ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative: Great Books = Great Gifts

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Great Books = Great Gifts


A few weeks ago I received a collection of books for review, but I've been having a really difficult time with it.  The reason...
I can't get the books out of my son's (and husband's) hands!
Every time I think I have some time to settle in and enjoy the collection of Reader's Digest Kids Books.  my second grader has once again hide them in his back pack or under his pillow.  
When I finally got my hands on the first title, I was indeed entertained by the facts and tidbits.  I enjoyed brushing up on geography knowledge as I read through the book in no time.  There are a lot of words on a page, similar to a chapter book, but there are also many clever illustration, charts, and tables.

Explore the world's continents, countries, and capital cities, and marvel at the planet’s most extraordinary physical features in a lighthearted mix of text, diagrams, maps, and amusing illustrations that will captivate children and encourage them to keep trekking.  Filled with hundreds of cool ways to remember the tallest, largest, longest, and most desolate, I Wish I Knew That: Geography is the perfect companion to help kids get a grip on the globe.
The next title I brought in the car with our family on a road trip and we used it to quiz ourselves on the kind of facts that would help us win a trivia game.

I Wish I Knew That: Cool Stuff You Need to Know By Steve Martin, Mike Goldsmith, Ph.D., and Marianne Taylor
How would you feel if you knew hundreds of fascinating tidbits—on everything from art, literature, and history to geography, science, and math—from just one quick-and-easy read crammed with fun and cool stuff you shouldn't have to wait to find out about? With I Wish I Knew That readers will speed through science, whiz through history, and take a dip into the classic Greek and Roman myths in no time at all.

There were two other books we read through quickly, but will likely use for reference for years to come.

Need a bit of grammar guidance? Want to spell like a champ? This lighthearted, informative guide makes it easy and fun for kids to conquer grammar, spelling, and punctuation challenges and put their struggles in the past tense. Write (Or Is That "Right "?) Every Time provides a fun-and-easy way to tackle tenses, sort out spelling slip-ups, put a full stop to punctuation problems, and conquer clauses.

and



Just like adults, kids need easy ways to recall stuff—especially now, when they don't even have to remember a phone number because their cell phones remember it for them. This book is jammed with easy-to-use tricks for remembering lots of stuff—especially stuff they need to know for school. Kids will like learning fun ways to remember stuff and will love getting the good grades that follow.
The books are geared toward middle school and early high school age students, but proved to be engaging for our early elementary children as well.  I appreciated the simple to read, and sometimes giggle inducing, language as well as the engaging graphics and layout in all four of the books.
This set from Reader's Digest would be an enjoyable gift for a family, an upper elementary student, a middle school student, or anyone who wants to brush up on some important basic information.
Thanks to FSB Associates for allowing our family the opportunity to take a look at the review copies of the four books mentioned in this post.

1 comment:

  1. I have those in my classroom! My kids actually like them! I also have one with acronyms.
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