Why is Love of Reading Important?

Learning to read is hard work, and children who love books are more motivated and confident about facing this task. They learn to read more quickly and easily, with a minimum of frustration. Usborne Books will help lay the foundation for your child’s lifelong love of reading.

Summer Reading for your Family!

Find our what you could do with an Usborne Books business! Work with schools, teachers, children, fundraisers, homeshows & so much more! This FREE teleseminar covers the benefits, features and income opportunities that Usborne provides families. You can also go to www.myusbornebooks.com – and you will find consultant kit specials, the marketing program and more!

FREE Business Information teleseminar:                            

Playback Number: (712) 432-1283
Access Code: 147201#

If this isn’t for you and you know someone that could use a part time job, needs to replace a job, or just would like a discount on great books for their family library – feel free to forward this email on to them.

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!

Interested in Learning More? Contact me, I’d love to help.

Open up the world for your kids this summer!

 

Amazing adventures and discoveries await!

Open up the world of Usborne Books & More to the kids in your life.
Shop Now and see what’s new!

Research shows that children lose 1-3 months of reading and math skills during the summer. There are many things you as parents can do to combat that statistic:

Literacy tips for families:

30 Minutes a Day challenge!
Encourage your WHOLE family to read 30 minutes a day! Before starting set a goal for the family to reach & have a Grand Prize that the whole family agrees on as a reward! At end of a 75 day summer vacation, each person will have read over 2000 minutes!
- Make your child responsible to log their minutes on the calendar every day they read for 30 minutes. At the end of the week, add up all the minutes and have them write the number on Saturday.
- As an alternative, make a ‘thermometer’ for each child, draw in 30 minute increments for each day and let them color in each section they read.
- See #4 in how to get in 30 minutes of reading a day! Be sure to set mini goals – it helps keep the kids on track each week!

How do you get in 30 minutes of reading a day?
1. Visit the public library. Help your child to get his or her own library card.
2. Read to your child regularly, even after your child is able to read some books independently.
3. Listen to your child read. Use strategies to help your child with tricky words. For example, when your child comes to an unfamiliar word, you might say, “Skip it and read to the end of the sentence. Now try again – what makes sense and looks like the word that you see?”
4. Set up mini goals or have the family read a chapter book together. Read classic stories like: The Secret Garden; The Indian in the Cupboard, Heidi; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc. The reward? Rent the classic movie and watch it together after finishing the book – don’t forget the popcorn!

How can you support their efforts at reading?
1. Praise their efforts at reading.
2. Play word games such as thinking of different words to describe the same things.
3. Support your child’s writing. Have writing materials such as paper, markers, and pencils available. Read what your child writes.

Thanks so much! I hope this gives you lots of fun ideas this summer on encouraging reading.

Before I go, I’d like to recommend a few fun books for you to start with:

Wickit Chronicles: Ely Plot #605845 $5.95 (Note: There are 3 books in this series- Harry Potter fans love ‘em!)      

You’d think growing up in a medieval abbey, surrounded by nothing but monks and hundreds of miles of swamp, would be pretty boring. Pip thinks so too, until the day he meets Perfect, a small stone gargoyle with a life of her own.

Before long, the two find themselves in the middle of an assassination attempt against the new king. Escaping into the cold dark night, being chased across the fens by a man intent on killing them… Boring?

Anne Frank #512590, $6.99  

This exciting series retells the stories of fascinating historical figures, bringing them to life so vividly, it’s as if you’re there with them!  Most are stories about heroes – Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale and a few who are definitely NOT heroes – think Adolf Hitler.Not exactly.

Jack Russell: Dog Detective, An Awful Pawful #605531 $4.95

(Note: There are 8 books in this series! You could read them all this summer!) When Jack and Foxie return from vacation, they can tell that something terrier-able is wrong in Doggeroo. Why are all the dogs in Doggeroo hiding under their beds? Who – or what – has scratched their noses? Why are they so terrier-fied? It’s a case for the dog with the nose that knows. But soon, Jack is hiding under his bed, too. So, how will he solve the case of – THE AWFUL PAWFUL?

Huckleberry Finn #516031 $4.99  

Mark Twain’s classic tale of escape and adventure has been rivetingly retold for today’s readers and is as fresh and exciting as when it was first published over a hundred years ago. To get away from his violent, drunken father, Huckleberry Finn fakes his own death and lives wild in the woods. He soon meets Jim, a runaway slave, and the two outcasts set off on a dangerous journey down the nighty Mississippi river, in search of freedom. Huck’s chronicle of their adventures, and the amazing characters he meets along the way, is one of the great American Classics.

Little Women #512910 $6.99

Follow the adventures of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, in this lively retelling of a much-loved classic tale. The sisters fall into one scrape after another, as tempers flare, illness strikes and their lives are filled with new experiences and loves.

Well, I better stop – I could put a list of recommended family reading on as long as my arm! You can find all these online at www.myusbornebooks.com - or try clicking on the links. 

Tina Peterson, The Book Lady
www.myusbornebooks.com

Learning is an Art!

Creative Fun that’s Seriously Academic!

I have found a fun company while I was playing on the internet today and I thought I’d share a little about them today.   This company gives parents & families tools to use to teach skills that their children will need as they grow older.  Many of the products on the website cover basic math & reading skills for all ages – preschool to elementary.  I would think they would also be beneficial for parents who are working on their own reading and math skills so they are able to help their children.

http://www.learningisanart.com

Here are a couple of fun games that you can use as you do your daily activities – in the car, at home, or while your running errands.

1.      Road Sign Spelling Game

A fun game for long trips! Select a sign that you are about to pass. Everyone attempts to make a word using the letters on the sign. The longest word wins points!

Variation for older kids: Words must have 2 or more syllables.

Variation for younger kids: Print out the letters of the alphabet (in upper case) before you go. Have the children identify the letters on road signs or the license plates of other cars.

Variation for early readers: Think of words that start with one of the letters in the sign.

2.   Spell It Out Game

For this game, draw all the letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper, or cut out each letter from a newspaper or magazine. Put all 26 letters in a bowl or bag. During each turn, a player will draw a single letter. Next, roll a pair of dice. The sum of the numbers rolled will determine how many words the players have to think of that begin with the selected letter! See how many different answers you can come up with. Don’t look at each other’s papers! This is a game the whole family can play.

 

What kind of games or activities do you do in your home to encourage learning?  Post them below and let’s all learn a new game!

See all the new arrivals…

I haven’t posted in a quite a while and I have so much to share!  Usborne Books is now called Usborne Books & More! 

Why?  Because we have much more than just books!  There’s puzzles, music, games, learning games & manipulatives (for home AND school) and more!

Usborne Books & More has also acquired Kane Miller Publishing and we now have many more books to show!  The Kane Miller line of books touch the heart while Usborne Books touch the mind.  Your child will love these wonderful new titles. 

There’s are great books for baby & preschool:

- A friend:  #279006, $14.95, Age 3+   There are all kinds of friends, and all are explored in this lovely, quiet volume by Anette Bley. A tribute to friends of all ages, this is a book to be shared both with those just beginning the process of gathering and making friends, and those who have a lifetime of shared laughter and experiences behind them.  

- Animal Faces: #291624, $8.95, for all ages!   This marvelously entertaining and thought provoking book will fuel a lot of interesting discussions as children and adults alike learn to increase their observational skills.”  Each of the two dozen featured animals are introduced with a few sentences of text, followed by a question, such as: ‘Can you find the happy, sad or angry elephants?’ ‘What do you think these seals would be saying if they could talk to you?’  - School Library Journal 

- Duck in the Truck: #605760, $7.95 (P) or 8.99 (BB), for ages 1+,
  “This rollicking rhyming tale is a satisfying read full of delicious wordplay and silliness from start to finish. Children love the percussive sound of the language and duck’s sticky problem.” – Pixie Stix Kids Pix  This book is one in a series of 4 books: “Ducks Key, Where can it be?”, “Fix it Duck”, “Hit the Ball Duck” by Jez Alborough.

I want my potty!: #605234, $4.95, for ages 0-3, “The trials and tribulations of potty-training are described with fresh humor in this story of a little princess who grows tired of having to wear diapers. With the help of the king and queen and their many attendants, the princess learns that ‘The potty’s the place‘ although it is not always easy to reach on time! This is a laugh-out-loud funny book that is sure to help both children and their parents find a bit of silliness in a sometimes friction-causing subject.” – Telltales, Fine Children’s Books.  Part of “The Little Princess” series of books by Tony Ross

Announcing! 

New Books for the Middle Grade Crowd!

Here are some of the reviews I’ve heard so far from other consultants and parents:

The Jack Russell Dog Detective Series:  My 7 y.o. is racing through the Jack Russell Dog Detective series, cracking up along the way.  A great book for mid-late 2nd grade readers.  It uses lists and maps as part of the text, so it could be really helpful for teaching those skills.  There are also bold words that are “defined” in the glossary at the end of each chapter…these vocabulary words are all words that the dog uses in as he “speaks”…like “paw thing” “squeaker bone” and “nose map”.

This great series has a total of 8 books – so be sure to get more than 1!  $4.95, ages 7+

#1 – Dog Den Mystery, #2 – The Phantom Mudder, #3 – The Mugged Pug, #4 – The Lying Postman, #5 – The Awful Pawful, #6 – The Sausage Situation, #7 – The Buried Biscuits, #8 – The Kitnapped Creature

Moonrunner: #279037, $15.95, ages 10+ (would be great to read to a younger child maybe a bedtime).  A touching story of a young boy who has moved to Australia from the US and has a hard time making friends.  He meets a wild brumby (Australian mustang) and the two of them help each other out….Very touching story…I almost made it through without crying (not quite)….great for any 4-5-6th grader, especially any who love horses. 

Well, that should give you an overall idea of some of the great new books available.  Next time I’ll write about the wonderful new Heritage House series that we just released.  You’re going to love ‘em!!!