My Picks for Pediatricians by Usborne Books and More

We had an impromptu visit to the pediatrician's office today. We thumbed through some of her books she had in the exam room about bodies...and it got me thinking about all the books by Usborne Books and More that would fit in with her library. Then I realized how many parents, doctors, teachers, museums, and others who follow Preschool Engineering and how you might like this collection, too.

You can find these picks in a convenient list here.

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Dog hurt his foot, Sheep scratched her tummy and Bear sat on a splinter! What will make everything all better? Clean it, kiss it and put a bandage on it! Young readers will delight in the five animal friends’ misadventures and be eager to help make things “all better” with the five reusable and repositionable stickers.

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Since we all eat, we all must poop. All of us! Everyone!
This wonderful, modern-day toddler classic presents information that children both want and need in a refreshingly honest, informative, and age-appropriate way.

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Now you can discover the inside view of the amazing human body...with the help of fantastic fold-out flaps. Find out what happens to the food that you swallow. See how a baby grows in its mother. Take a look at how you see, hear, smell, taste and touch. This volume contains three Flip-Flap titles: What happens to your food?, How do your senses work?, and How are babies made?

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This engaging book answers all kinds of body questions that young children ask. Lift the flaps to discover when, where, what, why , who, how, yes or no.

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Peek under all the flaps in these colorful and engaging books--perfect for little fingers and curious minds.

This brightly colored information book is a fun and interactive way for children to learn about themselves and the world around them. Learn about human diversity (skin color, hair color, eyes, tastes, etc.), different emotions a person can feel, daily routines, different types of families and loved ones, and their own body.

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The Gas We Pass explains how and why gas is produced and eliminated. Just as with all the titles in the best-selling My Body Science series, the material is simple, straightforward and refreshingly honest, and is presented with humor to appeal to both children and adults alike.

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Open up the huge fold-out pages to discover the amazing ways the human body works. Explore a giant skeleton, find out what’s inside your head and see what happens to the food you eat.

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Have you ever wondered what's inside you? Take a tour around your amazing body and find out what your heart and lungs do, how you see and hear, where food goes and lots more. Your Body is part of an exciting series of books for children who are beginning to read on their own. The easy-to-read text has been specially written with the help of a reading expert.

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Follow your food as it travels through your body. Take a deep breath and explore your lungs. Let your mind boggle at what your brain can do. This exciting book, packed with lively illustrations and fascinating flaps, is bursting to reveal your body's amazing secrets.

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Discover the secrets of the human body with the newest beautiful, educational, and fun title in the Shine-A-Light series. Hold a light behind the pages to see muscles flex, watch as food travels through the digestive system, and take a peek at the skeleton holding you upright.

Amazing photographs and illustrations with lively text to explain the amazing human body.

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Growing up is a whole lot easier if you have some idea what to expect. This book describes exactly what will happen to your body in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way, and it explains some of your feelings too - all you need to know for this important time in your life.

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STEAM by Usborne Books and More

This one is for you Preschool Engineer fans! I scoured the Usborne Books and More website and chose some nonfiction books for you to enjoy with your young children. Most of these are listed for the older set of preschoolers 5+ or kindergartners but, in my experience, any "Lift the Flap" or "See Inside" books work with young children, too.

There are more STEAM books about science for the older set, too. For learning beyond preschool, check out the Illustrated Dictionaries, Stories of Science and Inventions, This is Not a Math Book, and Academy Books.

To go straight the the List I created on Usborne Books and More click here.

Science

There is a huge range of topics within "science" and Usborne Books and More touches on a lot of them. General science, life science, weather science, and space science are among them. Here are my top picks for science...

The Usborne Illustrated Elementary Science Dictionary tells it straight and simple, explaining everything children and parents need in order to understand basic level science. This book will help to lay a firm foundation for confidence and success in science. Readers can dip in for quick explanations or work through by subject to build knowledge step-by-step.

A quirky lift-the-flap book that answers children's questions about science. A fun book to dip in and out of, it has lots of quirky and interesting facts children will find fascinating.

Science Activities Series: These bright, exciting books respond to the growing emphasis on scientific exploration for young children.

See Inside Science Books like this one!

A lift-the-flap information book that introduces readers to the science of weather. Filled with facts from how hurricanes and floods happen to how global warming is affecting the Earth’s climates.

Technology

Like everything in the acronym, Technology and Engineering overlap quite a bit. For purposes of this list, I am focusing on technology as "tools."

An interactive introduction to information and communication technology, which explains what goes on inside computers to make them do what they do. With lots of flaps to lift and look beneath, fact-hungry children will devour the fascinating data contained in this bright and engaging non-fiction book. A return to the days when Usborne was a market-leader in computer books for children. Many of today's tech professionals were inspired by Usborne's coding books from the 1980s.

Have you ever wondered just what happens when you flush a toilet, or what goes on inside a light bulb? Do you want to know how a digger scoops up soil, why boats float and what keeps planes up in the air? Lift the flaps to see inside how things work--from everyday inventions to massive machines.

Engineering

For the Engineering section, I chose books about how technology is put to use in everyday life. As trains, buildings, and spacecraft.

Trains hold a fascination for just about everybody and this lift-the-flap history of locomotion tells it all from Stephenson's Rocket to the bullet trains of today.Lift the flaps to explore all kinds of exciting trains, from a luxury steam train fit for a queen to super-fast trains that run on magnets, trains that can climb up mountains, and lots, lots more.

Part of a collectable series of interactive information books.

Whoosh around the globe to explore soaring skyscrapers, elegant cathedrals, leafy parks and bustling shopping streets. With fun flaps and stunning illustrations, this book takes you inside some of the greatest cities in the world.

Blast off for an amazing inside view of spacecraft – from the early days of the Space Race to building a space station, exploring Mars and more.

Art

I have to admit that that I chose "Famous Paintings" book because my young children have enjoyed looking at "grown up" art books with me and they are some of my favorite memories around books. It is listed for the older set but I think you could enjoy it with your little ones, like I did with mine.

This delightful treasury combines dazzling art from around the world with exciting projects to do that will inspire every young artist. It includes famous European paintings, delicate Japanese prints and traditional African masks, and each work of art is followed by a project influenced by the artist's methods or ideas.

Packed with amazing paintings, prints and sculptures, this book invites you to peek inside the world of art. Lift the flaps to reveal how art is made, explore interesting details and uncover hidden clues.

This lavish book provides a picture-by-picture introduction to 35 of the world's best known, best loved paintings, from oil paintings to prints, all beautifully reproduced and explained in a simple, engaging way.

Math

An innovative approach to what can be a dry and tricky subject, this book is perfect for parents and children to share on the road to learning essential math skills.

A brand new series of interactive board books to make it easier for children to learn math skills. Slide the simple mechanisms and see the picture change to show the result of the additions and substractions, making math visual, concrete, and easy to understand!

Children need lots of practice when learning important skills and this durable book allows them to repeat simple math problems again and again.This book introduces very simple addition and subtraction which will lay solid foundations for mathematics.Comes with a special wipe-clean pen which is really satisfying to write with, yet easy to wipe off the shiny pages.

An ideal introduction to numbers and counting, specially designed for children in their first few years at school.Clear and simple explanations with lively illustrations guide children and parents through essential math concepts.Can be used as a dictionary, or to work through to build knowledge and skills step-by-step.Includes internet links to the best interactive websites offering math puzzles, games and practice.

An Easy Way to Find 100 Things That Make You Happy

The Weight of a Word

Sometimes semantics get me. More often than not "gratitude" feels heavy to me. It feels serious. And as much as I know that it is the "little things" that count, it is easy for me to miss them. The wide eyes and smile of pride from my daughter when she does something hard.

So when I spotted this book at the library, I felt curious. It looked playful and fun and light and, well, happy. I mean the word is right there in the title.

A Happy Book

We sat around the kitchen table for our afternoon snack and read it together:

In the grand tradition of “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” comes an uplifting tribute to 100 everyday things worth celebrating. The list, in rhyming couplets, draws directly from a preschool­er’s world—from slippery floors to dinosaurs, from goldfish to a birthday wish. Amy Schwartz weaves a masterful balance between art and text, with each of the 100 items portrayed as its own well-observed and warmly detailed vignette. While the contents provide readers with a frame of reference for the quantity of “100”—a celebratory milestone in preschools and early elementary grades—the oversized pages envelop young children in the wonderful things surrounding them.

It Seems Like So Many...

...but its not. If you just look around at your life you could probably find one thing that makes you happy. It might be a cup of coffee, a piece of chocolate, a sweetly sleeping baby, a clear night for walking around the block, an empty dishwasher...the possibilities are endless.


Reading "100 Things that Make Me Happy" got us all thinking that we should start writing our happinesses down - one per day. (My daughter even asked about our Thanksgiving tradition of doing something like this.) Plus, it is commonly recommended to write gratitude journals. It is supposed to help you be happy. But I always felt the heft of "gratitude" weighing me down.

Simply reframing the word to "happy" made things infinitely easier for me.

The Perfect Happy Journal

To my delight, I found the perfect happy place to record our ideas: 101 Joys Make a Rainbow

Themes

Then I realized that we could write 100 things that make us happy and then read them all on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

But why stop there? Just imagine all the ways you could use "100 Things That Make Me Happy" as inspiration for gifts. Here's just a few ideas to get those creative (and happy) juices flowing:

• 100 Ways You Make Me Happy (to give to a child, a parent, a teacher, a friend)
• 100 Day Countdown to Something Big (holiday, birthday, vacation)
• Baby's First 100 Days

Short and Sweet

One of my favorite things about this project is that it invites my reluctant writer to something feasible. Just like the book is a list of simple things, short phrases, sometimes just a word, his journal can also be short and sweet and to the point.

Sensory Books by Usborne Books & More

Just like the element of surprise in plot is important for older readers, the element of sensory surprise is important for visual and tactile learning. 

This list is a selection of what I call "Sensory Books" by Usborne Books and More because, in my opinion, they have the corner on the market on unique kinds of sensory experiences for young readers. 

See the entire list here: http://m6038.myubam.com/wishlist/3f26bd1d-8304-4174-86d5-bf44510040e0 

[By purchasing through this site, you will support the Patchwork School's Book Drive.]

Fingertrail Books

A brightly colored, high-contrast, fingertrail book for babies. Delightful to share, this book will engage even a tiny baby's attention, and as babies grow, they will love to trace their fingers around the tactile finger trails. This series is designed to be used from birth.

Lift-the-Flap First Q&A Series

These stylish, highly illustrated, interactive books are perfect for sharing with young children, and introduces science using a friendly lift-the-flap format. (Search "First Q" to see this Q&A book and more!)

Peek Inside a Fairy Tale Series

The classic fairy tale, brought right up to date for a modern audience with beautiful illustrations and fine laser-cut holes and cutaways which add depth and drama. These are sturdy board books!

Slide and See Series

Engaging, interactive board books, specially designed for very young children, full of vivid colors, stylish illustrations and friendly animals. Simple slider mechanisms allow a picture to be transformed. (Search "Slide" for more.)

Peek Inside Nonfiction Series

Popular topics (animals, farms, gardens, and more) brought to life with beautiful illustrations and fine laser-cut holes and cutaways which add depth and drama. (Search "Peek" for many more!)

Shine a Light Series 

Readers simply hold the book’s pages to the light to “see-through” everything that’s being built – inside and out. (Search "Shine" to see the whole collection!)

That's Not My ____ Series

This delightful series of board books is aimed at very young children. The bright pictures with their patches of different textures, are designed to develop sensory and language awareness.
(Search "That's Not" to see dozens of choices!)

Muddle and Match Series

Readers will make up their own funny stories and create magnificent monsters as they flip through the split pages and muddle things up! (Search "Muddle" for more!)