Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Usborne Books- Review

Books... How important are they to you and your family?
 
We love books. I started collecting books before I was 18 years old for my future kids. That was over 12 years ago. We need books that are going to last year after year, kid after kid. I don't allow toys during nap time, but I allow books. I don't travel with toys in the diaper bag, but I do bring books. I feel like books are very important in your day to day life. I read at night to relax, to get lost in a fictional world, to learn how to cook, to understand why my child is peeing on the floor instead of in the toilet. We use books EVERY SINGLE DAY with our homeschooling curriculum. We read to get closer to God, to help find ways to strengthen our marriage, and even to learn how to grieve after we lose someone.
 
With all that being said, why don't we invest more into our children's books?
 
For my son's 3rd birthday party I asked all of his guests to bring books as gifts. Kids have so many toys. They play with them for awhile and then it's on to the next cool gadget. Books can last forever. They help our kids use their imaginations. They help them learn about such a wide variety of subjects. If your child is a die hard Mario fan... (Had to bring him up!) you can search and find books about him to keep your child interested. Books make up such an important part of our intellectual being! Books stimulate our brains! I don't know about you, but after so many years of "Mommy Brain" my brain needs some stimulation! Ha!
 
I even have books from when my older sister was a child. Books over 30 years old.
 
So, when I was asked to do a review on Usborne books I probably screamed a little out of excitement. I enjoy reviewing products that I LOVE. I enjoy doing reviews even more of products my kids LOVE. This was a very easy decision for me.
 
I know you're probably thinking what makes Usborne Books different from going to "WallyWorld" and buying some. First off, you would be supporting someone local. I love that! This is a direct sales company that strives on a personal experience when choosing your books. The books are high quality and very educational. (Win Win in my opinion!) They also offer over 2,000 books to choose from! That means it doesn't matter what age group you're looking for... They carry it!
 
So, we were given TWO books from Tanya, who is an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More. (She's the best!)
 
She picked:
"Baby's very first touchy- feely animals book" by USBORNE (Enter our giveaway at the bottom to win this book!)
"Secerts of the Seashore" by Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner.
 

The touchy-feely book is perfect for my girls. K can read it, identify every animal, make the sound, and NOT destroy it! She loves pop-up and touch books but tends to be rough on them. She did great with this book since the different types of materials are made into the pages. We even shared the book with S who loved to drool and chew on the pages. It is still in one piece and being read daily. I also love that before each animal it lists an adjective describing what the child is feeling. I don't know how many 2 year olds are saying Velvety and Furry, but mine is! There are also no sentences in the book which make books hard for K to sit through the whole thing. Fun colors and chunky pages made this a favorite in K's opinion.
 
Then we got to explore the second book. Oh my, I am in love!!! If there is any activity that speaks to my kids, it's FLASHLIGHTS! What a great way to draw in children a little longer when it comes to reading.
 
I could go on and on about this book, but I wanted to share a little video of L reading it. Remember... he is only FIVE!!!
 
This was such a fun way for us to sit down and spend time together while still learning. L is just learning how to read, so this also gave him a challenge. Which every mom likes! We incorporated this with his homeschool lesson about sea life. In the back there is a "There's More" page that lists ideas for the kids to do while out exploring. It encourages the kids to become more hands on when at the beach. I feel like this book will be something fun we can reference several times during our school year. The illustrations are super cute and the lettering was easy to read. Not enough pages to overwhelm them, but just enough to make an in-depth story time. L now can draw sea anemones!
 
After L and K looked at the catalog I let them make a wish list. I then talked to L about what he wanted for Christmas and to my surprise BOOKS were all over his list! This is one proud momma.
I decided to open up a party under Tanya incase anyone was interested in ordering from her. L and K would love to earn a few more books to add to our growing collection.
 
Here is the link if you're interested in seeing what Usborne has to offer. They have more than JUST books. Tanya is VERY helpful and fast when it comes to answering your questions. Ordering is quick too so these would be prefect for Christmas!
 
Her Facebook page is Reading Under the Usborne Tree.  Please 'like" her page and show her some love! She deserves it!
 
WHO LOVES FREE BOOKS???? Enter our giveaway here:


http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7d670e7d1/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway


 
If you have any questions for me please ask away! I am happy to give you honest feed back. If you're interested in me reviewing one of your products please email me at mallorysessions@Hotmail.com for more information.
 
 
 
*I do NOT accept compensation for reviews other than the actual product I am testing.
 
 
 

21 comments:

Poe Kitten said...

Some of my daughter's favorite books are from UsBorne! She LOVES the It's Not My...series. I'm really wanting to get her the flashlight ones...they're on my wish list for her:)

Heather W said...

I have too many favorite books to list just one, but Watership Down, Possessing the Secret of Joy and especially Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet are all beloved by me! Great giveaway!

Stephanie T said...

I like the Big book of Little stories book as my favorite. The muddle and match books look neat!

Tanya Fisher said...

I love the muddle and match. There is just so many thing you can do with it.

Shellie said...

So many. I love you forever though would rank in top 5. Didn't read USBORNE to my four children. I would love to read them to my grandson. He is going to be 4 months old.

Tanya Fisher said...

Shelli if you are interesting in having a FB party to earn free books for you grandson just message my page. Would love to help you get free books. https://www.facebook.com/ruutt2010

Sarah Elyce said...

I still love "The Giver."

Heather Garcia said...

I used to read books when I was a teen, I read all The Hardy Boys books, them the Sweet Valley High books, I really enjoyed the Flowers in the Attic series from VC Andrews. Then after I had kids I stopped reading for enjoyment for me and was only reading kids books (Mo Willems is a favorite of my girls) but a friend insisted I read the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and I got my reading groove back.

Tanya Fisher said...

Heather Im so glad you have gotten back to reading. It is such a great get away every mom needs.

AdrienneSullivan said...

Latest favorite book to read with the kiddos is "The Hungry Caterpiller"...also love them picking out new books at the library!

Erin Mollie Rasmussen said...

We love Wild About Books, and There's a Monster in the Back of This Book

One of my newer favorites is The Help

G Wag said...

I so agree that we should invest in books for our children and later, grandchildren. I am personally not familiar with Uborne Books. We like the Richard Scarry and 100 First Words board books. We look at them over and over! I'm interested in trying these books now that I've read your review. Glad I found your blog site!

Tanya Fisher said...

G Wag I would love to introduce you to Usborne. You can message my page so we could chat.
Tanya

Shane F said...

I like the hungry hungry caterpillar

Kim Reid said...

My favorite is "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", thanks!

kimberlybreid at hotmail dot com

christy sweeney said...

MY FAVORITE BOOK IS I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER.....

beth said...

I love Pride and Prejudice.

Dominique Cloutier said...

A Little Bear's Football book is awesome!

ohhhfire said...

i like the step by step drawing people book, it would be perfect for my oldest son who loves to draw.

carissa joslyn said...

my sons favorites are a cookie monster one and i have a guess who flap book thst i had since i was little i saved foe my kids :)

dlhaley said...

I like the book Just Imagine.