Read This! Three Fun & Unique Books for Kids

by Senior Reviewer Maytal Wichman

Books are a big part of my kids’ lives. We have lots at home and we also go to the library several times per week. When we go the bookstore to buy books I make sure they’re quality books that my kids will enjoy over and over. I recently discovered a fantastic kids’ author who has written books for kids of all ages. Her name is Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz, Ms, Ed. and she has been an educator for 40 years and an author of more than 100 books for children and adults.

I received some books for review and although each one was completely different from the other, all three were wonderful in their own unique way. Here are the books and my reviews of them:

Sputter, Sputter, Sput! $16.99

This book is simply adorable! It’s appropriate for ages 2-5 and is about a car that runs out of gas. Throughout the book there are fun sounds that cars make, that kids love repeating. My almost-two-year-old had a blast making all of the fun sounds as I was reading the book. He’s at a stage where he’s learning new words every day so making different sounds (such as sputter, sput, zoom, vroom, gurgle) helps him to speak better. The sweet and imaginative illustrations by Bob Staake only add to the fun.

Don’t Go Out In Your Underwear! $17.95

With my 5-and-a-half year-old entering kindergarten this year, it’s all about being silly, cracking jokes and just laughing in general about pretty much anything. This book is a collection of 67 poems for kids ages 2-8 and seem to be written from a kids’ point of view. They’re clever and witty and my son really enjoyed having me read them to him. He already has some favorites that he likes me to read over and over. Here’s a sample poem:

Doin’ What Mama Says

Mama’s always telling us
that brothers need to share.
And Mama’s always telling us to change our underwear.

Tonight we did what Mama says.
And sharing suits us fine.
I’m wearing Jay’s used underwear.
And Jay is wearing mine.

From Don’t Go Out In Your Underwear! by Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz, Text copyright © 1997 Used by permission of the author.

Wow! Words $29.95

Wow! Words is a book that helps build vocabulary for kids ages 4-7 and is intended for pre-k-2nd graders. My kids, 5.5 and 7.5 both sat with me as we looked through it. In the book, each age group (4, 5, 6 & 7) has its own vocabulary list. Here are sample words:

Age 4: numerous, suspicious
Age 5: prohibit, tremendous
Age 6: leisure, yield
Age 7: exceedingly, divulge

Each word has its own page dedicated to it and includes definition, synonym, a poem specifically about that word, sample sentences and some activities you can do with kids that can help them acquire the word. None of these activities are random or arbitrary. Everything is based on studies and research. Babs’ background in education at various levels and for various ages plays a role, but it is the author  in her that is responsible for the creative and fun ways to teach kids vocabulary. Both my kids – but especially my oldest – had fun with this book.

Aside from these books (and many, many others) Babs has come up with a series of board books  called Babsy B, which are designed to grow with kids from birth to age 3. The series includes 8 books that encourage curiosity, build vocabulary and knowledge of the world and help support children’s oral language development. The books also include supplemental activities and sing-along tunes. If you pre-order now you get 3 recorded songs to accompany the books.

 

Buy on http://www.babsyb.com. 

I was not compensated for this post. I received samples.

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Senior Reviewer Maytal Wichman is the owner of Mama’s Bites and has also written for The Huffington Post. She has been living in New York City for thirteen years and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature as well as a Law Degree, but blogging is her true passion. Maytal is a stay-at-home mom to three kids (ages 7, 5 and 1) and loves finding great products that make her family’s life easier.