Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Candy Store in a Box

Let's see... I better explain how this all got started.

At the homeschool convention I went to this spring one of the displays that most interested me was the Usborne Books booth. I've been familiar with the high quality of Usborne Books for years but I'd never seen so many of them in one place all at once. When I went into this booth I just went bananas. What a resource for building a rich, engaging, and informative home library! I intended to buy a couple of books there but I absolutely could not settle on just one or two. More like one or two hundred!

I quickly realized that if I was going to get what I wanted I needed to host a home show and get the hostess rewards. I asked Bridgette, who was running the booth, if she would do a party for me. It turns out she lives in a city quite a distance from me, so I asked for a local referral and she said there were currently no active Usborne consultants in my town. I couldn't believe it!

At the end of July Bridgette called me and said they were having a low-cost sign-on special for new consultants in August. I was not looking for a business opportunity, but she explained that after meeting the low minimum sales requirement there were no more minimums to meet ever. In other words, signing up as a consultant didn't require turning into a hard-core saleswoman.

What did I have to lose? I signed up.

I just got my consultant kit in the mail. It was full of engaging, high-quality children's books. Beautifully illustrated, full of interesting information-- the kind of books that you know are going to draw your kids in and fuel their lifetime love of learning. A candy store in a box, only better.

I spent some time this evening pouring over the catalog. It was a dangerous endeavor. I made a wish list and while I tried to be conservative, I still ended up completely filling both sides of a piece of paper. It seemed like every page of the catalog had at least one thing on it that made me say "Oh, neat neat neat! My kids would love that!" History books, science books, cookbooks, sticker books, touchy-feely board books, picture dictionaries, fairy tales, activity kits, visual puzzle books, song books.... and on and on and on. Whew!

It became very clear why I need to be affiliated with this company. I want these books in my home library and as a consultant I will be able to get them for a discount (and their prices are already very reasonable). Also, I want to make other people aware of them so that their children can benefit from them as well. They are too good not to share.

If you ever spend any money on children, you really need to take a look at the Usborne Book catalog.

I now have my own Usborne website where you can browse the catalog and where all purchases are credited to me. However, I can't post the link here because as you've noticed I'm quite protective of my privacy on this blog. So if you're interested in seeing it, shoot me an email at either my regular address (for those who know me personally) or at mapletree@moose-mail.com . Or leave a comment with your contact information. I believe you'll be glad you did.

3 comments:

The Hills said...

Usborne books are addicting. We have lots and lots of them. I love the science dictionaries and the history books. We also have a book that is linked to the internet so once you are done reading the book, you can read more online. And you know the information online is safe because it's an Usborne site! Have fun with that. I can't wait for Tyler to start getting Scholastic catalogs from school because those books are always in abundance on them. Have fun selling!

Melissa said...

We love Usborne as well! We have a lot in our library already and I am always finding new ones that I want. They are beautiful, high-quality, informative, and engaging. Oh, I'm drooling all over my laptop now! ;)

Melissa :)

Theo W. said...

Did you find the hidden Duckies? ARE there Duckies? There are in MY Latin book.