Born to Be Read

Best Books for All Ages

I cannot get enough of Usborne books. We ran into them at our local festival, where a merchant had set up a tent with a variety of the books. The Wind-Up Airplane Book complete with three different tracks caught our attention, and we stopped to browse. We walked away with a load of books and a lifetime love of the company.

We’ve hosted a party for the books (and scored tons of free merchandise), but have also purchased more than $200 worth in one order through our preschool (who also scored free books for the school). They have a fabulous range of books starting for infants, including the popular That’s Not My Puppy (fill in whatever animal or vehicle fascinates your child for Puppy) touch and feel books. Those have bright illustrations with high contrast and textures to touch on each page.

Older infants enjoy the books with sounds, such as Baby’s Very First Noisy Book (which comes in orginal, Trains, and Farm options) and any of the Slide and See series (available in Zoo, Farm, Animals, Dinosaurs, and Under the Sea).

Once your kids move beyond the simple books, take a look at the Poppy and Sam original series. All three of my kids have loved The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales. It is one of the books guaranteed to capture all their attention at once, despite the four year age difference between my oldest and youngest and diverse interests.

For older kids, they boast a series of nonfiction books on many topics. Some of our favorites are Volcanoes, Dogs, and Planes, but they have tons more to choose from.

They also offer tons of activity books for all ages. I love the Wipe Clean ones myself, as I can use them over and over and over again, but the others work great, too.

Amazon does not sell Usborne books, which is the only downside to the brand. The sheer selection can be intimidating on their website and catalog, so try narrowing it down by age or type first to get less overwhelmed. Lots of independent entrepreneurs sell them along with a handful of bookstores, so check their website or the U.S. distributor site for people and places near you.