Usborne Books & More - Special Picks for Preschool Engineers

Finding Needles in Haystacks

Have you ever struggled to find high-quality books about trucks, machines, and other topics that are mechanically interesting and/or about STEM? Probably. Because I have, too. That's why I started this Preschool Engineer blog!

I've Found Some Needles for You

I have done some digging for you and found the Usborne books that I thought your Preschool Engineer would love. Why buy from the Usborne site?

1. High-quality Books
2. Buying through my site will help support me and ensure that I can continue bringing you awesome information about STEAM learning that you love. (I write this blog and manage the corresponding Facebook page because I am passionate about early childhood development and learning STEAM, but I would be grateful for some small income to support my time and effort.)
3. You won't find Usborne Books for less. (I've searched other online and local sources and have not found them for less.)

Look at the Awesome Usborne Titles Below!

I have scoured Usborne titles for you and put together Special Picks for Preschool Engineers (and Beyond). Scroll down for more info...

That's Not My...

Speaking of grabbing hands… Usborne offers books that support sensory development with their Touchy-Feely Books.

Bonus learning: the “not” statements offer pre-Logic education.

If you asked your kiddo(s) to fill in the blank, “That’s Not My _____.” what would he or she say?
Search "That's" to see a whole list.

Big Books

The Big Books are Fold-out books for kids who have outgrown the Baby Fold Outs. Non-fiction topics are taught with BIG images, plus a little text, which is perfect for Preschoolers (and their grown-ups).

Which Big Book would work for your family? Machines? Space? Bugs? Dinos? Body?

Search for "Big Book" at: https://m6038.myubam.com/729693

See Inside and Illustrated Dictionaries

Elementary School Children still delight in books that are image-heavy. Look at these picks for your Preschool Engineers who have grown into Elementary-aged school children because you’ve been with me since the beginning...

Search "See Inside" Books (there are many many more topics) or "Illustrated" Dictionaries…

Shine a Light On

These books are neat because the design is so clever. Images are intentionally printed so that by shining a light from the back of the page the reader reveals the overlapping designs that are “hidden” images.

Check them out here at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05dn7u-qFFI

Shine a Light on Construction Site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipEhNupjVRU

Where would your child hide with a flashlight and a Shine a Light On book?

Search "Shine" at the following website to see more than a dozen themed books!

Sticker Books for Building 2D

Stickers are always recommended for keeping little hands busy. My son was never compelled to play with stickers...until Usborne’s ROBOT book. And my daughter? Well since she was two she has just LOVED playing Dolly Sticker Dress-up.

Search "Sticker Dolly" to see a gazillion picks for dress-up.

Search "Build Your Own" to see all the machines one can build in 2D.

Any Doc McStuffins fans out there?

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.

https://m6038.myubam.com/p/4503/all-better

Wipe-Clean

We LOVE the Wipe-Clean books, activity cards, and optical illusions by Usborne. Check out these titles to keep little hands interested and creative! There are options for all ages!!!

Search "Wipe" to see more than 40 choices and pick one or two that are right for your Preschool Engineer!

Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers

Life's Biggest Questions (and Answers) in awesomely interactive Lift-the-Flap Books!

Search "Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers" to see all the awesome Q & A support offered to you and your Preschool Engineer by Usborne!

Story of...

For your Preschool Engineers who are now Elementary Engineers... More narrative, more information, same spirit of learning!

Search "Story of" to find these titles (and a few more).

https://m6038.myubam.com/729693

The Preschool Engineer's Definitive Guide to TRUCKS

Before I had a son I called all working machines “trucks.” Alongside my toddler I have learned more about trucks than I ever would have guessed. We have read books (good, bad, and ugly). We have memorized lyrics to songs. We have played with (and, if possible, broken) what seems like every toy truck available.

This is the definitive list of all things TRUCK. It is a summary of the best toys, music, videos, and books for preschoolers about trucks.

TOYS

Outdoor Toys
In our experience, TONKA makes the best toy working trucks. They are rugged and can withstand the rough and tumble playground play of preschool. After being flung down the slide, their pieces remain in tact. Their wheels provide great traction on a variety of surfaces. 

These are the three best trucks for building a working fleet: 

1. a grader (a blade for smoothing surfaces), 
2. a trencher (for scooping and dumping), and 
3. a dump truck (with an angled bed so contents to just fall out when being transported).

The hefty steel trucks by TONKA might be too much for your family. Prefer plastic? Our favorite plastic toy trucks are by BATTAT. And, conveniently enough, they offer three different kinds of trucks to add to the working fleet.

1. front end loader (scoop on the front is agile and easy to maneuver but you will likely have to constantly tighten the screws),
2. garbage truck, and
3. cement mixer (expect your child to directly turn the drum instead using the tiny crank).

Crane trucks are tricky because there is a rope that, presumably, gets cranked up and down that has to also attach to a hook. Our favorite is by Mattel because is is sturdy and has been dragged all over. The catch is that the rope does not do a lot of out and back work...usually my kids tie or tape things on the end. At the high price, I would probably go for a different truck in the fleet but if a crane is what you need then this is our fav:

The trucks I list here have been in our family for three to five years and have withstood the tests of time.

Indoor Toys
Our favorite indoor truck play is with Play-doh's Diggin' Rigs toys. The machines themselves are interesting to work with and putting them together makes for imaginative play that might take over your entire room. These are our favs:

• A circular saw (never did I ever think I would find a toy circular saw!),

• Logging truck (complete with buzzsaw),

• Fire Truck (for spraying water that isn't really water...it is blue play-doh!),

• Brick Mill (a funnel and a crank!),

• Quarry (a crank and tumbling play-doh gravel).

The last awesome toy I'll list is Constructive Eating Utensils. They are my go-to gift for two year olds. These "toys" have also been in my family...for six years...and they are still used on a weekly basis.

MUSIC

Truck Tunes is easy to recommend for truck lovers everywhere. The songs are snappy and strangely stick-in-your-head-y and they describe trucks and the work they do. Thirty songs are available to download!

VIDEOS

The folks over at Twenty Trucks also made music videos of their Truck Tunes. You can preview them on YouTube or download them to your device for on-the-go entertainment (i.e., airplane travel).

Mighty Machines is a show produced in Canada for kids. It features live video footage of real machines at work. The audio is dubbed over and gives voices to the machines who tell the stories of their days. Learn about rock quarries, work on the farm, deep underground, and even take to the seas or skies!

Pick some to buy or watch on Netflix.

Bob the Builder on PBS Kids is a cartoon series and has an empire of its own. Each episode reveals a project for Bob and his team of machines to do. Books, an app and toys are available to coordinate with the show. The story-telling and animation are both awesome. Bob and his team are easy to recommend as additions to your preschooler's world of TRUCKS.

BOOKS

Here is my first word of warning: Steer clear of books by TONKA. They are practically sales catalogs for their toys and the writing is downright awful. If you need something akin to truck-porn then I recommend Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go or Richard Priddy's First 100 Trucks. 

If you are looking for better books...ones that you can enjoy as much as your child then check out the list below.

For the Love of Trucks
These are the books that tell a story about playing with trucks or loving them.

Trucks and the Work They Do

These books teach about trucks...the sounds they make, the work they do on their own, or as a member of a truck team.

Trucks Come to Life

These books tell the story that has a truck as the main character. [Note: I do not LOVE "Dinotrux" but boy oh boy do kids love it!]