Unique Monique-Review

For those of you who have not heard the great news, Usborne has bought Kane Miller Publishing! In the process of obtaining Kane Miller Usborne has officially changed their name and logo. We are now called Usborne Books and More.

How does all this affect you? And what does this mean to you the customer? It really doesn't affect you the customer at all, except now you get to purchase great Kane Miller books from your Usborne Consultant! Yay! Isn't that great news?

To celebrate the fact that we now have Kane Miller books I decided to spotlight one of my favorites, Unique Monique!

Unique Monique is a great story about a young girl who has to wear a uniform to school. The only problem with the uniform is that she doesn't get to be unique.

She ends up trying different accessories to show her own unique style. Each accessory then gets copied the next day by all her peers and is then banned by the principal.

Until at the end Monique does find something that will express her unique style that is all her and no one can ban! Aren't you just dying to know what it is? Well, you'll have to get the book to find out what she can do to finally be unique!

I love this story because it helps teach the principle of individuality as well as the fact that everyone is unique. I also like the fact that she keeps trying, and that the first few things she tries are not allowed but she doesn't give up.

The book measures 11.5 x 8 inches. It is suggested for ages 5-9, though I think all ages will truly enjoy this book!

It retails at $7.95! WOW! What a great price. For less then $10 you can add Unique Monique to your home library!

Visit my website http://www.socalusborne.com/ and see what other great titles Usborne has to offer!

Please, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments you might have!

Cinderella--First Stories

The Cinderella book from the First Stories collection is just delightful. It has 16 pages that have bright well drawn pictures done by illustrator Stephen Cartwright.

This book was written for young children who are just beginning to read. It is a dual reader, meaning that the line at the top of the page is for the child to read and the lines on the bottom of each page give more detail and are meant for the parent or an older sibling to read. The story is easily understood with just the lines written at top so the child can read it on their own. The illustrations are superbly done giving rich meaning to the story.

As many of you know I home school my two daughters. They are 11 months apart, and sometimes this gap is huge while at other times it is incredibly small. The gap never seemed as huge as when I was teaching them how to read. The younger one, who is almost a whole year younger, took longer to grasp reading. This was a perfect book for my daughters to read together. I told the younger one that she was to read the line at the top of the page and the older one was told to read the lines at the bottom of each page. They were ecstatic to read a book together, and neither realized that one part was easier than another.

Another added treat with this book, as is the case with most of the Usborne Books illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, is that there is a little yellow duck hidden on each page! The kids have a great time finding the duck. Some parents have discovered that it is easier to let the kids find the duck on each page before they read what is written! Regardless of when you look for the duck, the child can find the duck even if they are too young to read.

This book is part of the Accelerated Reader titles. Accelerated Reader (AR) is a reading management software that is used in over 60,000 schools. AR helps teachers by providing and easy way to monitor all forms of guided reading practice.

This book is recommended for ages 3 and up. My girls, ages 6 and 7, still enjoy reading and looking at this book.