Shameless Plug

I am not a "party" person.  I don't do Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Candlelight or any other such things.  I understand why some women enjoy them, but in an effort to keep our spending largely in the "must have" category and not end up with 13 unaccounted for Tupperware lids falling out of my cupboards, I have kept attendance at such parties to a minimum.

Therefore, it makes me extremely hypocritical to approach anyone and shamelessly plug something I am trying to sell!  However, it IS Christmas time, and people DO need to buy nice gifts for kids, and I do have a really good reason for doing it...yea...right...

Actually, I have a severe case of "book envy".  Any homeschooler knows of Usborne books, as they are some of the very best around with wonderful illustrations, really great content, and you can build an entire curriculum around some of them.  Since beginning homeschooling last

year, I have coveted 3 large volumes.  The Internet Linked Encyclopedias of Science, Geography and World History.  We stopped at a booth where these were displayed a few months ago and Matthew drooled for almost an hour!  These are absolutely fantastic resources to have around when homeschooling, and they are reasonably priced considering their quality and content, but we don't have any extra funds to cover acquiring them.  Hence, the aforementioned shameless plug...I thought I'd try and see if I could earn a little towards the purchase to help make it more affordable.

The fact is, you really can't buy better books than these...the selection is huge, and our school library for the homeschool program is loaded with them because they are so popular.  I don't endorse anything here on the blog, I purposely don't have Amazon ads or anything else, and there are no hidden bonuses I get when I mentioned I read a book or use a curriculum or anything.  I am just sharing what I may have happened to stumble upon that I found valuable.  So, whether you are interested in purchasing something from my E-Show or not, you simply have to tuck this in the back of your mind for that time when you run across a book loving kid and need a great gift idea. 

In all seriousness, these are the single best books I have seen and are

Matthew LaJoy tested and approved!  Hahaha!  The history selection is phenomenal as is the science section.  The internet linked selections are so totally cool!  Throughout a particular book there will be suggested internet links to visit pertaining to a specific topic. Instead of listing links which need to be continuously updated, you are directed to visit the Usborne site where they keep the list updated and current with hundreds (could be thousands) of current links to the best educational web sites for the topics presented in their books.  You just read an article in the book, click, and find the most entertaining, appropriate, engaging web sites that would take hours of research to find!  They have a large number of internet books ranging from animals to science to history. 

In addition they have several really well illustrated versions of the classics for the younger set or earlier/emerging readers like we have in our family.  The other kids all really enjoy those books and I'd love to get a nice selection of them as a set.  They also have lower level readers for history and science subjects as well, and what I love about them is that they do not talk down to the kids, but instead present solid material at a lower vocabulary level.

There are Kid Kits with games and art activities packaged along with a book, Spanish language selections, toddler board books...you name it, they have it and I guarantee you it will be a delightfully illustrated book.  Usborne books are not available in bookstores, and are only sold via catalog or shows/Eshows. 

If you think you might be interested, my Eshow lasts for 10 days, closing on November 20th.  You purchase through the web site and I'll get credit toward our hopeful purchase.  If you know me in real life and would like to check out a couple of books before deciding to purchase or would like to view a real catalog, let me know and I can share samples I have borrowed and show you a catalog.  You can click on the link below to be directed to the Usborne site where my show is being hosted:

www.ubah.com/HOS187453

While I do hope that this show allows us to get the books we'd love to have, I also hope that some of you out there discover a line of books that you might not know about and is what I consider to be the best of the best.  If you have any questions, drop me an email at CyndiLJ@aol.com and I'll do my best to get an answer for you.  I am not becoming a consultant or anything, so don't expect to have future sales pitches directed your way...I promise!  However, since I have invited you into our virtual home for the past 4 years, I might as well invite you to my virtual book party! HAHAHAHA!!!!  Thanks a bunch everyone!