We’ve seen a deal like this before. But like those deals, there isn’t any way to know what the books are, right? It’s almost a philosophical question: are 50 random books from the Scholastic catalog (within a certain category) worth $1 apiece?
I just don’t know! Probably…?
Having spent thousands of dollars on children’s books over the last four years, I’ve gotten reasonably well acquainted with various children’s book publishers. Scholastic is definitely not my favorite. They have some good ones (how could they not? Their catalog is huge). Usborne, DK, and Paragon–British publishers, as it happens–are fantastic, but especially Usborne. Books written for American school kids, like those published by Scholastic, are very much hit and miss. They can be as good as any, but they can also be quite dull, and filled with a lot of P.C. stuff meant to “balance the curriculum.” Too many of the books are quite simply badly written–lacking in imagination or ability to make things clear, in words, to children. (Quality of writing is where Usborne really excels, in my opinion.)
The other thing that bothers me is that these are very likely low-sellers, and while you can certainly find some great books in the bargain bin, the books that are there generally tend to be lower quality.
Some people ordered the last deal–50 for $50. What did you think???
Firstly, you have to have an actual school attached to your name to be able to get them. I had to go through several emails with costumer service to finally get the books. However, after all the problems, I am happy with the books they sent. There was a good selection, probably about 12 that I am very pleased with, probably 5 that I wasn’t thrilled with, 2 we already had (that we gave as gifts), a handful of holiday-related and the rest were just fine. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have hand-picked but about half that they sent, but I was pleased for the money I spent, and my son is just happy with new books.
Here’s a short review and some pics of the previous K-1st order. The books most likely have changed, but the titles should give you an idea of what to expect if you decide to purchase.
Oh, and they will give you the titles over the phone but it’s a huge pain to write it all down and try to look it up.
Well, I ordered them (as a homeschool…) after getting this list from a very nice lady on the phone. We ordered the grades 3-5 books.
Books that MIGHT be in the box (alternatives in parentheses–I couldn’t write them all down fast enough):
Your Pet Cat (or animal books or figure skating, or countries, minerals and chemicals)
Pteradactyls (presidents, liberty bell, states, countries)
Brazil (George Wash. Carver)
Ireland (Wildfires, Ted Roosevelt)
Airplanes (WV, Idaho, Uranus, Canals)
Trucks
Cars (Little Bighorn)
Submarines/Phillippines
Birds of Prey
Frontier Settlements
Japan
Ancient Rome
Books DEFINITELY included:
Jellyfish
Killer Whales
Life in Ocean
How Big Is it?
Planet Earth
Christmas
Magic School Bus x2
Amazing Penguins
Usborne Illustrated Guide Greek Mythology
Magic Tree House Rain Forests
MTH RG #19
Sharks Big, Bigger…
Amelia Earheart
Usborne Sun Moon & Stars
MTH American Revolutions
Seymour Simon Top 50…
Your Amazing Body
MTH RG #
Before I made history: MLK
Let’s Drive (about Henry Ford?)
Sounds like they cut the cartoon character garbage out of that package (like the Scooby Doo book we got and so forth). Nice! Let us know what DS thinks of them.
You can sign up for a free 7-day trial at Reading A-Z http://www.learninga-z.com/special/summertrial/ and you will be able to download 20 free books per day of the trial - that’s a total of 140 free books! Here is the list of their Spanish books and materials: http://www.readinga-z.com/allbooks/materials_sp.html. I have a lot of their French and Spanish leveled readers and Ella’s teacher uses them to teach her to read. At home, however, I only use French and Spanish books that come with audio CDs because I am not confident of my pronunciation at all and I don’t want Ella to pick up my atrocious accents! The Elementary World Languages website has a lot of resources (books, picture dictionaries, games, posters, etc.) in 7 different languages and they are having a 50% off sale on their early readers in French, Spanish, German, and Italian, each of which comes with an audio CD!
“This series features 16 of the best-loved traditional fairy tales rewritten in easy-to-understand Spanish. Each fairy tale focuses on specific theme-based vocabulary. Foldout pages and colorful, lively illustrations capture the young readers’ attention, encouraging them to follow the text. Illustrated vocabulary words and linguistic games help students learn new words and structures. Each reader is 24 pages and includes an audio disc.”
They have great customer service too! Initially the shipping costs were being calculated based on the non-discounted prices so mine came up to a whopping $45. I emailed them to ask about an alternate shipping option and, within a day or two, they had adjusted their website to include the shipping in the discount, which brought down my shipping costs to $13. :biggrin:
Glad you were able to take advantage of the sale too!
Where do you buy your Usborne and DK books? Just on Amazon? Or is there somewhere else where you can get them cheaper if you buy in bulk? I am planning to stock up on Ella’s books that will last her for at least two years because we will be moving to a place where Amazon will not ship and libraries are virtually non-existent.
I am signing up as an Usborne distributor in a few weeks. If you can wait to place you order, I will cut you a deal as best as I can. Initially I was due to begin in 3/15 but it might get pushed back a little bit.
Oh, and it was totally on the advice of this thread and wanting to build our library. I looked into Usborne and they really do seem to have excellent quality educational books, so I am signing up with the intention to be my own best customer and the book sales will complement my workshops nicely as well.
If you could please let me know when you become a distributor. I have been trying to fill the shelves with baby books and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks Mela
The Elementary World Languages website has a lot of resources (books, picture dictionaries, games, posters, etc.) in 7 different languages and they are having a 50% off sale on their early readers in French, Spanish, German, and Italian, each of which comes with an audio CD!
