Disney Literature Classics - only P145!

I dropped by National Bookstore before picking up my tot from school and discovered a really interesting find under "Popular Characters." TWO whole shelves filled with Disney Literature Classics. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and friends take on literary classics such as Tom Sawyer, Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Around the World in 80 Days, Shakespeare and so much more!

These hardbound, full-color tomes are actually comic books; another plus for me as they were immediately engaging to my 4-year-old daughter and sparked an interest in classic tales and fantastical settings. While the stories are actually parodies of the original, each book comes with a detailed introduction on the differences to help guide readers (and parents!). If you appreciate a dose of good, old-fashioned Mickey Mouse humor, then this collection won't disappoint. I do advise parents to check the stories before giving to really young kids though. At this point, I've decided to shelve the tale of Othello until my daughter is older. Some of the comics also sport words such as "stupid" and "idiot", which may not be age-appropriate.

The best part for me? Each book cost only P145 (~$3.50). Truly a bargain considering the content and quality; most hardbound, full-color children's books (featuring popular Disney characters no less) would run from P600 to P999 (at least ~$15!).

Sadly, when I went back to pick up more, there was a measly pile left in one shelf. I picked up about 5 in all and will surely scrounge other branches for more!

Phidal My Busy Books: Toys and Playsets in One!

A long time ago, I posted about a Dora book that had a book, play mat, and 12 figurines. It was a great buy, considering that my daughter got a near complete set of the main Dora characters at less than P1000. Not bad, given that buying each individual action figure in leading toy stores would cost anywhere between P500 to P1500 per character. Also, you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find characters such as Abuela and Senor Tucan anywhere else.

Last weekend, we visited the newest Fully Booked branch in Alabang and to my delight, there were new editions of Phidal My Busy Books covering the following popular series:

My Little Pony (including the adorable Cutie Mark Crusaders)
Strawberry Shortcake (complete with Cherry Jam and the Berrykins!)
Minnie Mouse Bowtoons
Disney Princess

...and so much more!

Also available in PowerBooks and National Bookstore. :-)

Paper Dolls and Worksheets

Just want to share a couple of great finds:

(1) WORKSHEETS and REVIEWERS

Visit school.ph for worksheets for both preschool and elementary kids. Covering all major subjects, these worksheets are made by moms for moms "to help their children do well in school." Registration is FREE (though premium membership is available for full access to worksheets and the answer keys) so you have nothing to lose by trying it out. The worksheets are in PDF format so all you need is an Adobe Reader and a printer and you're good to go!

(2) PAPER DOLLS

My daughter has just hit the paper doll mania stage. If you've gone through this with your kid, you've probably also experiences that one, teensy weensy annoying thing about paper dolls in general - as cute as they are, the clothes just don't stay on with those flimsy paper tabs! WS Pacific Publications (also known as Learning is Fun) solves this with paper dolls that have small lots for the tabs to go through, which prevents the clothes from sliding off. Their Princess Sticker and Activity Book comes with two such paper dolls. Although they only have a couple of dolls, clothes, and accessories, you can also pick up a copy of the mermaid, fairy, and ballerina editions in order to mix and match. At less than ~P80 each, you can buy the whole set at SM Department Store and still get more for your money than the flimsy Disney Princess counterpart. Each book also comes with stickers and activities (including puppets, connect-the-dots, etc.). I bought one to keep my daughter busy during our 1-hour flight to Cebu. It worked like a charm and all the dresses and accessories stayed on for the duration of the trip.

Good Find: Total Basic Skills Preschool Workbook

The bargain books stall is once again up and running at the ground floor of Greenbelt 1, Makati mall, across Watson's. Hard to find books related to Disney characters (and Barney!) can usually be found within the assorted stacks of books. My mother recently came upon another great find within its bookshelves - the Total Basic Skills Preschool Workbooks. It consists of 300+ pages (easily 2x-3x the size of a Kumon book at roughly the same price), with writing and coloring activities covering all preschool topics: alphabet, numbers, opposites, shapes, etc. It also comes with colorful reward stickers!

Manila Book Fair 2011

Great place to find good books with at least 20% off the tag price. There are a number of stalls dedicated to children's books and toys. I bought my daughter's Mickey Mouse mat and blocks set here a year ago.

www.manilabookfair.com

Playhouse Disney Magazine - Still A Fan!

First day of school and my toddler had her biggest battle yet - against a bottle of glue :P It was her first time to handle glue and she didn't count on how sticky it was; particularly on her little fingers! She refused to finish the activity on account of wanting desperately to wash her hands. I dropped by National Bookstore to buy her her own glue to practice at home. I was also hoping to buy the Kumon workbook for pasting. Unfortunately, it was all sold out. Only the Pasting book for 3-4 years old remained. I bought the glue nonetheless and rummaged through old magazines when I got home, intent on cutting out pictures she could paste on a blank sheet of paper. I came upon her back issues of Playhouse Disney and realized that each issue has a cut and paste exercise! I buy these magazines for the tracing, counting, and coloring exercies (and the read aloud stories), so this is a bonus treat for me. My daughter had a blast pasting in pictures of Mickey Mouse, Pooh Bear, and Handy Manny. Each activity differs from the rest so it never gets boring. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the next issue of Playhouse Disney...soon to be Disney Junior!

Numbers - Exploring Counting and Maths

My toddler was more interested in colors, shapes, and letters at first - counting and numbers held little appeal for her (this was, of course, before she discovered Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). One of the books that helped build her interest in numbers is the My World Numbers - Exploring Counting and Maths. This is a rather large book featuring colorful pictures of everyday objects that are appealing to toddlers such as cakes, candies, buttons, fruits, and toys. My daughter enjoyed counting the objects - she even uses the book to pretend that she has a bakery and store (i.e., pretends to pull items out of the book). The book covers the numbers 1 to 20. More than that, it also provides a first look at colors, shapes, patterns, and matching. Truly worth its cost of P200.

The book is available locally, at National Bookstore.

Tormont Nursery Songs and Sing Alongs

One of my toddler's most used and well-loved books is Tormont's Nursery Songs and Sing Alongs. This colorful board book comes with its own electronic keyboard with color coded keys. The book features popular nursery songs. Each page contains a song complete with picture, lyrics, and colored notes for easy matching with the keyboard keys. This is a great way for parents to bond with their babies and teach them their first songs. Eventually, the children will be able to sing and play the tunes on their own. My toddler is now able to sing the pieces, though her piano playing is still limited to banging the keys at random. I'm sure she'll eventually manage to match the keys and notes (in due time) - I can certainly imagine her using this book throughout her preschool years.

Songs included in the book are Hush Little Baby, Pat-a-Cake, The Alphabet Song, Ten in the Bed,  The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Oh! Susanna, The Bear Went over the Mountain, Eensy Weensy Spider, and The Ants Go Marching.

Let's Get Dressed With Dora

Let's Get Dressed with Dora is an ingenious board book lets toddlers practice handling zippers, buttons, velcro snaps, and other items needed to dress up Dora. It's engaging for the little ones and helps develop hand control and hand-eye coordination. It's also a great way to introduce them to different articles of clothing and how to dress up oneself.

The book is available locally, at Fully Booked.

Kumon Workbooks

While in National Bookstore, looking for a book of tracing or basic mazes to help my toddler refine her writing skills, I stumbled upon two shelves full of Kumon workbooks! I've been looking for Kumon workbooks for quite some time now and the actual product did not disappoint. Each workbook specifies the appropriate age range, starting from age 2. The most basic of the set is My First Book of Tracing, which branches out to the basic coloring, counting, cutting, mazes, uppercase and lowercase letters books.

The books are a bit pricey at ~P300 a pop, but each one contains full-colored pages with images and activities that are appealing to children. I'll try the tracing book first and see how it goes. More to blog once my toddler gets her hands dirty with this one!

Animated books

Animation embedded in books? You better believe it! With Scanimation (Waddle, Gallop, etc,) and Animotion (On The Go, etc.) technology, kids (and adults!) can watch in awe as animals, people, and vehicles move on the pages of the book - just like an old-fashioned animated clip! While the text on these books are typically limited to short rhyming phrases and there is little (to no) story whatsoever, the moving pictures still provide ample amusement and entertainment, while introducing young children to the concept of movement.

The Waddle! book had my toddler laughing out loud in the bookstore. I thought the colors on On The Go were more visible, though, and bought this instead.

These books are available at the local bookstores (National, Power Books, Fully Booked).

Dora's Storybook and Figurine Playset

Great find at Fully Booked in Fort Bonifacio today - the Where Is Tico? storybook, giant playmat and 12 toy figurines set! The figurines include Dora, Boots, Benny, Isa, Tico, Swiper, Backpack, Abuela, Mami, Papi, Senor Tucan and Grumpy Old Troll! And all for P750 - beats buying the individual Megablock Dora toys at the toystore for P800-P1500. Not to mention that Megablock usually only has Dora and Boots figurines.

I've yet to open the pack because I'm planning to give it to my toddler as a reward for when she starts school this June. She really likes Dora's Theater, but has difficulty maneuvering the paper dolls and balancing them on the cardboard stage. I'm really hoping she'll like this playset!

Disney Princess Dress Up

Of all the dress up and paper doll books I've encountered, the Disney Princess Dress-Up (A Sticker-Activity Storybook) is by far the best and most convenient for a toddler. It features the 6 princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine). Each princess has their own sticker sheet of clothes (including their standard costume) and set of accessories. Since all the princesses sport the same size and pose, all the clothes, shoes, and jewelry can be mixed up to form dozens of combinations.

The set makes use of reusable vinyl stickers, which do not have the stickiness of regular stickers, but cling easily to the board book. This makes it more suitable for toddlers and lessens the chance of the stickers being torn apart. I also favor this version over the magnetic one, which I gave to my niece last Christmas. We discovered that it was difficult to put the magnetic accessories on top of the clothing magnets as it doesn't stick and has a tendency to fall off. Also, the magnetic pieces were quite small and not fit for toddlers. In contrast, the vinyl stickers stick quite nicely on top of each other.

My only gripe is that the vinyl stickers are quite opaque and you can see through the material, making the base garment clearly visible. This is especially evident for Ariel's white wedding dress. It doesn't seem to bother my toddler in the least, but may be noticeable to older children. Also, Ariel is positioned near the middle of the book such that a fold is formed on her dress when you attempt to close the book.

Playhouse Disney Magazine

If your toddler enjoys watching Playhouse Disney, this monthly magazine is a great resource of stories, puzzles, mini games, as well as counting, coloring, and writing exercises - all featuring Disney favorites such as My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jojo's Circus, Higglytown Heroes, and Little Einsteins.

For all this and more at P125/copy, it's a bargain and for an even better deal, drop by the magazine shop at the ground floor of Landmark Department Store, Makati, which sells back issues at less than P100.

Books For Tots: Interactive Storybooks

I brought my toddler to Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig; for our usual jaunt to the children's section at the second level.  We never made it to the 2nd floor!  At the foot of the escalator, fronting the Romance section were stacks upon stacks of interactive storybooks for kids covering nearly all the favorites - Baby Einstein, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Thomas The Tank Engine, Barney, Dora the Explorer, and so much more!

We've seen technology innovate at a rapid rate these past years, and children's books are no expection!  Simple push buttons for sound effects have been replaced with card readers and cards that can produce a hundred sound effects per book.  Remember the books that came with plastic CD players and around 3 mini plastic CDs to add music to the reading experience?  These have now been replaced with (or should I say, upgraded to?) a plastic iPod!

I couldn't resist buying Dora's Music to Go for my music-loving little one.  The book features lyrics and pictures for 20 songs, all of which can be heard through the music player attached to the book.  The player has a small screen showing simple, pixel animation in order to identify each song.  Songs can be chosen via a click wheel.  There are also 3 control buttons available - Start, Shuffle, and Stop.  Honestly, think iPod for nursery rhymes.  Browsing through the pictures in the board book while listening to the tunes will give you the story behind this Dora musical adventure, but if your baby just wants to sing, you can opt to detach the toy and give your child his/her own portable music player!

Other books that caught my eye were those that came with a mini-steering wheel and controls for car/train adventure stories.  There was even a Mickey Mouse book with a baby laptop embedded in it.  At nearly P1000 per copy, though, I could only afford the Dora adventure and allowed my daughter to pick up a Barney book as well (this had a simple selection of around 6 sound effects, but it's just so hard to find Barney books!).  Ah, to be back in the days when I threw a tantrum after my mother refused to buy me a P25 Ladybird book (A Little Princess - I eventually got it ;))!

Books For Tots: My First 1000 Words

My First 1000 Words books are a good stepping stone in teaching toddlers the words used to identify everyday objects.  My daughter received a copy on her 1st birthday and immediately took to the book.  She enjoyed pointing at the colorful objects on the page and asking questions - usually a simple What's this?

I found that showing her the actual object to compare against the picture and explaining its use made it easier for her to commit it into memory.  Soon she was able to identify most of the commonly used household objects. I was extremely pleased that her first set of words included practical ones that deviated from the persistent "Barney" and "Pooh Bear" mantra.  My daughter has just turned 2, but can already speak short, complete sentences that clearly explain what she wants.

The First 1000 Words books are quite common and can be found in almost any bookstore.   As there are numerous variations to this book, I recommend reviewing it for the following before you actually buy a copy:

(1) Ensure that the pictures are large and colorful, and that there are just enough words/pictures in every page.  With the success of her first copy, I bought another book featuring other words/pictues, but found that too small pictures crammed into a single page confuses and bores my baby.

(2) Get a copy that already includes pages on shapes, colors, and numbers so your baby can learn these basic concepts as well.

(3) As much as possible, choose a book featuring pictures of items that can be found in your house or neighborhood.  A book featuring seasons such as fall and winter, for example, would be harder to grasp by a child living in the Philippines.

(4) Baby girls may enjoy Disney's Princess Word Book, which showcases everyday objects used by (what else?) the beloved Disney princesses!  My toddler was fascinated at the idea that Princess Aurora also goes to the bathroom and brushes her teeth. ;)

(5) Check the content of the book.  My baby actually has a magnetic letter board that says "X" is for "Xmas".  Granted, this particular error wasn't printed on a book, but you can never be too careful!

Books For Tots: Barney & Friends

If your toddler is as crazy about that purple dinosaur as mine is, you've most likely spent some time scouring the bookstores for the ever elusive Barney books.  Unfortunately, these books typically won't be found at your local bookstore favorites - Powerbooks, Fully Booked, and National Bookstore. You'll end up feeling like you have the worst luck in the world when you hear these familiar words from the staff, "Oh, we just had some, but they were sold already.  Barney sells very quickly, you know."

How well I do!  Because Barney is already considered outdated in the US, you would have better luck finding his books in Booksale and Books For Less.  The best place would be the seasonal Bargain Books stalls that suddenly pop out in the middle of the mall.  The one by the entrance connecting Landmark and Glorietta just reopened - in case you're interested ;)

Books For Tots: Brainy Baby

Get a good grasp of the basics with the Brainy Baby series.  These board books provide large, colorful images that introduce your child to the world of numbers, animals, shapes, colors, and letters.

When I saw the word "baby" in the title, I imagined my little one would immediately take to these kinds of books.  It wasn't exactly love at first sight for my baby.  I learned that mere images weren't enough to amuse her and had to inject funny noises and animal sounds to make it more interesting.  I also taught her that books were not toys - she could not fold, toss, or step on her books.  Over time she came to respect and love these tiny tomes.  These days a trip to the toy store makes her face light up, but a trip to the bookstore - ah, now there's a treat that can convince her to take a nap, eat her vegetables, or visit the doctor.

My baby now has two shelves dedicated to her in our mini library (my husband and I are quite the bookworms ourselves) and is close to occupying a third.  And it all started with a little series called Brainy Baby.  My daughter just turned 2 and has already memorized the contents of these books, but we still use them regularly to refresh her skills.

You can purchase a set of 4 board books at Toy Kingdom.  A set comes in a bag with handle, making it convenient to lug around.  It also makes it very presentable as a baptismal, birthday, or Christmas gift. ;)

Books For Tots: Hola! Soy Dora

Dora's Little Library was a big hit with my baby - and with me! One pack contains 5 books.  Each book is a miniature, simplified version of an existing Dora book/adventure.  At around 3x3 inches, these board books were perfect for my baby's little hands.  She enjoyed flipping through the pages and picked up a lot of learning points. Dora's Little Library teaches the basics of numbers, words, and opposites in true Dora form i.e., English and Spanish ;)

The second set I purchased, entitled Dora's New Adventures, introduces children to concepts such as siblings, school, doctor, dentist, and manners.

I'm quick to snap up one of these sets whenever I come across them - at less than P300 per packof 5 books, I get more value for my money than buying a single Dora book ranging from P150 to P350+. ;)

Where to Buy: Powerbooks and Fully Booked