing is even described to the girls so they learn about the dress from other countries, some from different time periods.

Included to dress are dolls from an Indian Wedding, Reindeer herders from Norway, Village life in Nigeria, Folk festival in Austria, Flamenco dancers from Spain, a Carnival in Mexico and more.

Great for fun. Great for learning and school.

Purchase

View all Sticker Dolly books available by Usborne Books and More

Hush Little Beach Comber - An Adorable Beachy Rendition to Hush Little Baby

2011-01-21T19:33:00.002-05:00

Hush Little Beach Comber, by Diane Moritz, is an adorable new title published by Kane Miller. It follows the tune to the Hush Little Baby lullaby. As that was the lullaby that I always sang to my daughter, she just loves this book. Anyone who loves the beach and loves the original lullaby will enjoy this delightful rendition.

Purchase

Usborne Books 2010 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Specials! Great Gifts and Stocking Stuffers!

2010-11-24T19:48:00.009-05:00

Wow! Usborne Books is doing it up this 2010 holiday season with their Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals. Save 40-70% on great gifts and stocking stuffers for those on your list.

Usborne Books Black Friday Super Sale begins at midnight (CST) on November 25th and ends at midnight of the 26th. Here's just a sampling of the fantastic deals you can get:

Dinosaur Excavation Kid Kit for just $7.50!

Dinosaur Stencil Book for just $6.50!

See Inside Your Body for just $3.90!

Sticker Dolly Dressing Vacation for just $6.74!

Who's Making That Mess for just $5.99!

Windup Tractor Book for just $22.49!

You can view all the specials here.

Usborne Books Cyber Monday Deals begin at midnight (CST) on November 28th and ends at midnight of the 29th. Here's a sampling of the wonderful Cyber Monday Deals:

Animal Stencil Book for just $6.50!

Flip Flap Farm for just $8.00!

See Inside Space for just $3.90!

Sticker Dolly Fashion Long Ago for just $6.74!

Windup Train Book for just $22.49!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with your family and happy shopping!

Kristie

That's Not My Tiger - The Perfect Gift For Baby, Especially Those Clemson Babies

2010-09-30T11:56:00.005-04:00

That's Not My Tiger is the newest in the line of Usborne Books' Touchy-Feely board book series. It takes little ones through a series of different tigers as they try to find their own tiger. Kids are so delighted when the find their tiger at the end of the book. This is the perfect book for those babies who are just starting to pick up and look at books. The age for the book says 9 months and up, but I've seen children younger who love to open the thick pages and touch all the different textures that are on the various tigers. The patches of textures help to stimulate sensory and language awareness. The text is repetive so the children eventually know what is coming as they read and reread the book over and over again. Yes, they will eventually read this book themselves. They will ask you to read it over and over again until they can on their own.

These Touchy Feely books make such great baby gifts! That's Not My Tiger makes a great gift for Clemson Carolina fans!

Purchase

View Usborne's Full Line of Touchy-Feely Board Books

Finger Rhymes - Usborne's Newest Line of Rhyming Books

2010-09-29T19:16:00.003-04:00

"The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain,

And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again."

Ok, I know you're singing right along to this catchy tune, just like I did as I typed it.

This newest line of rhyming books published by Usborne Books are a great way to have fun with babies and toddlers while helping them to develop language and memory skills. Finger Rhymes includes the words and the directions on how to do the finger movements to the following rhymes: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Two Little Blackbirds, One Two Three Four Five, Round and Round the Garden, This Little Piggy, and Five Pretty Poppies.

This fun book is linked to Usborne's famous internet linked site. You can go to the site and see demonstrations of the finger actions, and hear the music to the tunes. Directions on how to access this is included in the book.

Other books included in this series are Animal Rhymes and Counting Rhymes. Each book is a sturdy, heavy board book with large tabs which make it easy for little ones to turn the pages.

Purchase

Very First Reading Set - Usborne's Newest Reading Program

2010-08-27T21:50:00.015-04:00

The Very First Reading Set, published by Usborne Books, is a series of 15 books designed to help beginning readers learn to read on their own with confidence. Each book in the series builds on what the reader has learned in the previous book.

These books are great! The parent, or teacher, or even the older sibling can read the words that are on the left pages of the book. Then the child reads the words on the pages to the right. This is a great interactive way to work on reading with a child. It is also a great way to spend time together helping your child learn to read.

Each book contains a phonics story. There are fun games to ensure your child is understanding what they are reading. Help is provided to parents and teachers with the 24 page Parents' Guide which is included.

Other neat things that are included are links to online support at http://www.veryfirstreading.com/. There are also downloadable activity sheets, teacher resources, word banks, and pronunciaton guides.

Great interactive links for the Very First Reading Set include:

Watch Peter Usborne introduce the Very First Reading Set

Online Support

Very First Reading Activity Sheets

Pronunciation Guides

Word Banks

Very First Reading For Teachers

Purchase the Very First Reading Set for only $69.99

If you need classroom sets, please contact me at kristie@usborneactivities.com to receive a price quote for multiple sets.

Happy Reading!

Kristie

Start Your Own Usborne Books Business For Only $20!!

2010-08-22T15:19:00.004-04:00

WOW!

Look at the display set of Usborne Books you get with the Game Time Starter Kit. You get the above books - That's Not My Penguin, Conspiracy 365, Essential Atlas, How Big is a Million?, Counting Rhymes, Rumplestiltsken, Sticker Dolly Dressing Dolls, Lift the Flap How Things Work, Dinosaur Coloring Book, The Great Animal Search - plus supplies, your own website and great training for only $20!!

*offer available until Aug. 30, 2010

If you've ever thought of owning your own business, this is a great way to get started. $20 is not a huge chunk of change to try out a business for yourself. You never know - you may just find your successful at it! That's what happened to me! And I can help you be successful too. What sets an Usborne Books home business apart from other home business opportunities?

1. Low start up cost

2. Great training from your upline and support from Usborne's home office

3. No monthly minimums or quotas

4. A product that hasn't been affected by the

5. We don't do just home shows -

there are a variety of ways you can earn income with Usborne Books - school & library sales, book fairs, reading incentive programs, fundraising, web sales, direct sales and booth events

6. Providing a love of reading to children in your community

Below is information on the business and how to get started. We are looking for consultants all across the United States , so no matter where you are at, I'd love to have you on my team.

More Information on the Usborne Books Home Business

Yes! I'd love to become an Usborne Books consultant now

Looking forward to working with you!

Kristie

Round Robin Storytelling - A Great Way to Help Children Think and Put Ideas and Words Together

2010-08-13T21:33:00.003-04:00

Children love to hear stories. They also love to tell stories.

Make up a fun story, and ask your child to tell you how it ends. This is a great way to help children think and learn to put ideas and words together.

My children and I have a blast doing this together. We call them Round Robin Stories. One of us starts the story, usually with "Once upon a time..." and we take turns telling the next sentence or two of three of the story. It's so much fun to hear how the story takes a turn as each different personality puts their spin to the story. Of course my son has to add bombs and fire and crazy animals that end up eating our characters or destroy our castles. My daughter then tries to turn the story back around, but eventually everything is obliterated. We have happy endings when just my daughter and I play Round Robin Stories together.

This is such a great way to spend good quality time with your kids. They usually remember the really good stories we have come up with, and they love to illustrate alot of them. There is so much you can do with your kids with this activity, and the benefits to them are endless!

FREE Usborne Books - Enter Usborne's Monthly Drawing to Win $50 in FREE Books

2010-08-08T12:33:00.006-04:00

Did you know that Usborne Books & More has a monthly drawing for $50 in FREE books? Did you know that you can enter it each month?

Enter here at: Win $50 in FREE Usborne Books!

Make sure you stop back next month to enter again!

Good luck! And Happy Reading!

Kristie

Sticker Dressing Knights - Usborne's Finally Done it A Sticker Dressing Book for Boys!

2010-08-07T13:02:00.006-04:00

All little girls love Usborne's Sticker Dolly Dressing books! They spend hours dressing and redressing ballerinas, movie stars, princesses, fairies and all sorts of different dolls. Many of you have asked for Usborne to come out with a Sticker Dolly Dressing version for boys. I am so thrilled to tell you Usborne has listened! Here is the first Sticker Dressing book for boys - Knights. Notice they did take the "Dolly" out of the title for the boys series. Whew!

This book follows along just as the other versions. Lots of stickers to dress lots of different knights in lots of different situations. If you have a boy who loves knights and castles or even just loves playing with stickers, Sticker Dressing Knights is THE book for him!

What's the next sticker book you would like to see come out?

Kristie

Purchase Sticker Dressing Knights

Full Line of Sticker Dolly Dressing Dolls

And the Winner is .. .

2010-06-01T12:55:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited to announce the winner of the $100 of Usborne Books! The winner is:

China from over at www.JustForJack.com

Thanks to everyone who participated. I will be contacting China so she can pick out her books!

Congratulations!

Eeek! There's a Mouse About the House is Usborne Books longstanding #1 Best Seller

2010-05-15T00:01:00.009-04:00

There's a mouse about the house! has been Usborne Book's #1 best selling book for many years. There's a reason for that best seller status - kids LOVE the book! It's a book they will ask you to read over and over and over again. That's ok. As a mom, I know kids want some of the same books read to them almost every night. It might get boring to us, but it instills a love of reading in your little one that will last a lifetime.

It's the little grey mouse that makes this book so fun to preschoolers and those kids just on the cusp of learning to read. My daughter loves this mouse so much she named it Messy Mouse.

Your child will have a blast moving the mouse from page to page throughout the book. It's very interactive! Start the mouse coming through the slot in the floor board of the house, and he maneuvers his way throughout the whole house with the help of your little one. All they have to do is have the mouse follow the dotted line - which teaches pre-writing skills. The mouse moves from left to right across the page which helps to reinforce to children that they will read books from left to right. The mouse ends up in a covered cheese plate and safely escapes the cat that has been waiting all night for him. Holding the mouse and helping him go through the slot from page to page also enstills fine motor skills for little fingers.

If your child loves There's a mouse about the house! they are sure to love The Squirrel's Tale which is another book in Usborne's slot book series. This book has a squirrel that goes through the forest looking for nuts. It's so much fun too!

You can recieve There's a mouse about the house! in the May 2010 Starter Kit or the Business Builder kit when you start your own Usborne Books business.

Purchase

Win $100 of FREE Usborne Books of Your Choice!!

2010-05-01T18:15:00.002-04:00

Yes! You can win $100 of FREE Usborne Books for your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews or any other children in your life. And yes, you get to select what books you win from the wide selection of books that Usborne has to offer. You can view that selection here.

It's simple to get yourself entered in the drawing, and you can get yourself entered as many times as you possibly can. Contest is open only to those in the United States and runs from May 1, 2010 - May 31, 2010. Winner will be announced here on Usborne Activities for Kids at noon on June 1, 2010. Make sure you post a comment letting me know what you've done of the four options below. Make sure you leave your email or a way to contact you in your entry(ies).

How to get yourself entered - You get one entry for each item below that you do and each time you do it:

1. Tweet about our Usborne Summer Reading program including the link to the site: www.UsborneSummerReading.com .

2. Mention the Usborne Summer Reading program and the weblink on your facebook page.

3. Grab the button off my blog and put it on your blog or website for the summer.

4. Write a blog post about the Usborne Summer Reading program.

Good luck! And thanks for helping to promote a great cause!

Happy Reading!

Kristie

Usborne Activites Announces the 2010 Usborne Summer Reading Program

2010-04-17T15:37:00.003-04:00

School will be out soon! Reading is always In!!

Have you signed your kids up for the 2010 Usborne Summer Reading program?

Keep your kids busy reading over the summer while earning books for themselves AND helping to raise books for the "Happy Wheels" cart at MUSC Children's Hospital.

*Kids read books of their choice over the summer

*Kids have sponsors pledge a dollar amount if they will read at least 400 minutes over the summer

*Kids earn books for themselves along with other prizes and awards

*Kids help to raise books for the "Happy Wheels" cart at MUSC Children's Hospital and help to brighten the day for another child

The Usborne Summer Reading program is open to all kids in the USA. Children do not need to be reading on their own yet. Mom or dad, grandma or grandpa can read to those children who are not yet reading. This is a great way to help build up a child's library.

For more information and to register your kids for the program go to:

www.UsborneSummerReading.com

Even Ponies Love to Read Usborne Books!

2010-04-15T13:05:00.006-04:00

That's Not My Pony was already sold out that day so Pony had to settle for That's Not My Dinosaur, one of Usborne Books Touchy-Feely board books. He looks thoroughly engrossed in his book!

If you have a silly picture of an animal reading post the link in the comments section.

March 2010 Usborne Books Starter Kit - Start Your Usborne Business Today!

2010-02-27T19:24:00.011-05:00

Need extra cash for your family? Start your own Usborne Books business in March for only 49.00 plus tax. Shipping is FREE! The March kit includes 10 top selling Usborne titles, a full set of business supplies such as catalogs, order forms and flyers, and your own website so your customers can order online! You also get great training and support.

Work the hours that fit for your family. Work at your own pace. Help spread literacy in your community and beyond.

*Vacation Bonus: Have you ever dreamed of going to London or Scotland? Join this month and start with 5,000 travel points. That gives you a HUGE head start to earning a fantastic travel incentive trip!

Questions? Email me at kglasusb@yahoo.com

Yes, I want to start my own Usborne Books business.

I LOVE WORDS - Usborne / Kane/Miller's Newest Activity Book Is Loaded With Fun To Get Your Kids Writing!

2010-02-23T21:35:00.009-05:00

I LOVE WORDS is the newest activity book in the Kane/Miller line of Usborne Books and More. So many Usborne consultants were raving about how their kids loved this book, so I purchased two for my son and daughter.

My daughter is the studious one and is always writing. She is having a blast with the book and going through it page by page and working very diligently in it. My son, who cannot stand to have a pen or pencil in his hand is actually dilly dallying with this book! They even sit down together and compare what they did on each page. It's so nice to see the two of them working on more of an academic activity together like that - and to be excited about it is even more amazing!

The pages are designed to be written in. One page has them filling in the hardest words they know. I looked in my son's book and he had "zelcova" written down. I didn't even know he knew that word. Heck, I don't even that word! I just looked it up - it's a type of Japanese bonsai tree.

Other pages ask them to write silly stories on t-shirts, a ten line poem, their last dream, fancy signatures, and what words are light and fluffy! It gets the kids thinking and gets them using WORDS! I love this book! And so do the kids.

Purchase

Sticker Dolly Dressing Fashion Long Ago - A Great New Sticker Dolly Book By Usborne Books

2010-01-22T18:31:00.005-05:00

Usborne Books has created yet another Sticker Dolly Dressing book that girls will love! With Sticker Dolly Dressing Fashion Long Ago, girls will love learning about the fashions throughout time while dressing people from different time periods. Time periods include: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient China, Medieval Times, Spain in the 1500s, France inthe 1770s, England in the 1800's, Victorian Times, England in the 1920's, America in the 1950's, and London in the 1960's. For homeschoolers, especially those who follow the "classical style curriculum", this is a great way to introduce the dress as you go through your history lessons.

My daughter LOVES all these Sticker Dolly Dressing books. In this one she thought it particularly funny how the guys dressed. That's another thing that sets this Sticker Dolly book apart from the rest. It includes men and boys of the time eras to dress. Once she had everyone in each era dressed in their appropriate attire, she then had a blast dressing them in all sorts of silly outfits from different time eras and mixing and matching the eras. She really had a lot of fun with this.

There are eight Sticker Dolly Dressing books in the series: Ballerinas, Bridesmaids, Dolls, Fairies, Fashion Long Ago, On Vacation, Pop Stars, and Princesses. Each will delight any young girl in your life, and they also make fantastic gifts.

Purchase

Get the Usborne Books Business Builder Kit for Half Price in January 2010 - Only $99 to Get Started!

2010-01-02T20:43:00.012-05:00

What better way to start off a new decade and a new year than with a NEW business! If you are looking for a way to make extra money, a new career, or just something fun to do in your spare time - consider becoming an Usborne Books and More consultant. This is a rewarding business that lets you help spread literacy in your own community with award winning books that children LOVE to read.

I've always known this, but this year I've learned first hand how this business transforms as your life transforms. That is the glory of this business! It changes for you as your own family and life circumstances change. We homeschool our children, and it was because I loved the books so much that I started dabbling with Usborne. Actually it was my son that liked the books so much, that I had to get him more of them. Luckily I've been slowly building a strong Usborne books business over the past 4 years. Even though I homeschool, I am able to fit Usborne into our family schedule quite nicely. In Nov. when my husband was laid off, we were fortunate that I have this great business. It sure kept our anxiety down, and I have the opportunity to keep our family afloat!

What do you do as an Usborne consultant? There's a whole lot of different things you can do. You can do as many or as few of what I am about to tell you below:

-You can help families earn FREE books for their kids by doing in-home book shows (like a Tupperware party or Pampered Chef party, but with children's books).

-You can help schools and organizations earn FREE books and cash by doing Usborne book fairs for them.

-You can help schools and organization get FREE books with Usborne's 50% matching grant program, Literacy for a Lifetime.

-You can help get kids excited about reading with, Reach for the Stars, Usborne's reading incentive program.

-You can build a nice web business online or add to your online business. Your January Half Price Starter Kit includes your own website so people can order online.

-You can promote Usborne Books out in your community at local festivals, fairs, and trade shows.

-You can sell to schools and libraries and help teachers and media specialists make informed decisions on books for their classrooms and libraries.

-You can build a team of people who are excited about promoting literacy and make a HUGE impact on the children in your community.

The sky is the limit with Usborne. Take a look at the Usborne Books business opportunity. For only $99.00 plus shipping and tax, you can get the full Usborne Books Business Builder Kit. You get 31 books, all the supplies you need to get started - order forms, flyers, catalogs, etc., great training and support from the Usborne home office, and your own website so people can order on line. Oh! And you get me as your supervisor, who will help you ever step of the way to build your own successful Usborne Books and More business.

Questions? Email me at kriste@usborneactivities.com.

Looking forward to having you on my team of Usborne Success Builders!

Kristie Glascock

Executive Supervisor

Usborne Books and More

What Do You Call A Crate Full Of Ducks? Hundreds of Silly Jokes by Usborne Books Will Keep Kids Giggling With Good, Clean Fun!

2009-12-26T13:54:00.005-05:00

A box of quakers! That's what you call a crate full of ducks.

You can find this and hundreds of other silly jokes in Usborne's box of Hundreds of Silly Jokes. What I love about this is the jokes are good, clean fun for the kids. The way jokes were when we were kids. My kids love them because they are just plain silly! It's nice to see them get the pack out when their friends come over. They all pick out their own cards and start telling jokes, and then you can hear them giggling away in the other room. Again, the way kids should be.

At just 9.99 these cards make a great gift for that hard to buy for kid, or you can even use the cards individually in birthday party goody bags.

"What do you find in the middle of Japan?"

The letter "p". Ha!

Enjoy!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM USBORNE ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS!

2009-12-23T21:33:00.001-05:00

Conspiracy 365 Series Gets Kids Excited About Reading!

2009-12-18T23:36:00.010-05:00

Twelve exciting books in twelve exciting months. This is what the Conspiracy 365 series brings to readers aged 11 - 15, and even above that age range. If you are looking for something to get teenage boys and even teenage girls interested in reading this series will definitely work for you! I know. I have an 11 year old boy who is a fantastic reader, yet has no interest in reading on his own. As soon as I got this book in, he couldn't put it down. If fact he and his dad were even fighting over it!

Conspiracy 365 is an action packed story that takes Callum Ormond on a major adventure for an entire year (hence the 365 - it takes place over 365 days). Each book takes place over a specific month. The book is broken down into days and different times of the day, so there aren't long chapters to read. The page numbers also go backwards. That's the first thing my son noticed about the book. He thought that was so cool! "It tells you how many pages you have left to read!", he said. That's pretty important information for boys his age.

So many kids are excited about this series that Usborne Books and More designed a subscription plan so parents and schools can order the entire series at once and have it shipped as the corresponding books come out. Kids love getting packages in the mail. They'd love to get the next Conspiracy 365 book in the mail each month this year too! And they get it before the next month's book even comes out!

More info on the series and to order individual books or the full subscription.

Read the first chapter of the first book.

Don't blink. Don't forget to breath.

Save! With Usborne Books Black Friday Sale - Thanksgiving Day - Mon., Nov. 30th

2009-11-24T18:21:00.004-05:00

Get the BEST deal of the year on the BEST children's books in the world! Usborne Books Black Friday Sale begins at noon (CST) on Thanksgiving Day and runs til noon (CST) on Monday, November 30th. You can preview the sale here. Make sure you stop back while the sale is running to get these great deals!

Usborne Books Make Great Gifts For Christmas! That's Not My Reindeer and Tha'ts Not My Angel Make a Great Gift for Infants and Toddlers.

2009-11-17T17:43:00.011-05:00

Kids love books! So what better gift to get them than Usborne Books! Usborne Books has created some great holiday gift sets. Whether you are looking for gifts or even just fun books and activities for you kids to have and do during the holidays, these sets are aimed to please!

Baby's First Christmas Set will make the new little tyke in your life very happy. Geared towards kids 2 and under, these books will delight even the youngest in that age group. The touchy-feely books are great for the little one's to touch all the different textures. They will keep themselves entertained for quite some time with them. They make great books for the restaurant bag. Christmas Lullabies is a beautiful book which includes a soothing CD to help get baby to bed. Christmas Baby Jigsaw is a first puzzle book. It has both touchy feely elements AND each page has a two-piece puzzle. It makes a great introduciton to puzzles! For just $27.99 , you can't go wrong. Purchasing these books as a set saves you $17.93!

Order Baby's First Christmas Set

Christopher Columbus for Kids - Usborne's In-Depth Biographies Gets Kids Interested in Hisotry

2009-10-02T23:00:00.008-04:00

Who knew an 8 year old girl could become mesmerized by Christopher Columbus. That's exactly what happened when my daughter read Usborne's Christopher Columbus for school last week. Now she can't wait til Columbus Day, which is Oct. 12th this year. She has all sorts of activities planned along with a special Italian dinner that she plans to cook for us that evening.

I just asked my daughter why she likes this book so much. She said "Because it's cool." "Why is it cool?", I asked her. "Because it tells you about somebody back in the olden days.", she said. Kids love history, and if you make it fun for them they love it even more. They also retain the information even more. I have learned more about Christopher Columbus from my daughter this week, than I remember learning in school when I was a kid.

What sets this book apart is the way the information is presented. It has 8 short chapters and is 64 pages long. The book begins with Columbus' childhood. Rarely is his childhood presented in books for kids. The book also has vibrant illustrations, and some of them have dialogue in them. The kids love to read the dialogue among the characters in the book. The book contains colorful maps and shows exactly where the ships The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa Maria went. It also has maps of Columbus' other voyages. Did you know his crew got stuck on an island and he had to go back to Spain for help? The writing in this book also keeps the kids on the edge of their seat, so that when they get to the end of a chapter they want to continue on until they finish the book.

Another neat thing is Usborne's Christopher Columbus is Internet-Linked! What an extra treat! What does Internet-Linked mean, you ask? That means if you go to www.usborne-quicklinks.com you will be directed to all sorts of kid approved sights based solely on the topic in that book. My daughter just ate dinner with Christopher Columbus and earned herself some fish. Yum!

Other biographies by Usborne Books are Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, William Shakespeare, Leonardo DaVinci, Captain Cook, Florence Nightingale, Anne Frank, Winston Churchill, and Martin Luther King, Jr. They are all just as exciting as Christopher Columbus, and kids will become just as enthralled with these historical figures.

If you would like to purchase multiple copies of any of these biographies for your classroom or school, please email me at kristie@usborneactivities.com for a price quote. If you have grant or donation funds, you can utilite Usborne's Literacy for a Lifetime Program and receive a 50% match of FREE books with your purchase. Contact me at kristie@usborneactivities.com for more information on Usborne's Literacy for a Lifetime Program.

I am so thrilled to watch first-hand how Usborne books impact children's lives.

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Usborne's Reading 2 Series Gift Books Gives A Great Introduction To The Classics For Young Readers

2009-09-29T22:50:00.009-04:00

Heidi. An all time classic by Johanna Spyri. Last night my daughter pulled this Usborne condensed version of Heidi off her shelf. We sat down and read it together. She absolutely loved it! I told her, "Em, you know there is a long version of this book. Do you want me to read it to you?". "Oh yes!", she said.

So I've been selling Usborne books for over four years now, and last night my daughter taught be a very crucial thing about how great Usborne books are! I had tried to sit down and read "Heidi" to her and my son before. They lost interest after a few pages. But last night, in just 64 pages, with beautiful illustrations, my daughter became mesmerized by the story. So today we started on the long version of "Heidi". My daughter even got her brother to sit down and listen along.

So what's the moral of what I am trying to say here? Usborne's Reading Series books of the classics introduces kids to these great literary works. Kids read the condensed version, and it opens their eyes, and hearts to a fabulous story that they don't want to end. And you know what happens? They go from reading a book that is 64 pages long, and beautifully illustrated, to reading a book that is 278 pages long with only 2 illustrations in the whole book. Do you see what I am getting at?!?!? It turns these kids into avid readers and book lovers!

Usborne's Reading Series Gift Books include many of the classics. Schools are shying away from requiring students to read the classics. This is a shame, as reading the classics help children build their vocabulary and moral upbringing.

You can't go wrong getting a child any of these books. Nowadays kids don't have the attention span to read 278 page books. But if a 64 page book will teach them the story, or get them interested in the long version, then you have well gotten your money's worth out the $6.99 you will spend for one of these books.

Happy Reading!

Halloween Books for Your Kids from Usborne Books

2009-09-28T13:38:00.000-04:00

Halloween is just around the corner. Kids will love these new Spooktacular Sets packed with fun stories & activities, and you’ll love the Savings! Order Today!

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Kids LOVE Usborne's Jobs People Do Book

2009-09-26T20:35:00.007-04:00

Jobs People Do is a book that kids just LOVE. Every time I see a child pick this book up, they spend lots of time perusing each page. They love the claymation people. Even my hubby tonight told me "I can see why kids spend so much time with this book. There's so much for them to look at. If I were a kid I'd have a blast looking at all this stuff."

Another reason why kids love this book is because it is so realistic. It shows them the day in the life of careers that kids usually dream of being - a vet, a doctor, a fireman, a teacher, a farmer, and a chef.

My daughter has had me sit down and read this book to her over and over and over again. She particularly loves Vicky the Vet, even though she aspires to be a chef someday. Now that she can read on her own, this is still a book she picks up to read and look before she goes to bed. That of course is AFTER our reading time together. Remember, kids still LOVE to be read to even after they learn to read.

Another neat thing that is included in the book is the sets of words that come after each story. For instance, after Sam the Chef, there are Chef word such as broth, creme brulee, fettuccine, and sorbet, so kids learn words associated with each profession. Some even have a quiz after them. Frank the Farmer has a farm quiz which includes safety tips on the farm.

Jobs People Do is just $22.99. It is a combined volume of six books that you can also purchase individually if you choose. The individual books are Frank the Farmer, Sam the Chef, Daisy the Doctor, Fred the Firefighter, Tessa the Teacher, and Vicky the Vet. Each individual book is $6.99, so the combined volume saves you 18.95! Makes a great gift for any child in your life.

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Usborne Books and More - September Starter Kit - You Can Build A Successful Home Business For Just $49.00!

2009-09-07T21:35:00.004-04:00

Get a GREAT start with our September Starter Kit

(Retail Value $160) – This Kit is packed with

10 terrific titles, a full set of business supplies,

training CDs, an eCommerce Website plus more

for only $49 + tax and FREE SHIPPING. Join and

save over $111!

What are you waiting for? Join Us!

Spark a child's imagination, creativity, and love
of reading with gifts from Usborne Books & More!

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In The Dark by A. A. Milne - Fantastic Poem To Read To Your Kids Before Bed

2009-08-25T23:24:00.003-04:00

Anyone who really knows me, knows I LOVE old books. I love books that were published pre-1950, especially if they are childrens books. I've always loved childrens books, hence my love for working with Usborne Books and helping spread literacy to children across the USA. And yes, I do read other books besides Usborne Books to my kids.

I found a neat little set of books at an antique store in Walterboro, SC last month. They are When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, by A. A. Milne. I'm sure you recognize the name A. A. Milne. He was the author of the Winnie the Pooh books with Christopher Robin. The books I purchased that day in Walterboro were precursers to Winnie the Pooh. What beautiful books they are! And they have decorations by Ernest H. Shepard, the illustrator who brought Winnie the Pooh to life. I guess back then they called illustrations, decorations. Such neat, neat books. They are two of my favorite "finds".

So tonight I was reading Now We Are Six to my daughter. It is a collection of poems for kids. Tonight we read the poem In the Dark. I just LOVE this poem. I so wish I had found it years ago when my kids were really, really little. I would have memorized it and recited it to them each night. Em is still just eight, so she still appreciates it. Here it is for those of you who may like to read or recite it to your kids:

In the Dark

"I've had my supper,
And had my supper,
And HAD my supper and all;
I've heard the story
Of Cinderella,
And how she went to the ball;
I've cleaned my teeth,
And I've said my prayers,
And I've cleaned and said them right;
And they've all of them been
And kissed me lots,
They've all of said "Good-night."

So - here I am in the dark alone,
There's nobody here to see;
I think to myself,
I play to myself,
And nobody knows what I say to myself;
Here I am in the dark alone,
What is it going to be?
I can think whatever I like to think,
I can play whatever I like to play,
I can laugh whatever I like to laugh,
There's nobody here but me.

I'm talking to a rabbit ...
I'm talking to the sun...
I think I am a hundred -
I'm one.
I'm lying in a forest ...
I'm lying in a cave ...
I'm talking to a Dragon ...
I'm BRAVE.
I'm lying on my left side ...
I'm lying on my right ...
I'll play a lot tommorrow ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I'll think a lot tomorrow ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I'll laugh ...
.....
a lot ........
......
tomorrow .....
(Heigh-ho!)
Good-night."
A. A. Milne

Does that not remind you of going to bed when you were a child!?! I so love this poem.

Cited from Now We Are Six, by A. A. Milne, E. P. Dutton and Co., 1927, pgs. 99-101.

Usborne Fairy Snap

2009-08-18T22:26:00.006-04:00

Fairy Snap is a delightful game for girls. Don't worry boys, there is a Pirate Snap for you too. This is a really cute version of the card game "War". My 8 yr. old daughter has discovered that you can play "Go Fish" with this set too. It's actually a lot of fun playing with these cards. My daughter is now addicted and has me play it over and over and over again. Believe it or not, it's actually a lot of fun with these cards, so we've been playing A LOT! There are 4 sets of 13 different fairies to match.

The cards are made of very thick card stock and will last a long time without getting bent up even with little hands. They make great gifts and with Christmas approaching, make great stocking stuffers. Also available is Christmas Snap, Fairytale Snap, First Word Snap, Pirate Snap and Princess Snap.

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Usborne Books Starter Kit - Start Your Own Usborne Books Business! This is THE BEST Home Business OpportunityYou Will Find!

2009-07-30T21:21:00.005-04:00

Start your Usborne Books & More business with the LOWEST priced Starter Kit of the Year: With FREE SHIPPING! You’ll receive 10 incredible titles and a full set of business supplies, plus your own ecommerce website! (Over a $170 value!)

No matter when you join, you’ll receive an incredible display of titles and a full set of supplies at a great price.

Keep Your Kids Busy this Summer with Usborne's Summer Activities

2009-07-05T15:19:00.004-04:00

Summer is upon us, and the kids have been home for a while now. Have you already been hearing "There's nothing to do.", "I'm bored!". I certainly have.

Usborne Books has a neat Summer Activities book that will keep your kids busy. Filled with stickers and lots of activities for your kids to do, it'll keep them busy and out of your hair. They can make Floating Fish, Picnic Cheese Tarts (which are delicious!), Printed Crab Pictures, Concertina Caterpillars, Bug and Bee Prints, Diving Dolphins, Cheesy Snakes and Caterpillars (these are delicious too!), and much more!

Each activity includes pictures of the finished product and easy to follow step by step directions. My children have made many of these projects and even go back to the book to make them again. They really like the Cheesy Snakes and Caterpillars.

For just $6.95, you can't go wrong with Usborne's Summer Activities. It's well worth it to keep your kids busy over the summer. Grandma and your babysitter may enjoy it too with your kids.

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Usborne Book's Sticker Dolly Dressing Bridesmaids Make a Perfect Gift for Your Flower Girl

2009-06-23T22:03:00.014-04:00

Looking for that perfect gift for the sweet flower girl in your wedding? Sticker Dolly Dressing Bridesmaids, by Usborne Books, IS the perfect gift for her!

She will have hours of fun dressing three girls who are going to be bridesmaids. She can use the stickers to dress them as they try on their outfits, go shopping for shoes, visit the hairdresser, and do lots more in preparation for the big day. Girls love these Sticker Dolly Dressing books, and they are able to reposition the dresses on the dolls.

Other books in this series are Sticker Dolly Dressing Dolls, Sticker Dolly Dressing Fairies, Sticker Dolly Dressing Princesses, Sticker Dolly Dressing Ballerinas, Sticker Dolly Dressing Pop Stars, and Sticker Dolly Dressing on Vacation.

These books also make a great book to take on those long summer vacation car trips. My daughter spent the whole time flying across the country with just one book in this series. She loves them all and gets so excited when she finds out the Usborne has published a new title in the series.

For only 8.99, you can't go wrong.

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Children's Book Week - Why You Should Start Reading to Your Child as Soon as They are Born

2009-05-12T05:31:00.004-04:00

It's never too early to start reading to your children. I began reading to mine the day they were born, and now, at ages 11 and 7, they have great language skills and are fantastic readers.

According to Jim Trelease, author of the Read Aloud Handbook, no matter what your baby's age, reading provides a great opportunity for cuddling and bonding. Some of my fondest memories with my kids are of rocking them in the rocking chair and reading some of the "classic" stories to them. They can't fuss at that age and can't complain about what you are reading to them. This is the rare time where YOU get to pick out the book and only read it once. Enjoy it!

Besides some fun bonding time - here are some of the top reasons why you read to your children as soon as they are born. Now that I think about it, the very first thing I did with my daughter (she must have only been about an hour old) was tell her the story of Cinderella. Then I had to tell her the story of the Wizard of Oz. What fun we had!

Why You Should Read to Your Child From Birth

-Helps your child develop speaking, writing, and reading skills much easier and earlier.

-Helps build your child's vocabulary - Children who are read to pick up on the words they hear frequently.

-Stimulates your child's imagination - Children love to predict what is going to happen in a story. You can also read books to them that have no pictures. Let them imagine what the places in the book look like.

-Improves your child's communication skills.

-Encourages your child's listening skills.

-Gives your child a strong reading foundation - listening to stories trains your child's brain, ears and eyes to help them be successful readers.

-Improves concentration, creativity and listening skills.

It is also essential to keep reading with your child once they have begun to read on their own. Many parents stop reading to and with their kids once the child is able to read on their own. Kids still love to be read to, don't miss out on this special time with your child. Reading is a mastered skill and requires lots of practice over time. By sharing books together with your child, you will help develop them into lifelong readers.

Happy Reading!

Usborne Books Recommended Titles For Children's Book Week - May 11-17, 2009

2009-05-11T17:51:00.004-04:00

Experience Success From Home - Become An Usborne Books Consultant

2009-05-08T00:02:00.001-04:00

Usborne Books & More is offering a great career opportunity! Start your own home business for just $55 and experience freedom, income, friendships, pride, and rewards. Order Your Starter Kit today and receive FREE SHIPPING!

The Usborne Dot-To-Dot Book - Best Dot-to-Dot Book Ever

2009-05-05T21:13:00.006-04:00

Most kids LOVE to do dot-to-dots. I know I did as a kid, and my daughter will do every dot-to-dot she can get her hands on. Dot-to-dots are a great activity to help your children develop number skills and learn the order numbers go in. Plus they are great for eye/hand coordination and learning to use a writing utensil properly.

The Usborne Dot-To-Dot Book will provide hours of fun for your kids. It is a combined volume that contains 168 pages of dot-to-dots from 7 individual Usborne dot-to-dot books. This combined volume includes the following: animals, dinosaurs, farms, machines, nature, seaside, and space.
My daughter is working in this book right now as I write this post. She just turned the page and said "Aw cool!! I get to do a snow place!" She's so excited!

At just 12.95 you can't go wrong with this activity book for your kids. It will keep them entertained at home, in the car, while waiting at the doctor's office, and just about anywhere else they need to keep busy. It's also a fun book to add into your home school curriculum for seat work.

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HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO FROM PIPKIN AND USBORNE ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

2009-05-04T11:00:00.003-04:00

Wordless Wednesday - What Little Boys Will Do

2009-04-29T00:00:00.001-04:00

Simple Hand Print Poem To Make for Mom for Mother's Day

2009-04-28T13:03:00.009-04:00

My daughter went to a Montessori preschool. This is the Mother's Day gift they had the kids make one year. To this day it's still my favorite Mother's Day gift, and I have a feeling it will always be my favorite because of the little hand print.

Any mother will LOVE to get one of these cards for Mother's Day. Have the child pick a colored piece of construction paper. Fold it in half. Have the child decorate the front. You may need to help them write Happy Mother's Day on the front.

On one side of the inside have the child put their hand print. You do this by painting their hand and then having them place it on the paper. On the other side write one of the following poems. If you are doing this with a group of kids, you may want to type out the poem, print it out, and paste it on the card. Make sure you have the child sign it.

Here are the words to the short poem on my card:

I Give My Hand To You
This Day
Remember Me Now
As I Grow And Play

Here are words to a longer version:

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing -
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny hand prints
Will surely fade away.

So here's a little hand print
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

Happy Card Making!

Hush Little Baby Don't Say a Word ...

2009-04-27T21:45:00.003-04:00

Each of my kids have their own special lullaby. My son's is a musical version that I came up with to Winken, Blinken, and Nod. My daughter's is my own version to Hush Little Baby. I could never remember the words to the real version, but my version I could remember.

The kids are getting older now. Eleven and seven respectively, but they still like for me to sing their special lullabies to them when they are sick or really tired.

Here's my version of Hush Little Baby for Em:

Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird don't sing,
Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring don't shine,
Momma's gonna buy you a bucket of brine.

If that bucket of brine don't swim,
Momma's gonna buy you a pass to the gym.

If that pass to the gym is closed,
Momma's gonna buy you a doll that's posed.

If that doll that's posed is broke,
Momma's gonna tell you a funny joke.

Hush little baby don't say a word,
Momma's gonna buy you a mocking bird.

How High is the Sky? Usborne's Newest Picture Book Title.

2009-04-22T19:22:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wondered how high the sky is? If you loved the book How Big is a Million?, you don’t want to miss How High is the Sky?

Join Pipkin the penguin, on his amazing journey to find the answer in this delightful book. Includes a very tall poster.

Order Your Copy Today!

Everyone Poops Hits Youtube!

2009-04-16T20:29:00.006-04:00

Everyone Poops Hits Youtube!

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Week of the Young Child, 2009: Bring Communities Together for Children - Children Bring Communities Together

2009-04-13T05:50:00.001-04:00

April 19-25, 2009 is Week of the Young Child. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has put together some tools and information to help you celebrate. You can find these resources at www.naeyc.org/about/woyc/. Start planning ways to help bring your community together for children!

If you are celebrating Week of the Young Child, please share with us what you plan to do. Thanks, and have fun!

Kristie

Look What the Easter Bunny Did to My Dog!

2009-04-11T16:27:00.002-04:00

I had posted this on my Lily's Licorice blog, and decided I wanted to share it with you all on Usborne Activities For Kids as well.

This is my favorite Easter photo of all time. I was such a mean mom and instead of getting my son an Easter Rabbit for his basket one year, I got him this adorable Easter Basset. We had a basset and I couldn't resist this adorable stuffed dog with rabbit ears for my son. I thought it was cute!

So Easter morning, out comes my son to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. Above is the response we got. That boy cried and cried and cried! He thought the Easter Bunny had turned his precious dog into a stuffed dog with rabbit ears. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen! (I'm such a nice, caring mom, aren't I?)

Dad had to go wake the real dog out of a deep sleep to come show our dear son that NO he had not been turned into a stuffed dog with rabbit ears.

Mother's Day Gifts for Your Kids to Make from Usborne Books

2009-03-30T16:49:00.005-04:00

Mother’s Day is May 10th

Here are two books your kids will really love!

Things to make for Mother’s Day

Make delightful things to give to Mom (Grandma, Aunt or Teacher) using this really fabulous book. Follow the simple step-by-step instructions and find out how to make pretty cards and gifts that everyone will love, (includes over 200 stickers.) (For ages 4 years and up.)

Usborne ART ideas: Making Cards

This inspiring book is packed full of creative ideas for making cards for all occasions. You can follow the clear, simple step-by-step instructions exactly, or just use the imaginative ideas to create your own cards. (For ages 10 years and up.) Make a Pop-Up Card – Download the instructions from page 20 & 21 of Making Cards.

Painting Doesn't Have to be a Mess! Tips to Keep Painting a Fun and Clean Experience for your Kids and for Yourself.

2009-03-25T12:48:00.015-04:00

So many kids do not get to paint at home because the messy paint is too stressful for some moms. Kids LOVE to paint. I feel so bad for kids who tell me, "My mom won't let me paint." Those kids are missing out on such wonderful creative experience.

I leave the paints out on a shelf at kid level for my kids. They can grab the paints any time they wish and paint away. I love the paintings I have on my walls, all painted by my own artists. Creativity flows in this household. How on earth am I not afraid to keep the paints out for my kids to use? I taught them early on about how to paint properly, and how to have fun with it, without making a mess. And people who know me know I am not an anal person. I am not a clean freak. And I certainly don't pressure the kids to be either.

So what can you do to help your kids have a clean - free painting experience? Here are my tips:

1. Put down newspaper or paper on the table or floor. My daughter loves to paint on the floor. I do have a cloth for her to paint on. When she uses her easel, we put the easel on it too.

2. Make sure you have a fresh cup or two of water to put the brushes in to clean them off. Have the kids dab the wet brushes on paper towel to clean off left over color and excess water.

3. Use one color at a time:

a. For younger kids - have them paint with one color. Then let that color dry. Get the next color out. Have that color dry. This way you don't have a bunch of paint out at one time, and by letting each color dry, their painting comes out looking the way they envisioned instead of one giant blob of brown ick.

Put just a dollop of paint on a piece of paper for your child to dip his/her brush into. If they are allowed to dip their brush into the big bottle of paint, they will end up with way too much paint on the brush - hence how big paint messes are created.

b. For older kids - let them put a "little" bit of different colors of paint on a paint palette. A little bit of paint goes a long way. Make sure they clean their brushes as they change colors.

4. Each of my kids has a painting shirt. They use the same shirt every time they paint. This way, mom, you don't have to worry about paint getting on that new shirt you just bought. The kids like their paint shirts too because it shows all the paints and different colors they have used.

5. Wash you paint brushes with soap and water when done. Let them dry before you put them away. If you keep them in a cup, store them with the brush tips facing up.

Happy Painting!

Literacy for a Lifetime - Usborne Books and More/EDCs Matching Grant Program

2009-03-14T21:29:00.008-04:00

Literacy for a Lifetime (LFL) is a matching grant program sponsored by Educational Development Corporation (EDC), the parent company of Usborne Books and More. The program is designed to help schools and organizations get more "bang for their buck" when using grant money or money from donations to purchase books.

EDC will match any literacy grant or donation by 50% provided the organization purchases books from Usborne Books and More. This means that if the organization purchases $1,000 in Usborne Books, EDC will kick in an extra $500 in books - which really stretches the amount of the grant or donation money.

All monies received from grants and donations are elegible for LFL. An easy way to determine if it "qualifies" for the matching grant is if the funds are not coming from the regular budget of the organization. PTAs donating money to their school library to purchase books are eligible. Parents donating money to their child's classroom to purchase books are elegible.

There is no grant or donation too small or too large to qualify. All LFL orders are tax-free (as they are tax deductable). All orders over $200 receive free shipping.

If you have a grant or donation to purchase children's books for a school or organization, please contact Kristie Glascock, Educational Supervisor, kristie@usborneactivities.com, for more information on this rewarding program.

Usborne's Jigsaw World Atlas - A Great Way to Teach Your Kids the Continents of the World

2009-03-14T19:03:00.008-04:00

As my kids were learning the continents, I used Usborne's Jigsaw Atlas of the World to help them have a "hands on" learning experience with the continents. Each page of the book is a different puzzle for each continent. My kids loved taking the puzzle out and putting it back together again. On each puzzle page is a map of the particular continent you are are studying along with highlights from each continent.

Each continent also has its own search and find game. For Europe kids need to find the Eiffel Tower, flamenco dancers, narwhal whales and the Leaning Tower of Pisa to name a few. It's cute too because the middle puzzle piece is a reflection of the continent it comes from. Africa's center piece is an elephant.

Your kids will remember all the continents and a little bit about each one, because they enjoy working with each page. This also helps them to remember the names of each continent.

This book is great for teachers to use as center work, for home schoolers, and for parents who want to work with their kids. My kids had so much fun with this book. It's almost a shame they are too old for it now, but they sure did get their use out of it.

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PS - As I write this I notice that all the puzzle pages have been put in backwards by someone (I'm sure my son). Too funny.

It's A Mystery to Me . . . Who the Hostess will Be!

2009-03-08T19:56:00.013-04:00

Help me celebrate my 3rd Anniversary with Usborne Books!!

The great mystery will be how many of YOU will win tons of FREE and reduced books. The Mystery Hostess could be YOU!

Here's how the party works: Everyone who resides in the United States is invited to attend the online Mystery Party at www.ubah.com/HOS140178. Anyone who places an order at the online party will be eligible for the Mystery Hostess rewards. These rewards include:

Mystery Hostess - Yeah!! Win up to a $100.00 shopping spree!

Hostess Special - Get $25.00 in books for only $5.00!

Hostess Appreciation Gift - Win $20.00 in FREE books!

Bonus Gift - You get ANY one item in the online catalog at 65% off!! That's a HUGE savings!

Starter Kit - Yes! I am offering one lucky person who is interested in their own Usborne Books business a FREE business supply starter kit. You'll get all the supplies you need to get your business started along with your own e-commerce site. You must email me separately that you are interested in being included in this drawing. Email to: kristie@usborneactivities.com *must be a US resident.

Here's to solving the mystery together!

Kristie

New Titles From Usborne Books!

2009-03-04T13:54:00.045-05:00

New titles have just arrived in the Usborne Books warehouse and are ready to be shipped to the homes of happy readers! There are some great new titles that I will highlight below for you.

Apollo is such a cute book! It's about a little wiener dog that teaches preschoolers math concepts in a very fun way. There is also Counting With Apollo which obviously teaches kids to count.

Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings. This is a fantastic book to teach art appreciation to your kids.

My daughter absolutely loves this book! It's clearly above her reading level, but since I have it in my house for my Usborne business, she reads it about 5 times a day. Kids are fascinated with this topic, and
Everyone Poops shows kids just how Everyone Poops!

I've been waiting for the US to get this series from the UK. Lizzie's Wish is part of the Historical House series which charts the life and times of girls who have lived at 6 Chelsea Walk during some of histories most fascinating times. Lizzie's Wish is about Lizzie, who lived during the 1850's at 6 Chelsea Walk. Other books in this series are: Mary and Miss Mozart, 1764; Cecily's Portrait, 1895; Polly's March, 1914; Josie Under Fire, 1941; and Andie's Moon, 1969. For ages 10 and up. Each book includes internet links so readers can learn more about life during the time of the setting of the book.

See Inside Famous Buildings is a great lift-the-flap book that shows kids the inside of some of the world's most famous buildings.

The Story of Science is a wonderful introduction for children to the brilliant brains behind some of the greatest scientific discoveries in history. It includes fascinating facts about black holes, magnets, DNA, diseases, atoms, and x-rays. It also makes complex ideas fun to learn. Includes internet links.

Kids will love the touchy-feely patches in This is My Tractor. Patches show bumpy wheels, shiny paint, and sparkly lights. Kids will also love to press the sound button that makes the tractor go "brrm, brrm!"

These are just a few of Usborne's new titles. You may check out the full list of new titles here.

Happy Reading!

The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness by Colin Thompson - A Great New Addition to Usborne Books

2009-02-06T18:39:00.009-05:00

Last Friday evening I got to preview a lot of the new Kane Miller books that Usborne Books now will be carrying. I got to see first hand how these new Kane Miller books will add to the emotional appeal of our customers. Usborne Books are such wonderful educational books and help in building the intelligence of your kids. Kane Miller, will add in the emotions. These are the books that pull at the heart strings of kids and the parents and teachers who read these books to their kids. You are reading to your kids, aren't you?

Of the 40 or so books I got to preview last Friday at our Usborne supervisor dinner, The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness was my favorite. Kane Miller has a lot of great books, but this one especially stuck out in my mind even after I went home that night. It's the story of a little boy who lives with his grandmother. Every day he visits the pound. On one visit he finds a scruffy dog there with only three legs. The book is actually a bit funny and sad, yet it is so sweet, because this boy starts making legs for this dog and they end up so happy together. Hence the title - The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness. Even I end up describing the book like that.

Sweet, sweet book - your kids will love it!

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Usborne Books Home Business is Growing in the Midst of this Economic Downturn

2009-02-04T22:40:00.007-05:00

The Home Business Division of Educational Development Corporation unveiled a new name this month - Usborne Books and More. This underscores EDC's committment to educational excellence, providing economic opportunity and fostering strong family values.

"Changing our name illustrates an extension of our mission to offer the best quality books at a reasonable price, encourage the education of our nation's children, and ensure thier future success, " said Randall White, CEO. "Twenty years ago we began the Home Business Division of EDC, and it has grown from a small beginning to a nationally recognized company with over 8,000 consultants throughout the United States. Usborne Books and More offers a wide variety of programs with which the sales consultants can build a successful home business: home shows, school and library sales, book fairs, reading incentive programs, grant matching programs, web sales and much more.

Coinciding with the introduction of a new name, EDC, recently acquired Kane/Miller Publishing, a well-known, international publisher of children's books. Their products will enhance the existing product lines, and include award-winning books from around the world, such as Everyone Poops, Jack Russell: Dog Detective, Hannah's Winter, and Unique Monique.

Contact me for more info about the Usborne Books and More product line, earning free books for your family, or how you can join my team and help spread literacy across America.

How Big Is A Million - Winner's Choice of January's Free Book Give Away

2009-01-20T23:02:00.007-05:00

I am thrilled to announce that Elaine is the winner of January's Free Book Give Away. She chose the book How Big Is A Million because she wanted to give it to her nephew.

This is a great book! It is the story of Pipkin the Penguin who wants to know How Big Is A Million. It's a great teaching tool to let kids know the number concepts of 1, 10, 100, 1,000 and 1,000,000. In a pocket on the back of the book is a poster that literally shows Pipkin and his mom looking at 1,000,000 stats. It's very mind boggling to look at that poster, because I'm sure I'm like you - I've never seen exactly 1,000,000 of any particular thing before.

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Free Book Give Away - Win the Usborne Book of Your Choice

2008-12-29T19:37:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited about this give away! This month, for Free Book Give Away, one lucky person is going to get a FREE Usborne book of their choice. Yes, you read that right. You get to pick what ever Usborne book it is that you would like to win. I am also going to offer a couple of extra ways to earn more chances for the Free Book Give Away. Here's how it'll work:

Browse through my site at UsborneSC.com and select THE Usborne book that you would like to win the most. Leave a comment naming the book you would like to win and why you would like that book. It's that simple. Make sure you leave your email address or a way for me to be able to track back to your email so I can notify you if you win. Winner will be randomly selected at noon on Jan. 20th.

There are five other ways you can earn more entries to win your book:

1. Post about the give away on your blog.
2. Twitter the book give away link.
3. Follow Me on Twitter.
4. Grab my button and put it on your blog or website.
5. Set up your own eshow. Did you know you can earn quite a bit of free books (a whole lot more than 1) by hosting an online show? You don't have to clean your house nor do you have to make food. All you have to do is promote your eshow by emailing it to your online guests. Oh, and in Jan. hostesses earn double free books. Yes I said DOUBLE FREE books. You can set up your eshow here.

If you have done any of the above for extra entries into the drawing, please make an individual comment for each - include email and your chosen book for each entry again too.

You can also enter Usborne's monthly drawing for $50.00 in free books. Enter here, or on the brown button on the side bar.

Have fun! And enjoy the gift of reading with your children.

Kristie

Teach Your Child How To Clean Their Room

2008-12-28T18:39:00.013-05:00

Now that Christmas is over and my kids have even more toys and books than they had before, I decided we needed to reorganize. My daughter is great at keeping her room fairly clean and her items in an orderly fashion. It's my son that is horrendous at this. I'm sure there are some other moms out there with a child like my son, so I thought I'd share some tips. Oh! And if you'd like to win "3 Steps to Organizing Your Child's Room, go to Organizer Sandy, she's giving that and two other organizing books away.

TEACH Your Child How To Clean Their Room - Unfortunately kids aren't born with the natural gift to be able to clean their rooms properly. Nor are they born with the desire to clean their rooms. So we must TEACH them how to do this. For some kids this is a much harder task to do than for others. For my son, it's almost an impossibility. If we take it in small steps, it becomes a great possibility for him,. He is always so proud of his work once the room is clean again.

I have the kids do one task at a time. I have them put all the books away, then put all the legos in a bin, put all the dolls or stuffed animals in their proper place, etc. Break it down into small tasks so your child doesn't feel overwhelmed.

Make Sure They Know What is EXPECTED - My husband will say "Go clean your room.". So my son will go clean his room, which to him means, straighten the covers on the bed so the sheets aren't showing and clear a path from the door to the bed. My son will be so proud of that effort and then dad goes in there and tells him he didn't do a thing! Uh, yes he did. He did what he thought you wanted him to do.

Let your child know what you expect them to do in order for you to think they have actually cleaned their room. As stated above, break it down for them and tell them what you want done. You literally have to spell it out for them. If you don't tell them, they won't know what it is you want done.

It's OK to HELP Them - We all would love it if someone helped us clean the kitchen or living room or especially the bathroom. It's ok to help them. It makes the time go faster for them, and believe it or not, you may actually have a grand time with your child. They will also pick up and learn some of your cleaning habits if they see how you do things.

REWARD Them For Their Effort - I don't believe in paying my kids to do regular stuff around the house they should be doing anyway. But to have a nice treat ready for them after all their hard work is a nice reward.

Fraybaby sent me this link to Getting Kids to Clean Their Rooms. There's more tips in that article for you. Also, don't forget to go over to Organizer Sandy so you can win 3 Steps to Organizing Your Child's Room. Contest ends Dec. 30th.

Usborne's First Pets Series Help Children Learn How to Take Care of Their Pets

2008-12-27T15:42:00.027-05:00

My son begged and begged for a Fancy Mouse for Christmas. He is so very lucky that Santa thought he was a such a good boy this year and deserved what he wanted. I always had these cute little mice as pets when I was a kid, so I was all for it. It was my hubby that needed to be talked into it. Too funny.

So once the mouse arrived, my son told me to go get the Usborne book on mice. He just assumes that Usborne has a book on every topic he ever needs - and usually he's right. So I got him out the Hamsters IL book. I know it's not an actual mouse book, but hamsters and mice are similar.

If you're not familiar with Usborne's First Pets Series, these are great books that introduce kids to their first type of pet. The series includes Dogs and Puppies, Cats and Kittens, Hamsters, Gerbils, and Guinea Pigs. They take the kids through steps on how to take care of the pet, from choosing the right pet, to feeding it, to playing with it, to what the pet is trying to tell you by how it is acting. Each book is internet-linked which means you can find a wealth of information on each page topic online at the www.usborne-quicklinks.com site. My son found this video of a hamster being groomed. I can't believe that thing sits so still for that! It must love it.

My son loves his new little critter pet. It's cage has a detachable compartment so my son brings that mouse with him wherever he goes. That's a very loved mouse.

Merry Christmas from Children's Activities with Usborne Books

2008-12-23T23:18:00.001-05:00

It's Not Too Late to Become an Usborne Books Consultant in '08

2008-12-18T23:52:00.002-05:00

Only ONCE a year…for ONE MONTH only…Receive more time! Become an Usborne consultant in December, and receive a 16 week incentive period! That’s an additional 4 weeks to earn cash & books through our One-Step-at-a-Time Program. It’s a great way to start the New Year. Join now! >>>

Earn money while working a flexible schedule
Develop an incredible home library of books
Promote the love of reading and learning
Earn exciting bonuses, prizes and incentives
No inventory required

Get Your Reluctant Reader Reading with Usborne Books

2008-12-07T22:35:00.006-05:00

The other day my hubby told me he owed me $20.00. "For what?", I asked. I had just gotten home from doing a Holiday Market event with Usborne Books and my husband had gone through a box of books I had brought in. He usually pays no attention to my Usborne Business except when I get my check each month.

So he had gone through the box and had found Illilustrated Stories for Boys. He read through it, thought it was such a nice book. So he gave it to our son and told him it was his book and he'd really enjoy it. "So why do you owe me $20.00?" I asked. I should have taken it!

Our son, whose 10, hates to read. We literally have thousands of books in our house, my life revolves around books, and he hates to read on his own. He LOVES books. He loves to have me read to him - it's something we thoroughly enjoy together. Unfortunately I have not been able to get him to establish that LOVE for sitting down and reading a book on his own. He's a great reader too. He has great comprehension and is definitely above grade level for reading.

My hubby was so PROUD when he called me into the doorway of my son's room to spy on him. There was my sweet boy laying on his bed READING Illustrated Stories for Boys. He stayed in his room and read the first 5 stories in one sitting.

Granted this book is below his reading level, but that's ok. There is nothing wrong with kids reading at a lower level for pure enjoyment. It just may get them interested in reading for enjoyment - which is a great thing for them to do!

I have had many parents tell me how Usborne Books changed their child's reading habits. I have heard so many stories from parents about kids who wouldn't read, had no interest in books, but once they picked up an Usborne Book, something happened. This is exactly why Peter Usborne created Usborne Books - to get and keep kids interested in reading. So if you have a reluctant reader, you just may want to get him or her an Usborne Book or two.

Chriistmas Gifts, Activities, Prizes from Usborne Books

2008-12-04T14:22:00.004-05:00

Christmas is coming!

These two NEW Christmas Books are perfect gifts for young children. Bright colorful illustrations and textures to touch and feel on every page help children develop language and sensory skills. Carsyn just loves his Touchy-Feely That's Not My Dinosaur.

See the complete selection of Touchy-Feely Books from Usborne.

Win a set of activity books

To get you in a festive mood, we have three fantastic sets of Christmas activity books to give away in our Christmas drawing. Each set includes a copy of Christmas Fun, Christmas Fairy Things to Make and Do, and the fabulously creative Little Book of Christmas Cooking.

For your chance to win one of these sets or other prizes, enter the Christmas Drawing on the Usborne Website.

Drawing will be held December 12th

News flash!

We're thrilled to announce that Story of Inventions has been awarded the 2008 Parent's Choice Silver Honor Award. Toasters, toilets and televisions, computers, cars and chocolate bars, flying machines and even your jeans, all these everyday things and many more are only here because someone bothered to invent them. This book reveals the real-life stories and bright sparks behind dozens of brilliant inventions.

You could win one of five copies of this book or other fantastic giveaways in our Christmas Drawing! Enter today!

Drawing will be held December 12th

See other Usborne Award Winning Titles.

Baby's first Christmas

Enjoy the magic of baby's first Christmas with Usborne's delightful Christmas Lullabies book and CD.

Listen to a tune from Christmas Lullabies CD.

See the complete range of Usborne Christmas books.

Perfect gifts!

Books make perfect gifts - and they're easy to wrap, too! You will find plenty of fun Usborne books, activities, and games the whole family will enjoy. Be sure to check out our award-winning Wind-up Tractor Book, Sticker Books, Activity Cards, and classic stories for boys and girls.

Drawing will be held December 12th

Christmas activities

And finally, some Usborne Christmas Activities you can download and enjoy today! Take a sneak peak inside Christmas Fun and make your own custom gift tags – and try this great idea from The Usborne Christmas Treasury Kid Kit create Snowman Christmas Cards with just a little paper, markers, and scissors.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all!