If your kids received money from Grandma, an Uncle, or whomever... they're probably thinking pretty hard about what to spend it on! Instead of another toy that will break after just a few days, why not show them all the neat books and activities Usborne has to offer? Our books are built to last! We have books on nearly any subject they can think of! We have games, puzzles, dot-to-dots, joke books, and tons of other products to choose from! Check out my online store and see if there's anything they like! www.HeyJadeBooks.com
I have several books available if you are in need of some last minute kids' gifts. Text me or email me HeyJadeBooks[at]gmail.com and let me know you wanna stop by tonite or tomorrow (til 4pm)! Here is what I have (click on the title to find out more and see the price, tax applies but no shipping costs!)...
Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope Is the Word is a fun weekly meme to showcase the books you are reading aloud to your children. It is so important to continue reading to your kids, even after they've learned to read themselves! Read to them until they move out if you can! I read to my 21-month old at naptime and bedtime and to my 6-year-old a chapter from a book every nite at bedtime, and read to both of them all throughout the day. Sometimes my older reads to my little, which always blesses my heart! I also use this opportunity to highlight some of the great Usborne Books & More titles I have to offer.
Christmas Book Basket #2
Last week, I gathered up a bunch of our Christmas books this week and put 'em in a basket in the living room so that the kids could look through 'em as they wanted. I did the same for this week, only this time we used lots of library books too! Books like Mrs. Claus's Crazy Christmas, Pooh Bear's The Sweetest Christmas and The First Day of Winter (which we, of course, will read today - the first day of Winter!). I don't really have time to review them all, but the boys really enjoyed Santasaurus - a story of a little dinosaur who's only only Christmas wish is to fly in Santa's sleigh. It's pretty cute to see the little dinodeers (instead of reindeer) and refer to the little guy's parents as Momosaurus and Dadosaurus. Heh. And, as always, The Polar Express is a delight to read and enjoy. Can't miss out on that one! I have all the makings to create a lapbook for it, but since my computer was down all week and we're nearly out of ink anyway, I decided that it can wait till next year. Preston will probably benefit from it more next year anyway. Lol.
A quick spotlight on a few Christmas Usborne books we played with this week. Yes, I said "played with" instead of read because they're fun! The first one is the Pull Back Busy Santa, which just so happens to be half-off right now (only $12.50!). It's a delightful book with a little story about Santa's journey on Christmas Eve, punctuated with four tracks that a little toy, pull-back Santa uses to zoom all over the place! The kids LOVE this one, of course! Who wouldn't? The other book we played with was the Christmas Sticker Book. Adorable Christmas and winter scenes, then decorated by stickers! Preston loved getting to design his own pages. Sadly, this one is out of stock, not available anymore. Glad we got our hands on it when we did! More Christmas Usborne offerings can be found at www.HeyJadeBooks.com.
A lot of the books we checked out from the library were pretty old, and not available to show up in the Amazon widget, unfortunately, so I also added some movies we watched!:
[This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through a link clicked here, I do receive a small compensation, and I want you to know I greatly appreciate it!]
Home Office just announced that they have placed the Busy Santa Pull-Back Book on sale. He's half price right now, but they won't have them for very long! This little guy is so cute! He whizzes through the North Pole, the city and more on 4 tracks made right inside the book. The kids all stop and look at this one when we're out at events, they LOVE playing with him! If you order today, you'll receive the book in plenty of time for Christmas Eve fun! Check him out! www.HeyJadeBooks.com
Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope Is the Word is a fun weekly meme to showcase the books you are reading aloud to your children. It is so important to continue reading to your kids, even after they've learned to read themselves! Read to them until they move out if you can! I read to my 21-month old at naptime and bedtime and to my 6-year-old a chapter from a book every nite at bedtime, and read to both of them all throughout the day. Sometimes my older reads to my little, which always blesses my heart! I also use this opportunity to highlight some of the great Usborne Books & More titles I have to offer.
Christmas Book Basket!
I gathered up a bunch of our Christmas books this week and put 'em in a basket in the living room so that the kids could look through 'em as they wanted. And we have spent a while reading through some of them together. This evening, Preston, my 6-year-old, read me The Night Before Christmas, and I read him the Texas version! Lol. Then, for bedtime, I read my 21-month-old God Gave us Christmas. I noticed that it has a lot of references to the Names of Jesus, which we are doing as our Advent/Christmas Countdown this year, like "Light of the Word" and "King of Kings"... so I might be re-reading that one to Preston soon!
Several years ago, I found a neat booked called The Homeless Christmas Tree. This book was a wonderful find because I actually know where this tree is in Fort Worth, Texas! It's based on a true story, and you can drive by the actual tree at any time of the year and see it "dressed" for whatever holiday is closest! I always wondered about the history of that tree, and was quite surprised to find a book on it! Super neat!
And, of course, I have to talk about some Usborne books. A lot of the Christmas titles went out of stock even before Thanksgiving, but I got my hands on the Advent Calendar to Color and 1001 Christmas Things to Spot. We have been having a blast with those these past few weeks! Both boys enjoy coloring in the Advent flaps and looking at all the busy pictures in the spotting book. Usborne has some wonderful Christmas titles... stories, activities, cook books, games, coloring books, cards and so much more! There's still time to order for Christmas, too! Orders up until December 20th, are most likely going to be delivered before Christmas Eve! www.HeyJadeBooks.com
Here are all the books currently in our Christmas book basket:
Check back next week for another basket-load of Christmas reading!
[This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through a link clicked here, I do receive a small compensation, and I want you to know I greatly appreciate it!]
This is one of my favorite Usborne titles right now. Don't tell him, but my 6-year-old is getting this for Christmas! It's called The Book of Know How! A large, hardback book with over 100 pages, it includes all kinds of things kids love... magic tricks, information on how to be a spy, ideas for games and all kinds of adventures. It's really neat. I've loved looking through it, and I just know my son is going to be so excited to get started on some of these things! There's definitely something in this book for every member of your family to enjoy! Makes a wonderful family gift! You'll find more awesome books like this at my online store, www.HeyJadeBooks.com. It's not too late to get your Christmas orders in! But don't wait too much longer!
Our very popular action-adventure series Conspiracy 365 is adding a 13th book very soon, entitled Revenge! It continues the story of Callum Ormond...
On New Year’s Eve Cal is chased down the street by a staggering, sick man with a deadly warning … “They killed your father. They’ll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days!” Hurled into a life on the run the 15-year-old fugitive is isolated and alone. Hunted by the law and ruthless criminals, Cal must somehow uncover the truth about his father’s mysterious death and a history-changing secret. Who can he turn to, who can he trust, when the whole world seems to want him dead? The clock is ticking. Any second could be his last.
And a TV series is being filled in Australia, and is set to hit the screen in January. Not sure if it will be released here in the US. Perhaps we can watch it online?! Here is an exciting trailer:
You can purchase the books separately, in 4-book sets or the entire current series at www.HeyJadeBooks.com.
Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope Is the Word is a fun weekly meme to showcase the books you are reading aloud to your children. It is so important to continue reading to your kids, even after they've learned to read themselves! Read to them until they move out if you can! I read to my 20-month old at naptime and bedtime and to my 6-year-old a chapter from a book every nite at bedtime, and read to both of them all throughout the day. Sometimes my older reads to my little, which always blesses my heart! I also use this opportunity to highlight some of the great Usborne Books & More titles I have to offer.
Last nite my little one brought me The Poky Little Puppy to read for bedtime. Oh my goodness, my older son made me read this particular book to him every night for nearly 6 months! It's a good thing I love that Poky Little Puppy! He takes me back to my childhood... I used to have a record with stories and songs on it, and this was one of them. I still get that song stuck in my head, "Where in the world is that Poky Little Puppy? Where in the world is he?" Lol. It's just a sweet little story, with a lesson to be learned. Anyway, both Preston and Callen cuddle with me on the couch as we went through the exciting adventures of those naughty puppies!
And for Preston's bedtime last nite, I picked up a story book called Goodnight, Me! This a book all about an adorable orangutan telling each of his body parts that it's time for bed! This book, written by Andrew Daddo, is so sweet, I almost can't stand it. Haha. "Legs, get some rest. We've got a lot of jumping to do tomorrow." And as he progresses, he, of course, gets sleepier and sleepier. I like this one because it can be interactive, but doesn't get my kiddo wound up... but rather, nicely wound down and ready for bed! For each body part, I have him raise it or point to it and repeat the words so that he's telling HIS body to go to sleep. It's pretty darn cute!
Now it's time for a spotlight on an Usborne book we looked at this week: Beauty & the Beast! This is a beautifully illustrated story book of the classic tale. There are many versions of Beauty & the Beast, and, according to the back of the book, this one closely resembles a retelling of the story from 1765 by a French writer by the name of Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, though written down by Gabrielle Villeneuve. It is not the same as the Disney version, just FYI. Which, personally, I think makes it more interesting - I like hearing different versions of well-known stories like this. My favorite thing about this particular Usborne book is the gorgeous illustrations throughout. Every page is covered in vividly colorful scenes of what is going on in the story. See an example here and here. It certainly helps keep your reader's attention. This book is part of the Usborne Young Readers Series Two. Read more about our wonderful reading program here.
[This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through a link clicked here, I do receive a small compensation, and I want you to know I greatly appreciate it!]
