Kids Book Give Away

I have a double kids book give away for you this week, sponsored by my Usborne Books and More book business UsborneKC.com. Pictured here are two books which will start conversations with your kids about where your electricity and food come from. These are also great books to keep in the car for trips.

Pictured on the left is Where Does Electricity Come From. It's ideal for a 6-9 year old, or for a younger child who is already asking questions about this kind of thing. It covers information such as how electricity is made, what we use it for, and how it is transported. There are a couple of basic experiments included. There is also brief information on how batteries, turbines, and televisions work.

Pictured on the right is The Runaway Tractor. This is a cute mini book, which comes with a Rusty the Dog soft animal keychain. The Runaway Tractor is a story in the Usborne Farmyard Tales series. It's a simple story with a little duck to find on every page. It's ideal for reading to 2-5 year olds and is perfect for a beginning reader to manage by themself. The keychain is not suitable for kids under 3 years old.

Great Inspiration for a Summer Camp or Field Trip
If you are thinking of summer camps, what to do with your kids when school or preschool gets out, or for something new to inspire your homeschooling, you could plan a field trip around these books. Take the time to visit a local farm, or to just look for a tractor working in a field. Stop and watch for a while. Research where your electricity comes from and look up the location on a map. Explore your neighborhood and find your local transformer. Look for above ground electricity pylons or cables and draw a map of where they are, or just have fun spotting them when you are out and about. Find more tractor and farming books at your library and read together about how things work. Older kids can watch a video about the Hoover Dam. Look for food labels in the grocery store and talk about where your food comes from. Find out what kind of food is grown in your local area. Talk with a farmer.

Entering the Give Away
Just leave a comment by midnight on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009. Sorry, this give away is only open to those in the continental United States. If you live elsewhere and really want to enter, please leave a comment with your location - if your name is drawn I will look into the cost of mailing to you and if it's less than $5 they're yours!

If you liked this post you might like:

• A week in the life of The Homeschooler's Guide to the Galaxy.
  
• Teaching Nature and Science.
• Science Learning Links and Stuff.
• Community Supported Agriculture.

To see the full range of Usborne Books visit Usborne Books & More.

Learning from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Thomas the Tank Engine stories at Amazon.com

Boys and their trains, that's usually how it goes. Who'd have thought though that cute little Thomas the Tank Engine from the small Island of Sodor, written by Rev A. W. Awdry and illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby, would have captured so many imaginations. Thomas is nothing short of a phenomenon; a character, created by a British author, who's name has surely been spoken in the majority of American homes. Personally I can't say I'm a particular fan of the modernized Thomas - take me out and shoot me if you have to now - but he certainly appeals to small children! I'll admit I'm a fan of steam trains and I enjoy the Thomas stories in their original format. I thought it would be fun to share some information, activities, and educational links related to Thomas the Tank Engine. I hope your kids, and you, enjoy them.

• Adults who want to know more about Thomas and his history and development may want to start with Wikipedia on Thomas the Tank Engine - information on the books, TV series, models, toys and how Thomas relates to real railway engines and railroad routes.
• At Thomas and Friends are games and activities for kids to explore - it's one of those annoying Flash sites which my computer security throws up blocks to so check it out and make sure it works for you before you get your kids excited.
• The Random House Thomas site has stuff about the books, printable activities, and some information about the authors.
  
• Visit the Unofficial Thomas the Tank Engine site for a nice collection of information about the original books and lots of links.
• You can read about the authors at the Awdry Family Official Website.
• Download paper models of Thomas and friends - these are very detailed. The website is in Japanese, but just click on the blue links next to the PDF graphic and the rest is self-explanatory!
• Here's a blogger who has created some very elaborate Brio Thomas track layouts for his boys.
  
• How Stuff works has a guide to all of the Thomas episodes. Now you can have the fun of quizzing each other about what happened and see if parents or kids have the better memory!
• Check out Wendy's blog and see very detailed instructions on how to make a very impressive Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday Cake and Alexa has written a blog totally about Thomas.
  
• More Thomas activities, including birthday party ideas and things to make at DLTK's.
• Lesson ideas for using Thomas to help kids with Autism at About.com.
• Of course you may have heard of the huge recall during 2007 because of lead in paint on Thomas toys - The New York Times on the Thomas recall and a lesson in morality.

Of course Thomas maybe has a few girl fans too, like Lori Ann of Simple Makes. Know a Thomas fan or have more links for me to add? Let me know.
Shop for Thomas the Tank Engine items at Amazon.com.