Usborne Reading Programme
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A Look at the Usborne Reading Programme
Usborne books first created its Reading Programme, with the introduction of a Young Reading series in 2002 in consultation with an early years education expert. There are four series in the overall programme - First Reading (which has four levels in it), Young Reading Series One, Young Reading Series Two and Young Reading Series Three. Each is aimed at a different level of young reading, and there are a variety of titles in each series. The books cover different subject matter from classic fairy tales to fact/non-fiction. In addition, I just love the illustrations - from humourous cartoons to lovely watercolours!
Many of the titles are hardbacks, and these volumes are wonderfully designed with a ribbon marker. The artwork features the work of artists from around the world or is contemporary/archive photography.
Some of the titles are Young Reading DVDs or audio CDs. The CDs have two readings: a listen-along version with music, sound effects and readings, and then a read-along version.
Many of the titles are "internet-linked", that is, they have recommended websites packed with historical details, dramatic reconstructions and puzzles and games associated with them. These websites are accessed through the Usborne Quicklinks Website, thus they are monitored and updated as necessary. The website allows safe browsing... typing in "pussy cat" means you will get websites for cats and kittens, not anything else.
Choose the appropriate level for your child, and then see their satisfaction as they progress through the series with an appropriate level of challenge, so they don't become bored.
The pricing is pretty good too - $6.95 CAD for a paperback version, $9.95 for a hardback, $12.95 for one with an audio CD, and $14.95 for ones with DVDs. Not bad, eh?
Below, I've created separate modules describing the four series, as well as one summarizing the reading framework (themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page, and sentence length for each series/level.
All of this information has been extracted from the Usborne Books at Home (Canada) website. If you want to learn more about Usborne books and my involvement with them as a consultant, please visit my Teeny Weeny Books lens. Especially if you've browsed the catalogue at the Usborne Books at Home (Canada) website and want to order a book that you can't find in/on Amazon or another bookstore ;-)
As I continue to get familiar with various Usborne titles, I will be writing book reviews and will add a module here for Book Reviews related to books in this programme. Stay tuned!
Looking for a reading programme that precedes the school-age years? Great news, Usborne now has the Very First Reading series. Based on shared reading and a synthetic phonics approach, this new series is a building block meant to complement the core Usborne Reading Programme described in this lens.
First Reading
Four levels progressing a child to the Young Reading levels
Level OneThese are the first real books for your beginner reader. They are classic fables and folktales which will likely be familiar to the child and so they will be able to read these simple language books with a little help from a parent (or teacher). There is lots of illustration in these 32 page books to help story comprehension and they include reading and comprehensive puzzles to help a child solidify their reading skills and understanding.
Level Two
While the pagecount (32) remains the same, the storylines (less familiar than the Level One ones) become more advanced at this level, with added sentence length, and a few more complicated words, and like the Level One stories, they have related puzzles to help with comprehension. There are cute and humourous illustrations.
Level Three
The stories (word count) start to get even longer and the number of pages in the books increase (to 48) - building up your little reader's stamina... and the words and grammar get a little more complicated. There are related puzzles to help with comprehension, and the illustrations are lovely.
Level Four
The number of pages in the books are the same as Level Three (48 pages) but the stories get longer as the word count increases. The book is entirely devoted to the story (as opposed to added puzzles, etc for comprehension). Sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary is more complex and descriptive.
Further detail on themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page, and sentence length is contained in the Usborne Reading Programme - Framework module below.
For Canadians - these are designed at a Grade 1 reading level. Level One is the very start of the year, and the average child will progress through to Level Four by the end of the year. Sorry, I'm not sure what the equivalent grade structures would be for other countries.
Some First Reading titles available on Amazon
Not all titles in the series are available at commercial bookstores...
Young Reading Series One
Now that your child has started reading on their own, they are ready for the Young Reading Series. These 48 page titles use short and simple sentence structures and fairly easy words and include fairy tales, fiction and non-fiction. The books are short story structure (often with related stories) or are divided into short chapters.Further detail on themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page, and sentence length are contained in the Usborne Reading Programme - Framework module below.
For Canadians - this is about a Grade Two reading level.
Some Young Reading Series One titles available on Amazon
Not all titles in the series are available at commercial bookstores...
Young Reading Series Two
As your child becomes a more confident reader, they are ready for Series Two. This series includes adapted classics and uses complex sentence structures, and more unusual vocabulary, and they are all chapter books. The page count goes up as well - to 64.Further detail on themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page, and sentence length are contained in the Usborne Reading Programme - Framework module below.
Some Young Reading Series Two titles available on Amazon
Not all titles in the series are available at commercial bookstores...
Young Reading Series Three
Now that your child is a fully confident reader, Series Three titles come along. They use advanced sentence structure and grammar/vocabulary, and the plots are well-developed. They are 64 pages long, and are comparable with other contemporary fiction.Further detail on themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page, and sentence length are contained in the Usborne Reading Programme - Framework module below.
Some Young Reading Series Three titles available on Amazon
Not all titles in the series are available at commercial bookstores...
Usborne Reading Programme - Framework
Complete details of the Usborne Reading Framework can be found on the Usborne Books at Home (Canada) website - if you go to the Usborne Reading Programme Notes page, you can download PDFs of not only the framework chart which shows themes, grammar, vocabulary, content, number of pages, number of words, words per page and sentence length for books in each of the series/levels, but also a booklet that shows some of the illustrations and style for the different series. It includes a listing of specific books in each of the series/levels. I also have photos of the framework summary chart on my personal website Teeny Weeny Books - Usborne Reading Programme Usborne "Beginners" books - related to the Usborne Reading Programme (URP)
Complementary to the URP, there are also Usborne Beginners books which are factual books on interesting subjects
These books are packed with fascinating facts and have interesting text combined with great illustrations and photos. These books are split into two levels:Level One
This level corresponds with Young Reading Series One in terms
of subject and language level.
Level Two
This level corresponds with Young Reading
Series Two in terms of topic and language level. Specialist vocabulary is introduced.
You can browse for these titles using the keyword "beginners" on the catalogue on my online shopping site for Usborne Books at Home (Canada) website or the Usborne website for your country or see what is available on Amazon or another online bookstore.
Usborne Beginners titles available on Amazon
Not all Beginners series titles are available at commercial bookstores...
Some other Online Shopping Websites
Can't find what you are looking for on Amazon? Or are they sold out?
- Teeny Weeny Books (Online shopping - Usborne books)
- This is my personal online shopping website for my Usborne books business. Here you'll find all of Usborne's offerings. And if you can't find a specific book but know that Usborne publishes it, or published it at some time or another, you can contact me with the details and I'll see what I can track down for you!
- Barnes & Noble
- Self explanatory - Barnes & Noble online! If I can't find a specific book on Amazon, then often I can find it here.
- Abe Books
- Another great resource to find a "hard to find" book. Booksellers cooperatively post on here. I've found several out-of-print Usborne books here
What do you think of the information in this lens? Was it helpful? Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
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Reply
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Cari_Kay
May 6, 2009 @ 1:46 am | delete
- Trying this again (doesn't look like my first comment took!) We love Usborne books and used some while homeschooling. This looks like a worthwhile program!
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Important Note
Usborne Publishing Ltd. has no connection with these pages and neither sponsors nor supports their content.
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