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Find out moreActivity books are a great way to keep kids entertained. Pack one of these activity or puzzle books for your next long journey. To help you choose, download an extract and you can order the book too!
Inspired by a fantastical world imagined by the authors’ twin daughters, this educational activity book is underpinned by a belief that “children, especially girls, learn STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills best when these skills are approached within a storytelling context”. This brightly illustrated book certainly fulfils its aim of introducing STEM skills in an imaginative, interactive way, and its main character’s infectious enthusiasm for all things scientific will surely inspire more girls to get into STEM subjects. Lilli loves nothing more than finding things that “challenge her curious, scientific mind”. One night she transforms into her superheroine persona and embarks on a quest to help her friend fly from WooWoo Land. Young readers are invited to join Lillicorn’s quest, solving ten STEM puzzles in her vibrant world. With an appealing rhyming text, and charm tokens to collect along the way, the clear design conveniently signposts the STEM skills nurtured by each activity (including pattern recognition, abstraction, structured problem solving, sequencing, spatial perception and sorting) without detracting from the puzzle-solving or story. In some ways, the book’s structure is reminiscent of a computer game, with prompts and well-timed narrative pauses that invite readers to get stuck into the self-contained, bite-sized activities. What’s more, the tone is warmly encouraging, with the text informing readers that Lillicorn needs their help. Once the quest is complete, the solutions can be checked at www.lillicorn.com, where questers can also download a certificate and unlock additional activities.
Get doodling, get drawing and get creative! The how-to book for kids who love drawing. It's easy to understand and tells them exactly what they need to know step-by-step.
It’s time to flex your green fingers and get growing food, and this fun, accessible how-to book will give children masses of inspiration as well as practical advice. All you need is some soil, a packet of seeds, a watering can and trowel. Don’t worry if space is limited – a balcony or windowsill can be turned into a space for growing things. With this book you can be as ambitious as you like and grow a bean den, or a pizza garden (yum!), or work on a smaller scale. Author Annabelle Padwick’s enthusiasm shines through as well as her expertise, and the book encourages children to record their activities as they work through her advice. A book to grow a lifetime’s love of growing things.
Open your front door, breathe in the fresh air and prepare yourself for lots of fun! So says Alex Gregory in the introduction to this book and it is indeed full of exciting activities that children can do outdoors, whether that’s in the park or garden or further afield. There’s something for everyone too, whether you’re the climbing trees type or would rather be making leaf prints for your bedroom wall. All activities are explained clearly with step by step instructions, illustrations and colour photos. The text makes the idea of getting out and having an adventure sound both do-able and irresistible. With space to write up your adventures this is a record book as well as a practical guide and should be the start of many memorable outdoor adventures.
Meet the Magic Dolls Grace, Lily and Holly. They live in a cottage in Dolly Town, always ready to help the magical inhabitants of the Enchanted Isle. In this adventure, a unicorn is in trouble – can they calm her down before she hurts herself or others, and why is she so upset? Young readers will love the sense of teamwork and friendship between the three as well as the idea of an island full of magical creatures. As an added treat, the book includes pretty colour stickers so that you can dress up the dolls ready for their adventures. An undemanding but satisfying read.
Homes illustrated by Hector Dexet and published by Laurence King in April 2020 is a board book featuring all kinds of houses for all kinds of different creatures.
Get ready, get focused and get snapping! The how-to book for kids who love taking photos. It's easy to understand and tells them exactly what they need to know step-by-step.
Get reducing, get reusing and get resourceful! The how-to book for kids who want to make a difference. It's easy to understand and explains exactly what you need to know.
The new book by the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom. Enter Millie's wonderful world of treetop treasures and discover the birds nesting and flying high up in the treetops, and the myriad creatures found among the branches. The enchanting illustrations to colour in range from birds such Major Mitchell's cockatoo and rose robins, to the magnolia warbler, silver-eared mesia and whiskered treeswift. As well as the beautiful birds of the world, Millie's intricate designs show the more unusual creatures residing in the treetops, such as the Amazonian milk frog, the sugar glider or the tree-kangaroo. Millie's inimitable style is treasured by thousands around the world and in this new, exciting book there are all sorts of creatures and fauna waiting to be coloured in, from tiny insects to winged beasts and scaled reptiles to buds and blossoms. The world's rainforests, woodlands and thickets are teeming with life and this book guarantees hours of relaxation and colouring fun.
A delightful addition to the Little Dolly Dressing series. Follow Ruby the Rainbow fairy as she flutters around Fairyland in search of colourful fairy dust. Use the stickers to dress the fairies and decorate the pages. Scenes include a garden filled with red flowers, an orange orchard and a yellow meadow and lots more.
What fun to discover colours with Elmer, everyone’s favourite patchwork elephant! Each colourful page in this new book shows off a different colour and is packed too with Elmer’s friends and the his distinctive jungle flora. There are so many things to spot and count including eight bright little teddy bears. There’s no-one quite like Elmer and this is a lovely first-learning book.
This little paperback does much more than it says on the tin. It encourages young readers to explore the outdoors (whether that’s via a ramble in the countryside, a trip to the local park or picnic in the garden) and shows them how to make the most of it by using their powers of observation and imagination. It asks you really look around and note what you can see, whether plants, insects or birds, and then to make sketches or maps of where you are. More, it encourages readers to make up stories and also includes short descriptions of famous people who found inspiration in the outside world, from Beatrix Potter to Claude Monet. It really should make young people see and think differently about the natural world around them, and packs in a great deal of information and stimulation.
The latest book by the author of The Sunday Times Bestseller, Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom. Millie's new book whisks you away to the swaying grasslands of the savannahs, not only in Africa, but also Asia and Australia. The baobab trees and tall grasses are the backdrop to a world of wonderful creatures. Colour in the crocodile and kangaroo, oryx and ostrich, dazzling zebras and leaping gazelles. A feast of beautiful illustration, invitingly laid out for the reader to colour in or add their own drawing. Millie's work has fuelled the rediscovered art of colouring in and her latest book will satisfy her biggest fans, and gain her some more. A wonderful book for those thousands of devotees of mindful colouring in.
This lively information book does a great job of bringing the Romans to life for children using colour illustrations and interactive flaps to convey a great deal of information. There are double pages on the Roman army and its war machines, on Roman building, gladiators and – likely to be a favourite with most young readers – Roman public toilets. There are lots of facts to learn and some wonderfully quirky bits of information too: did you know, for example, that Roman schools took place in the street, or that Roman children had pet mice? Entertaining and effective as all information books should be.
Everything is better with a little sparkle, even farm animals! Lift the sturdy flaps in this attractive board book to discover which animal is making the noise on the opposite page. You’ll find a horse, a chicken, a cow and a sheep, all of them together on the last page. Manes, hooves, ears are picked out in foil making the pictures even more appealing. A good book to enjoy with the very young and a fun way to develop hand eye co-ordination and teach colours and first words.
What is art? How does art tell stories? Where do artists get their ideas from? Open this fascinating book to discover explosive ideas, wild colours, unexpected views and amazing works of art by world-famous artists. Includes Usborne Quicklinks to specially selected websites where you can take a virtual tour of a gallery, look at famous paintings up close and much more. Published in association with The National Gallery, London.
Listing one hundred exciting things to do before you get bogged down in adulthood, this is a book packed with inspiration: Anna McNuff’s enthusiasm for exploring the world is catching and she makes the idea of pushing yourself to do something new or even a bit scary really appealing. The one hundred different adventures to try range from the big, e.g. go on a long-distance cycling adventure, visit a volcano, to the open to everyone – tell spooky stories, go foraging, go on a flip a coin adventure. There’s the same level of useful, practical how-to advice for each one and the same sense of fun to be had. McNuff’s voice and friendly illustrations by Clair Rossiter make this a book to inspire dreams and it will start who knows how many journeys of discovery.
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