Advantages: Great quality and range of children's books
Disadvantages: Some books are a little on the expensive side

...which is a perfect bedtime read on Christmas Eve as it shows the excitement of Christmas through the eyes of two young children as they get ready for Santa's arrival. The stories are well written and well illustrated. Usborne have introduced a whole range of extra items such as jigsaws, lotto games and first words in French, German or Spanish all based on the Farmyard Tales books. As well as learning foreign languages, Usborne also publish books which teach easy piano or recorder skills, football skills, parents guides to teach their child to swim. The range really is extensive. For those children more reluctant to read, there are jigsaw books where each page is also a jigsaw, sticker books and art and craft activity books. And if your child is more into fact than fiction, they have an impressive array of encyclopedias and reference... Read review

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Advantages: Hours to suit/build up good store of books
Disadvantages: None yet!

...Since having my 2nd baby,I have been trying of ways for me to stay at home and earn myself a bit of cash. Via a working from home message board I came across USBORNE BOOKS AT HOME...(UBAH) I contacted the person who had posted the message and wey hey 2 weeks later Im up and running all for £19.. **A BIT OF HISTORY..** USAH,is a division of the Usborne Book Publishing company,and It serves the ever rapidly growing market of PARENTS/TEACHERS/PLAY LEADERS who are looking for good quality Books! Usborne have over 1000 titles in print and are aimed at the Baby market right up to the Teenager market.They also specialise in Books aimed at the key stages(for those who know anything about school) **SO THE BUSINESS AND WHATS IN IT FOR ME!?** Well it is a business. And there are many ways you can go about conducting your business... Read review

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Advantages: No pressure to buy, can use it as a book club or as a home business.
Disadvantages: Orders below £75 get a £2 postage surcharge.

...an excellent series of language books, (on various languages from French to Hebrew) and the science and history books and encyclopedias are outstanding. We are home educating and this is such a timely find: I could probably find an Usborne title for almost everything we want to do. The only negative really is that it is not a standard book club, so there is the £2 surcharge for small orders. Also, there is absolutely no obligation to buy a certain number of books during the year, but if you want to stay a member in the New Year one has to put in an order of £100 or more during the preceding autumn - but this is not a difficult task with the Christmas season coming up and friends, colleagues and neighbours looking for presents to buy. That is it - the only disadvantage I have found. Actually, there is one more disadvantage - you... Read review

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Advantages: Loads of wonderful things for the creative child!
Disadvantages: None!!!

...a bargain!!!! To get this or the many other wonderful "make and do" books in the series,either contact "the book people" - www.thebookpeople.com, OR contact the publishers on www.usborne.com. ~~~CONCLUSION~~~ This book is truly wonderful,my children are quite creative,(probably my influence!),so this caters for them in every way. The only down side to this book is the fact that i work...........to do everything in this book would take weeks, i have been lucky enough to book this christmas off, so at least i know what i'll be doing!!!!! Thanks for reading my review!!!!... Read review

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Advantages: Great, achievable art and craft ideas for children.
Disadvantages: None

...ΔΔΔ Introduction ΔΔΔ Having been delighted with a couple of other Usborne Activities books relating to things to 'make and do' I was expecting to be just as pleased with some of the 'How to Draw' Usborne Activity books that I bought for my niece who loves to art and craft activities and has a new fascination with dinosaurs. ΔΔΔ The book ΔΔΔ At the beginning of the book as you would expect there is a Contents page which is very easy to use. As with the majority of books in this series, there are 17 things to make, which I have listed below: ~ baby dinosaurs ~ dinosaur shapes ~ hide and seek ~ spikes and scales ~ potato printed dinosaurs ~ hungry dinosaurs ~ dinosaur collage ~ finger printed dinosaurs ~ cartoon dinosaurs ~ diving dinosaurs ~ wings and frills... Read review

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Advantages: Lots of good ideas to make with your little fairies
Disadvantages: Some things are quite fiddly - better for older children

...Fairy things to make and do is an activity book full of lovely ideas that fairy fans can make. It includes a double page of lovely silver stickers to adorn over all the things you have made. It is an Usborne Activity book by Rebecca Gilpin. Usborne was founded by Peter Usborne and has been running for over 30 years and they do loads and loads of different books for children including early years books, early and young readers, jigsaw books, bath books, the list is endless. My little girl is two and a half and has just got in to making things at playgroup. She gets really excited when we go and says what are we making today. I decided to purchase a book of activities that we could make together at home and i brought Fairy Things To Make and Do by Usborne Books. Well i have to say that it was a good buy, it is full off lovely... Read review

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Advantages: Creative seasonal activities and ideas
Disadvantages: Quite a lot of adult input / help needed

...ΔΔΔ Introduction ΔΔΔ I am quite a fan of Usborne Activities books relating to things to 'make and do' that I have bought for my niece who is a huge fan of everything to do with princesses, fairies, ballerinas etc. I also tried this out in a lunch time art / craft club I 'run' for Year 3 children, age 7 - 8 year olds. It has to be said that this has been popular and without sounding totally un-pc… it has only been used by the girls! ΔΔΔ The book ΔΔΔ At the beginning of the book there is a Contents page which is very easy to use. As with the majority of books in this series, there are 17 things to make, which I have listed below: ~ Snowflake fairies ~ Glittery star chains ~ Fairy tree decorations ~ Holly fairy collage ~ Spangly star wand ~ Ice Fairies... Read review

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Advantages: Lots of ideas
Disadvantages: List of materials required please

...has pictures of the make as it is at each stage as well as pictures of the finished 2product2. these are bright and appealing, and certainly make children want to have a go. The activities are usually quite simple to follow and because the stages are clearly ordered, children can usually have a go without too much adult intervention. In the centre of the book are lots of shiny silver stickers- hearts, crowns, diamonds; almost anything you could need or want to decorate your fairy make. OTHER BITS OF INFORMATION ISBN: 0-7460-5667-2 RRP: £4.99 Website: www.usborne.com OTHER SIMILAR USBORNE BOOKS: For anyone interested in fairy makes, there are similar books available, but careful, because, like me, you run the risk of being inundated with the things! The books include: • 50 fairy things to make and do •... Read review

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Advantages: Great art and craft ideas for fairy fans!
Disadvantages: Adult help needed, only a disadvantage if you aren't willing to help

...is beyond most infant / KS1 children. However a lot can be done by children, such as the paint splattering and designing the funky fairies outfits etc. §§§ Price §§§ The paperback version that I bought, ISBN: 0 7460 4667 2 was £4.99. However on Amazon they are available from just 61p just in to account P&P charges. ∫∫∫ Usborne Activities Books ∫∫∫ Usborne have a huge range of activity books available. I have listed some of their ‘make and do’ activity books which they hope cater for the masses! ~ Pirates ~ Summer ~ Mermaid ~ Knights and castles ~ For Dads ~ Sparkly things ~ Monster things ~ Princess things ~ For Christmas ~ Fairytale things ~ Easter things ~ Wizard things §§§ Final Thoughts §§§ This book is a great buy for any adult who is looking for inspiration in fun arts... Read review

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Advantages: Good overview of the language
Disadvantages: Don't bother with the quicklink

...First thousand words in Italian Having an Italian father who is frequently in his home land, and a Little Miss who spends most holidays over there, it was important that she got more than the basics, and learnt them quickly. Whilst listening to people speak a language is obviously the most effective way to learn a language, I also wanted her to be able to read some of the more common words so that she was able to learn to read Italian as she learnt to read English. Whilst this has obviously not happened as quickly as she has learnt English (she lives here), this book has been a good way to introduce her to the written word. ~~The Book~~ In typical usborne style, this is a nice big, brightly coloured book, so nothing threatening for young children. On the front is a picture of a busy farmyard scene, with words and pictures dotted... Read review

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