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

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

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

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

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

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

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. "Because I just bought that book from you for Barrett." he said.  I was shocked!

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.

PURCHASE

Chriistmas Gifts, Activities, Prizes from Usborne Books

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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. Register in our Christmas Drawing and you could win a Wind-up Tractor Book or other great gifts! Drawing will be held December 12th

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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!

This is My Kitten - Usborne Noisy Touchy-Feely

What a delightful book this is! Recommended for ages 6 months and up, This is My Kitten is a great book to get little ones interested in books. As with other books in Usborne's touchy-feely series, there are different tectures for kids to feel. Kids will enjoy feeling the kittens soft ears and fluffy tail. They will also be delighted to hear kitten "meow"!

Black Friday at Usborne Books

If you want some great deals this holiday season on Usborne Books, stop on by and shop our Black Friday specials. Save 20% - 50% on the Books Kids Love to Read. Give the gift that keeps on opening to the little ones on your list this year. Sale begins at midnight on Friday Nov. 28th and runs until 10:00 pm Monday, Dec. 1.

Happy Shopping!

Teach Kids Rhyming with the Learning Pallette

My daughter had a rough time grasping the concept of rhyming words. I had a friend tell me yesterday that her daughter was having a problem with rhyming words. So I explained to her what helped my daughter catch on - and she caught on quick!

Usborne Books carries Learning Palettes. These are great, self-correcting learning tools. Kids have fun with them and work independently at their own pace. I didn't realize how great these were until a friend of mine, who is a teacher, bought the Kindergarten Reading Center Kit from me. She raved and raved about them it. So as a home school mom, I decided that maybe the Rhyming Words Set would help my daughter grasp the rhyming concept. It worked! Soon I had just about every set. My kids love to use these. It's not hard to get them to learn while using the Learning Palette because the kids have so much fun with it.

The way the Learning Palette works is you remove the colored discs (shown on the picture above). Then place the card, question side up on the base. The kids answer the questions by placing the corresponding color disk in the slot with the correct answer. After completing all 12 questions, turn the card over and check the answers. If done correctly the colors on the card will match.

Math sets are also available.

Top 10 Usborne Books That Will Make Great Christmas Presents for the Kids on Your List

Books make such wonderful gifts, especially for children. Instead of that plastic toy that's inevitably going to break, why not give the gift of reading to the little ones on your Christmas list this year. I have compiled my top 10 favorite Usborne Books that I know will delight any kids who receives it under their tree.

1. Illustrated Stories for Girls and Illustrated Stories for Boys - These are beautiful story books. Each book contains many beautifully illustrated stories that boys and girls will love to read on their own or will love to have mom or dad read to them.



2. Dinosaur Excavation Kid Kit - Winner of the 2007 Mom's Choice Award for Children's Educational Product Category, this kit will excite any dinosaur enthusiast. Kit includes Usborne's Beginners Dinosaur book and an excavation kit where kids actually get to play paleontologist by digging out the dinosaur's bones and putting the dinosaur together. All tools are included. Recommended for ages 6 and up.



3. Fairy Tales - This beautiful combined volume showcases six of the classic fairy tales including Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Illustrated by Steven Cartwright, there is the little Usborne duck to find on each page. This is a sure hit for any child on your gift list.


4. Animal Stencil Cards - These cards are great! They are nice and thick so kids of all ages have no problem tracing the stencil. Kids will enjoy making all sorts of scenes and drawings with these stencil cards. Do up a gift box or bag of the Animal Stencil Cards, colored pencils, crayons, and some paper, and you will have a wonderful gift to give - a gift that will help any child's imagination grow.




5. That's Not My Penguin - This is one of my favorites of the more than 20 Touchy Feely books that Usborne publishes. Recommended for ages 9 months and up, this book will delight little ones who are just discovering the world of books. They will keep busy feeling all the textures that the penguins have while trying to find His or Her penguin. This makes a great introduction to books for this age group.


6. World Wars - This is a fantastic book for the older kids on your list. It's Usborne's combined volume of the First and Second World Wars. What makes this book so great, is that it's hard to find anything on the First World War, especially for kids. And it's internet-linked so kids can go to www.usborne-quicklinks.com and learn a whole bunch of more stuff about each topic - all on kid approved sites. My dad's buddy was a fighter pilot in WWII and he said Usborne's Second World War book was one of the best he's ever seen.

 







7. Book of Bible Stories - What a delightful book for those just beginning to read. It's even wonderful for those much too young to read yet. The Usborne Book of Bible Stories is a compilation of Bible stories from the Old Testament and stories about Jesus from the New Testament. Something I love about this book is that contains Bible stories that you usually do not find for kids such as Danial In the Lions Den and Jesus' story of Loaves and Fishes. It also includes a CD so kids can have the story read to them. My daughter loves to pop the CD in after I've read her all her stories and listen to it as she falls asleep.



8. 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland and 1001 Pirate Things to Spot - Kids love search books. They get so excited when they find the pictures they are supposed to locate. These are great search books for the younger ones on your list. These books help develop eye/hand coordination, teaches number recognition, and helps teach words as well. Any girl who loves fairies and any boy who loves pirates will eat these books up!


9. 50 Science Things to Make and Do - If you have a budding scientist on your Christmas list, 50 Science Things to Make and Do will be the perfect gift. This set contains 50 cards that shows a picture of the science activity on the front and step--by-step instructions on the back. This will provide hours upon hours of fun and learning. My son loves these cards. He flips through the cards, finds a few he wants to do and has at it. Most items needed are stuff you already have in your home. There are some things you may need to go out and buy, but that is the norm with doing any science activities.


10. Wind Up Tractor Book - I saved one of the best for last. This book is a huge hit with little boys and girls. The book contains three stories about a tractor and then each story includes the characters that you can pop out to act out the scenes of the story. It gets better. Each story has it's own track that the tractor rides around on. The kids just love it! This makes a wonderful gift - especially for those kids who love tractors. Another nice thing is the tractor winds up, so you don't have to worry about replacing batteries all the time for it.

Usborne has more than 1,400 titles for you to chose from for the kids on your gift list. If the titles I mentioned above don't spark your fancy for a particular child, do look on my site and take a look around. I'm sure you'll be able to find something for the little ones on your list.

Merry Christmas!

Free Book Give Away - 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do

I am so excited about this month's Free Book Give Away. I LOVE Christmas, and I have been waiting a looong time to give away 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do for our monthly Free Book Give Away.

For those of you who love to do arts and crafts with your kids, or for those of you with kids like mine who constantly like to create and make stuff, this is a wonderful book to have. As the title states, it has 50 different Christmas arts and crafts and activities that you can do with your child or that your children can do on their own simply by following the step by step directions.

This book will provide hours upon hours of activity for your kids to do - especially once they are home for "winter" break. It will also provide tons of Christmas decorations for your house and tons of gifts that you can give instead of spending your money out at the big box stores. My kids favorite things to make or do from this book are: the foil decorations, printed snowmen, dangling trees, and mosaic snowflakes.

If you would like to win 50 Christmas Things to Make and Do simply leave a comment about your favorite childhood Christmas memory. Contest open to US residents only. Winner will be announced at 12:00 PM EST Nov. 20th. Make sure you leave your email - without it I won't be able to let you know that you are the winner.

Pyramid Excavation Adventure Kit - Usborne Books Teaches Kids About the Giza Pyramids

Now here's a great kit to help you teach your kids about Egypt and the pyramids. Usborne is known for it's wonderful array of history books for kids. They have a whole collection of neat works on Ancient Egypt. This year Usborne came out with the Pyramid Excavation Adventure Kit. Kids love it!

Kids get to be a junior acheologist by excavating the treasures found within the Egyptian pyramids. The kit also includes the book Who Built the Pyramids? which teaches kids all about the Ancient Egyptians and how they built the pyramids.

This is a great kit for any kid interested in egypt, pyramids, and archeology. It's also a great kit to use in your home school curriculum when studying Ancient Egypt.

Other Ancient Egypt books for your kids published by Usborne Books:

Ancient Egypt Jigsaw Book

Egyptians IR

Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

See Inside Ancient Egypt

Enjoy Your Jouney Through Time!

Penguins IR

My kids just love penguins, as I am sure many of your kids do too. They just love the Penguins IR book published by Usborne Books. The book is all about the different types of penguins all over the world. They have two favorite parts in this book:

1. Where they show baby penguin growing inside the egg; and

2. How patchy and awful baby penguins look when they are in their 6th month of life here on earth.

This is an amazing book that teaches kids information about penguins that they won't get anywhere else. It includes a penguin facts page, glossary of penguin terms and a quiz. It's also Internet Related (IR) which means if you go to Usborne's quicklinks site at www.usborne-quicklinks.com, you will find kid approved sites on penguins. Just type in the name of the book and it will take you to some great penguin sites.

This book is great for kids who love penguins. It's also an informative book for kids who need or want to learn a little bit more about our fellow web-footed friends.

Usborne Complete Book of Farmyard Tales - A Must Have For Any Child Learning to Read

The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales is a must have for any child who is just about ready to start reading. Actually it's a great book for those who are younger to have read to them, and for those kids are early readers.

This book is great! It's a dual reader - which means it has easy text on the top of the page and a little bit harder text on the bottom of the page. That way, when Mary is starting to read, she can read the easy text at the top, and as her reading ability progresses she can start reading the text on the bottom too. This works great when you have two kids with two different reading levels. One can read the top portion, and the other the bottom portion. Another neat thing about the duel reading is that you can follow the story line whether you read just the top text or just the bottom text or both. Also, it's nice for mom and dad too - they can read the shorter version or the longer version based on how exhausted mom or dad is.

A CD is also included. The CD reads the stories to your child. I know my daughter loves to sit in bed at night after our own story time and have the CD read the stories to her. I think this really helped her when she was first starting to learn to read too. She also likes to bring the CD along in the car just to listen to the stories.

There are 20 stories in the Farmyard Tales Series. Each is included in this book. And each story starts the exact same way: "This is Apple Tree Farm . . . ". Repetitive text helps kids start to learn the words to the first page of each story pretty quickly.

Find the duck! Kids love to look for the duck that is on every single page of this book. Illustrated by Steven Cartwright, he hid a tiny little duck on each page of his books for the kids to find. This activity is great, and the kids just squeal when they find that duck!

As mentioned above, there are 20 Farmyard Tales stories in this combined volume book. Individually, each Farmyard Tale book is 6.95. The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales is only 24.99 so that saves you $94.00. That's a HUGE savings! Plus, this is a book that your kids will want to keep to pass on down to their own children.

Happy Reading and Happy Duck Hunting!

Free Book Give Away - Usborne's Going to the Doctor Kid Kit

This month Children's Activities is giving away a Going to the Doctor Kid Kit. This kit includes Usborne's Going to the Doctor book which is part of the First Experiences series. It takes kids on a journey through a typical visit with the doctor. For those kids not used to going to the doctor yet, this book will ease their mind about the experience. In fact, after they get to pretend play with all the doctor tools, they may be excited to go. This book is illustrated by Stephen Cartwright so that means there's a little duck to find on every page. Kids just love trying to find that duck!

Kids love pretend play. This kit includes all the doctor tools they need to be the doctor in your family. It contains a stethoscope, thermometer, reflex hammer, mouth mirror, otoscope, play syringe, glasses, and a prescription pad. My daughter has enjoyed this book and kit for almost three years now. It's funny to hear her in her room taking care of her sick dolls and calling them Jenny and Jack (the names of the kids in the book).

If you'd like to win a Going to the Doctor Kid Kit for your child, please comment below and let me know a little about your aspiring doctor. Make sure you include your email so I can contact you if you are the winner. Winner will be chosen randomly at noon on Oct. 20th.

Also, don't miss out on entering Usborne's monthly drawing for 50.00 in free books. The entry for that is on the big brown square box on the left column of this blog.

Vicky the Vet Kid Kit - One of Many Usborne Kid Kits

Your child will have fun playing vet with Usborne's Vicky the Vet Kid Kit. It includes a Vicky the Vet doll, kitty, and vet exam table. Also included is Usborne's book titled Vicky the Vet.(cover has been revised) The book itself is great. It takes kids on a daily adventure with Vicky at her veterinarian clinic. Your child can learn what vets do and learn some vet terms too - such as fleas, pulse, and stethoscope. Kids adore the pictures in this book because they are made of claymation people. The pets are claymation too.

My daughter wanted this kid kit because it had a cat in it just like ours. She actually keeps the figures together next to her bed and plays with them often. Kids enjoy having the figures from a book to play act with. It is so good for imaginative play.

Fred the Firefighter is another kid kit based on the Job's People Do Series. Fred comes with his own ladder and hose. It's not that often you come across a firefighter doll for kids to play with. Other books in this series include Daisy the Doctor, Tessa the Teacher, and Frank the Farmer. You can also get all these titles together in one volume called Jobs People Do for just $22.99. This saves you $18.91 if you were to purchase each book individually.

Teach Your Child the ABCs with Usborne's Alphabet Lotto

Teaching your child the ABCs and letter recognition can be one of the funnest things you do with your child. You can make it even more fun with Usborne's Alphabet Lotto game. Designed with the characters from the Farmyard Tales series, this game set includes numerous activities with a variety of difficulty levels. Recommended for ages 2 - 6.

Animal Hide and Seek - Usborne's Combo Touchy Feely and Lift the Flap Book

Animal Hide and Seek is a duel delight for children 9 months and up. Adults will have fun spending time with their little one as he/she discovers the textures and hidden pictures behind the flaps on each page. They also get to play a simple game of hide and seek and a simple counting game is included.

Another neat thing about Animal Hide and Seek is that it is part of Usborne's Farmyard Tale Series. It includes all the Farmyard Tale characters such as Poppy, Sam, Curly and Woolly . As with any Farmyard Tale book illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, there is a little yellow duck to find on each page.

Kids love this book and will enjoy it for a very long time.

Winner of Usborne's Spooky Stencil Cards

I am thrilled to announce that Toni of, It Is Nap Time, is the proud new owner of a set of Usborne's Spooky Stencil Cards. I will email Toni to get her address so I can get these shipped to her ASAP. Make sure you stop by next month to enter the Free Book Give Away. Contest runs from the 1st to the 15th of month each month.

Art Skills - Usborne Books

Usborne's Art Skills book is a very used book in our home. My 10 year old son picks this book up off the shelf and does projects from it on his own all the time. The above project came from the Giraffe Collage. My son didn't want to do the Giraffe (which is really cute!), but he wanted to make these little birds. They were simple to make by following Usborne's easy instructions that are included in their art and activity books. He even started making other birds from the same concept. The vulture he made was too cool, but doesn't fit in my scanner. The metal fasteners that are used on this project allow for the birds wings to move.

Other projects in Art Skills include Tissue Paper Fruit Rubbings, Techniques for Painting Trees, Skies, and Water, Sponge Printed Animals, Finger Paint Flowers, Textured Houses, and many more projects.

If you have kids who love doing arts projects, this is a great book to have on hand for them. If you home school or want to provide extra art instruction for your children at home, this book will provide that for you.

Usborne's September Spectacular Starter Kit

Ok, so I have to fill you in about the icon above and on the upper left of my page. It has all the info about Usborne's September Spectacular Starter Kit.

I don't know if many of you are aware, but moms (and dads) can have their own activities with Usborne Books by becoming an Usborne Books consultant. The great thing about it is you earn extra income and can earn quite a bit of free books. You can start your own Usborne Books business for only 35.00 this month. That includes shipping! You get nine fabulous Usborne titles, the supplies you need to get started, and your own e-commerce site.

There's a few different types of Usborne consultants:

1. The Discount Shopper - Many people sign up with Usborne solely to have a lifetime discount on Usborne Books. This is great for people who buy a lot of books, and home schoolers who use a lot of Usborne Books in their curriculum. It's only 35.00 to sign up this month, and you get over 100.00 in Usborne Books. You do the math. That's a great deal right there.

2. The Hobbyist - There are people who love books so much that they sign up with Usborne just for the fun of it. These people like to dabble in the business and have fun with it. Usborne has no monthly quotas, so it's great for the hobbyist book lover.

3. The Business Builder - This is someone who wants to build a businesss. You can't go wrong with Usborne. It has such a nominal start up cost, you get all the supplies you need and your own e-commerce site. There are many avenues where you can make money - home shows, school and library sales, reading incentive programs, grant matching programs, fundraising, booths, and web sales. Usborne also provides great training. If you sign up on my site here, you also get me as your sponsor and supervisor. I will help you build your business into the big business you desire.

4. The Web Consultant - Many people are looking for an online business, or already have an online business or blog that they would like to earn extra income from. By having your own Usborne site, the sky is the limit on what you can do with Usborne on the web.

If you have any questions about the Usborne business opportunity please email me at usborneactivities@yahoo.com. I will be more than happy to go over everything with you.

If you're ready to join my team and the world of Usborne Books you may sign up here.

Kristie

Mermaid Tales from Usborne Books

Anne-Marie at My Readable Feast has a fantastic post about Disney's new Little Mermaid movie and Usborne's wonderful mermaid books and mermaid activity books. For those of you who have girls that love mermaids, these make wonderful birthday and Christmas gifts. Click here to take a look at The Little Mermaid -Ariel's Beginning and Mermaid Tales from Usborne Books by Anne-Marie.

Usborne Free Book Giveaway - Spooky Stencil Cards

Ok, so this isn't a book, but they are great Spooky Stencil Cards. Your kids will love designing their own Halloween or spooky scenes, drawings, and cards. 52 cards are included in this pack. These are wonderful to use for arts and crafts projects too. The cards are made of a nice thick stock, so they are easy to trace. Stencils include classic Halloween subjects such as the ghost shown to the left, bats and skeletons.

I know many of you moms would love to win a set of these so your kids cn create some fun projects. Just post a comment below explaining why you think your kids would like these. The most creative answer will win the set of Spooky Stencil Cards. Just make sure you enable your email so I can email the winner to get your shipping address. Winner will be announced at noon on Sept. 15th.

Happy Stenciling!

That's Not My Monkey ... It's Ears Are Too Soft

That's Not My Monkey is part of Usborne's Touchy-Feely board book series. This is a delightful book that children 9 months and older will enjoy for years. Each page has a diferent texture to it, which is a great way for kids to develop sensory and language awareness. They will enjoy going through this book over and over again. It makes a great addition to your "busy bag".

That's Not My Monkey also has repetative text. Children start to recognize the words to the book, and will eventually start reading it to themselves. My daughter started with That's Not My Puppy and enjoyed that book for a good 4 years. You can't beat that for getting your money's worth out of a book!

There are 27 different toucy-feely board books in this series. Most are only 7.99. A few, like That's Not My Fairy and That's Not My Princess, are 9.99. With these prices, and the great quality of these books, they make wonderful gifts for those having a baby. They will also make wonderful stocking stuffers for the littlest of ones on your Christams list. Yes, Christmas time is upon us already!

Keep Your Kids Busy with Usborne's Big Book of Things To Make and Do

This is a painting my daughter did back when she was just 4 1/2 years old. I had just started with Usborne and she always had to be painting, so I found some wonderful painting activities for her in The Big Book of Things to Do.

This is such an awesome project. It actually walked Em through the steps to complete this adorable penguin picture. I kept one color of paint out at a time for her. When she was done with that color, we washed the brush and got the next color out. There was quite of bit of waiting for paint to dry, so that worked out perfectly. For instance, first she painted the blue background. Then she had to wait for that to dry. Then she brushed some white paint over the blue paint. Then she had to wait for that to dry. She had to do this with each step. By waiting for each step to dry, you end up with a wonderful masterpiece instead of a big swirly mess of brown or icky colors. You also end up with a clean table instead of one full of messy paints to clean up.

Also included in The Big Book of Things to Do are activities for growing plants and gardens, cooking, drawing, arts and crafts, dress up, and other painting activities. For only 18.95, you can't go wrong with this book. It is full of enough activities to keep you busy for a full school year!

Make This Egyptian Mummy from Usborne Books

My 10 year old son is fascinated with the Ancient Egyptian Era. Anything he can get his hands on when it comes to this subject he begs for.

I had Make This Egyptian Mummy in my stash of Usborne stuff, and he found it yesturday. He had so much fun with this. "I liked this cause it had a mummy, and I built it in a couple hours!".

I think he was most proud of the fact that he was able to build this so quickly. Many of these heavy stock cut-out models take days if not weeks to build. He built the Mayflower last year (not an Usborne publication), and it took weeks to get that built.

The nice thing with this, the model ends up pretty large. He was so excited that it was so big. He's built many mummy and sarcophaguses from other activity kits, and this one is the biggest. Heck, this boy could open his own museum with all the stuff he's built.

At just 9.95, Make This Egyptian Mummy is a great activity for those kids interested in Ancient Egypt and mummies. This is also a great resource for home schoolers who are studying Ancient Egypt.

By the way, my son started on the Trojan Horse today. He is bound and determined to finish this one in one day as well.

Winner of I Can Draw Animals Free Book Giveaway

Congratulations Rachel! You are the first winner of our monthly free book giveaway! Rachel won the wonderful book I Can Draw Animals. Here is the original post on this free book giveaway.

Make sure you come back on September 1st to enter our second monthly free book giveaway.

Kids Can Make Their Own Greek Pot from the Ancient Olympics

Your kids will have a blast, just like mine did, making these ancient Greek pots. This is one of the pots my son made. You can print them off so your kids can keep their designs. They look pretty neat. Your kids can make their own pots here.  Be sure to check out the other Greek activities on this site as well as the Egyptian information and activities.  There are tons of information and fun activities for your kids to learn about the classical era of history.