Brighter Minds Books

The other day the nice folks at Brighter Minds sent us some of their fun books. The box got to our doorstep and the boys were very excited to open it up.

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The first thing the boys grabbed was the talking puppet book, “Hickory Dickory Dock!” You put your hands in the blue puppet, and when you clap the hands together it reads another line of the book to you.

Then we read “Fruit Salad.” This book has shapes of all the fruit embossed into the pages. The drawings are cute, and the story is nice and simple. Chip liked repeating the names of all the fruit.

“Making Shapes” features a different shape on each page. The shape is a cut-out so the kids can feel as well as see the shape. The drawings of different items in that shape are very well done.

“Rainbow Duck” is a sweet board book about colors. It is really easy to point out what is, for example, blue on a page because the blue ducks are covered in a kind of felty/veloury material. When the kids touch the pages they can feel what you’re talking about as well as see it.

Once I showed Mike what to do with the “Touch and Learn Cards” he was hooked. They look like regular flash cards, but the words are cut-out so you can feel as well as see the letters (are you sensing a theme here?). It comes with a dry erase marker so the kids can practice drawing letters and learning words like Yak, Girl, Cow and others.

The only book we didn’t dig into was the “30 Minute a Day Learning System: Preschool” because we don’t do that sort of thing. That said, it looks very complete and fun. There are 50 lessons and almost 400 pages. If you home school or just like to do this kind of work with your kids, it looks great.

My kids liked all these books. Stay tuned for a contest where you can win them for your kids! (Well, not the writing cards — Mike would never forgive me!)

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Comments 3

  1. boogiemum wrote:

    Those look like some cool books you got to review. Are you receiving these “jobs” from “Get them Blogging?” I think I may look into getting those cards for my older son. Are they for sale yet?

    Posted 09 Dec 2006 at 1:40 pm
  2. Plain Jane Mom wrote:

    Hi boogiemum! Brighter Minds found me through Get Them Blogging, and most other folks just email me directly.

    Those cards are for sale, and Mike still likes them a lot.

    Posted 09 Dec 2006 at 2:40 pm
  3. lynn wrote:

    hi this si my first time on this site and i must say i like it alot . It is very nice to get someones views on books before you go out and buy them to possibly be dissapointed. I like the idea of your workbook you have showing. It is never to late to start your kids on workbooks. My daughter is in jr. kindergarten at the moment and i think i will start that with her.thanx for the idea. If something else was to be written here….SORRY, new to the computer world…..

    Posted 05 Feb 2007 at 7:45 am

Trackbacks & Pingbacks 3

  1. From Win a Book RIGHT NOW! Hey, it’s a contest, dude… :: Plain Jane Mom on 06 Dec 2006 at 12:04 pm

    [...] SO, the first person to leave a comment on this post wins the PBS Kids Fruit Salad Book I reviewed a few weeks ago. You’ll have 24 hours to email me your mailing address (USA, Canada, APO/FPO only — sorry…). After 24 hours I’ll move on to the second commenter, and so on. [...]

  2. From Hickory Dickory Dock, The Mouse Ran Up the Clock :: Plain Jane Mom on 08 Dec 2006 at 4:47 pm

    [...] The first person to leave a comment on this post wins the Hickory Dickory Dock puppet book I reviewed a few weeks ago. Reading blogs on a Friday night? Let me mail you a book for your trouble ;) [...]

  3. From Win a copy of 30 Minute a Day: Grade 1 for Homeschooling or extra enrichment | Momsational! on 03 Dec 2007 at 11:36 am

    [...] Brighter Minds Media has great books for kids, and 30 Minute a Day: Grade 1 is another great addition to your library. I’ve seen the Preschool edition and these workbooks are fantastic. For summer learning, home schooling, or enhancing your child’s educational experience, this award-winning series is easy to use and fun to complete. With 50 days of activities and five lovable characters, you’ll find out that 30 minutes a day can make a lifetime of difference! [...]

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