it's that book
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but which book?

so you're looking for that perfect book.

...but where do you start, with so many to choose from? Let me help! Here are specially curated lists I've pulled together of Usborne books I can personally recommend. Some are written up in blog posts, others will be soon. Have questions about any of the books? Shoot me a line! I would love to help you find that perfect book.  Books marked with ** are titles I've blogged about.

I have arranged my lists primarily by age group - but these age groups naturally overlap depending on a kid's abilities and interests, so it's not foolproof. I'd recommend checking out the list above or below the age group you're looking for.
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multi-age picture books

I can't categorize these by age - they're good anywhere from baby through elementary!
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  • ** ​Animally (see blog post)
    • hardcover picture book ($11.99)
  • ** ​Anne of Green Gables (see blog post)
    • padded hardcover picture book ($9.99)
  • ** Can I Join Your Club? (see blog post)
    • hardcover picture book ($12.99)
  • ** Cordelia (see blog post)
    • paperback ($6.99) or hardcover ($12.99)
    • matching plush available ($14.99)
  • ** ​Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster (see blog post)
    • ​paperback ($6.99)
    • matching plush available ($12.99)
  • ** Kitty Kat, Kitty Kat, Where Have You Been? - London (see blog post)
    • hardcover picture book (hardcover, $9.99)
    • also available: Kitty Kat in Paris ($9.99)

babies

  • ​Baby's Very First Bus Book​
    • board book with wheels ($8.99)
  • Baby's Very First Slide and See Animals
    • board book with tactile elements ($14.99)
    • also available: four other themes in the series
  • Learn Colors with Little Red Penguin
    • simple flap book ($7.99)
    • also available: Numbers, Shapes, Words, Collection of 4
  • ** My First 100 Words (see blog post)
    • tiny board book collection ($12.99)
    • also available: Farm Animal World, I Can Count, Wild Animal World
  • ** That's Not My Dragon (see "that's not my..." blog post)
    • board book with textures ($9.99)
    • also available: 38 other books in the series!

toddlers

  • ** Shine-a-Light books (see blog post)
    • hardcover ($12.99)
    • 13 books in the series!
  • ​Wind-up Train Book
    • board book with stories and 4 tracks ($29.99, includes train)
    • also available: bus, pirate ship, plane, race cars, tractor
  • ​Muddle and Match
    • board books with three flippable sections per page ($8.99)
    • 6 books in the series!
  • ** Big Pig on a Dig and other phonics readers (see blog post)
    • paperback ($6.99 each)
    • also available: Phonics Readers Complete Library Collection ($69.99 for 20 books with hard cardboard case)
  • ** Choose Your Own Journey (see blog post)
    • out of stock - due back April 2017
    • hardcover ($11.99)
  • ​Colorful World: Forest
    • board book ($5.99)
    • also available: Farm, Mountain, Sea
  • My First Keyboard Book
    • hardcover with working keyboard attached ($18.99)
    • also available: Big Keyboard Book, My First Christmas Keyboard Book

early elementary

  • ​10 Ten-Minute Stories
    • Combined volume of short illustrated stories ($14.99)
    • also available: 10 More Ten-Minute Stories, Five-Minute Stories
  • Billie B. Brown and Hey Jack
    • Short chapter books (4 chapters) for beginning readers ($4.99 each)
    • Billie B. Brown series includes 15 books ($59.99 for whole collection)
    • Hey Jack series includes 15 books ($59.99 for whole collection)
    • also available: coloring books and backpacks!
  • Cinderella (Peek Inside a Fairy Tale)
    • Board book with flaps and cut-outs ($14.99)
    • also available: Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood
  • ​** Complete Book of Farmyard Tales (see blog post)
    • Combined volume of 20 short dual-reader stories ($24.99)
      • CD of audio recording of all stories included!
    • also available in the dual-reader series: fairy tales, princess stories
  • ** The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth (see blog post)
    • Hardcover picture book with flaps ($16.99)
    • also available: Teddy the little mammoth plush! ($12.99)
  • ​First Sticker Book: Trains
    • ​Paperback book of scenes and 150 stickers to add to the scenes ($6.99)
    • also available: lots and lots of sticker books!
  • ​Lift-the-Flap Math
    • board book with flaps ($13.99)
    • also available: hard to summarize - there are tons of lift-the-flap books!
  • ​Look Inside a Castle
    • Board book with flaps ($14.99)
    • also available in the "look inside" series: 8 more themes, including airports, computers, jungles, food...
  • ​** Nibbles the Book Monster (see blog post)
    • Hardcover picture book with multi-layered flaps ($16.99)
    • also available: Nibbles plush! ($12.99)
  • ** Wipe Clean First Letters (see blog post)
    • Dry erase book with marker included ($7.99)
    • also available: there are so many in this series! Letters, numbers, mazes, dot-to-dot, drawing, etc! 
  • Wipe Clean Alphabet Cards
    • Collection of dry erase cards with marker included ($9.99)
    • also available: numbers, doodles, activities

late elementary

  • 100 Paper Spaceships to Fold and Fly
    • pad of 100 spaceships to tear off and fold - patterns included ($7.99)
    • also available: planes, dragons, and birds!
  • ​Coding for Beginners
    • manual to learn coding with a free platform called Scratch ($14.99)
    • also available: Coding for Beginners using Python 
  • Cut and Color Playbook: Cities
    • create multi-layered scenes by coloring elements and cutting as directed ($12.99)
    • also available: Cut & Color Seasons
  • ​Illustrated Stories from Aesop
    • combined volume of over 30 illustrated fables ($19.99)
    • also available: a range of topics, including Greek myths, Shakespeare, Animal Stories, etc.
  • ​** See Inside How Things Work (see blog post)
    • board book with flaps ($14.99)
    • also available: lots of other flap books with varying complexity
  • Tell Me a Story
    • paperback book with thick pages, full of creative writing ideas ($11.99)
    • also available: Paint Me a Picture
  • ** The Usborne Outdoor Book (see blog post)
    • spiral bound hardcover book of ideas for outdoor activities ($9.99)

middle school - activities/nonfiction

  • ** Architect Academy (see blog post)
    • interactive activity book with math and engineering tasks ($12.99)
    • also available: astronaut, engineer, vet
  • ​Encyclopedia of World History
    • paperback illustrated encyclopedia of world events ($19.99)
    • also available: a variety of encyclopedias of science and history
  • The Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas
    • hardcover spiral bound book of famous paintings and artistic techniques ($19.99)
  • The Usborne Complete Shakespeare
    • hardcover book of illustrated prose summaries of Shakespeare's 37 plays ($24.99)

middle/high school fiction

Some of these novels are hard to place, as kids at this level have such a varied ability and interest level. So I'm lumping them together!
​
  • Conspiracy 365
    • ​series of adventure/thriller novels about a boy on the run from mysterious criminals (paperback, $4.99 each)
    • books range between 680 and 820 Lexile level; each book averages 180 pages
    • also available: the complete collection
  • The Last Thirteen
    • series of fantasy/adventure novels about a group of teens fighting against an ancient prophesy (paperback, $5.99 each)
    • books average 730 Lexile and are around 224 pages
  • ** The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow (see blog post)
    • mystery set in a newfangled London department store in the early 1900s (paperback, $6.99)
    • 940 Lexile level, 320 pages
    • also available: The Mystery of the Jeweled Moth
  • ** The Phoenix Files​ (see blog post)
    • ​series of fantasy/science fiction novels about a mysterious town in Australia and the end of the world... (paperback, $6.99 each)
    • books range between 660 and 800 Lexile level and average 330 pages

high school and beyond - coloring books

  • We have a wide variety of detailed coloring books! A few favorites:
    • Literary Quotes to Color ($6.99)
    • ​Art to Color ($6.99)
    • Japanese Patterns to Color ($5.99)
    • Mandalas to Color ($5.99)
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Mission statement of Usborne Books & More: "The future of our world depends on the education of our children. Usborne Books & More delivers educational excellence one book at a time. We provide economic opportunity while fostering strong family values. We touch the lives of children for a lifetime."
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All writing on this site 
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© 2019 
Christine Bailey
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This website is designed by Christine Bailey, Independent Consultant with Usborne Books & More. Usborne Publishing Ltd and Usborne Books & More - EDC Publishing - Kane/Miller books have no connection with this web site and the pages therein and do not sponsor or support their content.
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