We have been lucky to receive a rather gorgeous bundle of preschool books from DK.
We’ve shared our thoughts on some other DK preschool books before, and as we like those ones so much, I knew this would be a treat. Both of the children were so excited when the package arrived, and Boo was very keen to help her brother start working his way through each of them. Aged 3, these should all be perfect for him, so I was looking forward to seeing what he made of them…
A Little About the Books:
Follow the Trail Farm
Little ones will love using their fingers to follow the glittery, bumpy shiny trails in DK’s Follow The Trail Farm. This tactile board book is packed with colourful illustrations to help encourage early learning.
Perfect for hands-on learning, every page of this board book has a bright, bold finger trail with a special sparkly, bumpy finish. Plus there are peepholes through to tiny animal or tractor characters that lead children along the pathways. Follow The Trail Farm is perfect for developing hand-eye coordination and pre-writing skills.
Follow the Trail Baby Animals
Help your child learn all about baby animals in Follow The Trail Baby Animals. With tactile trails and fun peepholes, your little one will discover baby rabbits, kittens and puppies. Follow The Trail Baby Animals makes early learning fun for your little one.
– These Follow the Trail titles are unlike any other books that we have, so Little Man was curious about them immediately. He enjoys placing his finger on the trail lines and following them, and I’m already noticing that he is getting better at doing this when he takes his time. The books are bold and bright, with plenty to look at on each page and they cover shapes and directions, as the trails go up and down, zig zag, loop the loop and more. We’re reading these together a lot.
Farm Animals
Meet cheeping chicks, rowdy roosters, grumpy goats, and all their other farmyard friends in this fact-filled pre-school activity book. Children can make milkshakes and paper plate chickens, decorate cookies, and play spot-the-difference games, all while learning fun facts about farm animals.
Bugs and Bees and other Buzzy Creatures
Meet busy bees, wiggly worms, lovely ladybirds, and all their other creepy crawly friends in this fact-filled pre-school activity book. Children can make their own beautiful butterflies and bees, decorate cookies, and count insects’ legs, all while learning great facts about bugs.
– These practical facts books are brilliantly laid out for little ones, as they have just the right amount of information and illustrations in them to interest Little Man, before then moving on to an activity such as a baking idea or craft suggestion. These are the types of book that we will dip into regularly for inspiration for rainy day fun as well as talking about the creatures covered. Little Man is very keen to try making some egg carton insects, so I’m sure we’ll be onto that very soon!
Get Ready for School: I’m Ready for School
Get ready to play, get ready to learn, get ready for school
Help your child get ready for school. This interactive board book helps your little one learn key skills for school time through fun activities set in and around the home. Help your child match shoes in the bedroom, count fruit in the kitchen, spy colours and shapes in the playroom, and sort toys in the garden.
This new series of interactive books and playbooks brings the brightest and best start to learning for every child. The 45 lift-the-flaps and peep-through cover in I’m Ready for School enable your child to learn key skills and knowledge through play, exploration and conversation. Colourful characters, Bip the Cat, Bop the Elephant, and Boo the Monkey, will inspire and develop a confident, curious and capable child.
– This bright board book is crammed with lift the flaps, questions, activities and basic vocabulary, all perfect for preschoolers in preparation for school. Each page covers a different area of every day life, such as In The Kitchen and Out in the Street, and asks you to answer questions, group items, count and vocalise what you are seeing. Little Man adores this one and I can see how useful it is in both consolidating his knowledge and expanding it. There are several books and games in this series, and I am really impressed with this one so I’ll be looking to get the other titles, too.
Playing the Get Ready for School: Four of a Kind GameÂ
Get Ready for School Games Four of a Kind supports your child’s learning development through the early years. These games guide your child’s early learning and help you get them ready for school. Each box includes cards and a booklet of games that your child can play to learn key skills and knowledge. The colourful photographic cards will inspire and develop a confident, curious and capable child. You’ll love playing the games too!
Get Ready for School is a new series of interactive books and playbooks that encourages the brightest and best start to learning for every child. Key skills are developed through play, exploration, and hands-on experience. Each element of the series, whether print or digital, will support active learning through creative thinking, boosting confidence, curiosity and independence. The series provides a sold foundation in RAW (reading, arithmetic and writing) and supports emotional, social, and motor skills development.
The game comes with a book, 4 different sets of cards and instructions and ideas for game play. Little Man was really keen to play this, as you can probably tell from the first photo with his hand sneaking into shot to grab the book!
The sets of cards are grouped with similar themes, so in this case we have green cards with transport, blue with food and red with animals. The orange is a small set with the characters on them for further game play. Within each set there are then sub sets and the challenge is to look for them and correctly identify them. For example, the food cards have four fruits, four vegetables and four breads.
From this, we then played games trying to name different foods, transport or animals not pictured. We grouped cards by colour, by abilities, by favourites, by shapes – the list can go on and on, and really it’s up to you how you use and adapt them.
In addition to this, there are also instructions for games for two to three players, though these were a little tough for Little Man at the moment, so something for us to come back and try in a few months time.
I can see us playing the card game regularly as it’s so quick and easy to set up, educational and fun, and Little Man was fully engaged in playing. There are so many different ways of using them that it will also remain fresh and exciting at every turn.
Our Overall Thoughts
Little Man is now 3 years and 5 months old and I feel that these books and game are just perfect for him. I was really impressed by just how well they do hold his interest as he is not always fascinated by books and sometimes wanders off to do other things, whereas with these, we sat and read through every single book in one sitting when they first arrived and he continues to go back to them now. He does tend to favour non-fiction and these books are crammed full with activities, with facts sprinkled liberally throughout, all in bite-size chunks. Just perfect for him, he loves them.
Competition
I do now have four of these books available to give away to one of my lucky readers. The winner will receive Follow the Trail Farm, Follow the Trail Baby Animals, Farm Animals and Bugs, Bees and other Buzzy Creatures. The competition is open to UK residents only and closes at 12am 25th February 2016. Good luck!
What do you like about these books?
Disclosure: We received these books FOC for the purposes of this review, though all words and opinions remain my own
They are appealing to children by their content – all children are fascinated by their surronding, especially nature and animals!
I like these books as they seems to have a good level of content and are varied in subject matter, perfect for pre-schoolers
Good selection of different topics 🙂
Books about animals are always popular!
These books look great 🙂 I’m a big fan of tactile books, and ones that my children can interact with, it makes reading so much fun for them and encourages me that they’ll be life-long readers so I think they’ll love Bugs and Bees and Fuzzy Creatures and Follow the Trail Farm!
everything. great for kids
Early learning is SO important. Reading together is such a lovely thing and encourages speech/language/imagination.
My little boy is the same age as yours and I know he would love these books. I like that they are so interactive but also great learning tools, at a point in his development where he is asking questions about everything and taking so much in.
I like that they give your child a fun start before they start school.
The books all look very bright and colourful. X
I like that they look really interactive
I love how there`s such a variety of topics covered.
they look great xx fingers crossed xx
I love how interactive they are – both for child and parent 🙂
I like that the books are interactive as well as bright and colourful
I like that the kids are learning while having fun.
What do you like about these books? . . . .They are perfectly tailored to suit pre-schoolers
I like them because they’re interactive and would be great for my little boy.
My son would love these and they are very fun but educational 😀
Making learning fun and interesting
perfect for my 2 youngest
They’re really interactive and I love the bright colours <3
The contents would appeal to my inquisitive little one
i like that they are educational books
They look perfect to get my boys interest . Love the outdoors and nature and animals x
I love the glittery trails- my son loves glittery bits in books so I know he would like that too. They look fun and educational at the same time which is a bonus! x
A good educational and fun bundle
Variety. Some educational e.g. Preparing for school attendance etc. Whilst others interesting and maybe factual about animals etc which the children love.
They have lovely illustrations
They look fun and educational at the same time.
Having great fun, while learning
I like they have lots of variety in them to keep kids interested!
they are a good selection and look fun
There are some great learning opportunities with these
They look fun, colourful, excellent quality and most of all engaging, that’s what every preschooler needs 🙂 my little one is 3 and she would love them 🙂
they look really entertaining for young ones
they are bright and colourful
I think they are lovely
animal books!
they make learning fun 🙂
These books look great and seem to have lots of fun activities
I like how eye-catching and appealing the books like my son would love to have these and would love them for some bonding time x
I love that they are just the right size for little hands, looks colourful and interesting topics that will keep them occupied for a while x
Great for my little boy to help his progress xx
They look interactive and colourful
They are educational and look fun at same time xx
I like that the books are educational but fun also! 🙂
These books look well educational and engaging
They are so eye catching, which will engage with my children straight away.
I love the range of the books, Boo is animal mad at the minute so I am sure she would love these.
They look a great way for young children to learn
My little boy would absolutely love theses book as there are activities with them, plus he loves story time x x
They look fun as well as informative ?
I love that they are interactive
great for children
Something to stir the imagination over and over again
They seem like a good and interesting way for children to learn
They look Fun & Educational!
They look clear & fun. My Granddaughter loves her books & these would be well used.
I like the themes of the books
They keep it interesting with activities and colours
These look great – nice and bright, and plenty going on. 🙂
They look easy to use and educational. I like the design/graphics and the range of topics. Also, lift the flaps are always a hit in this house!
They are colourful x
THESE BOOKS SEEM TO COVER EVERYTHING PERFECT FOR PRE-SCHOOL
They are bright, colourful & educational
The children at my nursery would love these, very appealing.
I like that they look good fun as well as being educational
They will help them learn 🙂
They are appealing to children, educational and have plenty of varied content
what a great selection of books, covering a while range of topics.
i like the selection
I like the fact they are interactive so get children’s interest
I think my daughter would love the colours and the pictures. I like the layout and how there aren’t too many words on each page as my daughter gets frustrated if I try to stay on one page too long
These look great and think my own little man would love them – he loves tactile, interactive books and anything about animals. The bugs one looks a bit different too – makes a change from all the usual farm animals.
These look great, would really help my 4 year old
The content looks great the pictures and colours would definitely attract a young one
Such great topics for children and they can learn without realising ?
Good selection to entice and amuse!
I love the bright colours and clear pictures
I love that not only are they lots of fun but they are educational too. My son would absolutely adore them!
Love the brightness of the pictures and varied topics to keep them interested
I,ll ask our grandson when he has seen them
I like these books as there educational and are nice and bright in colour and pictures
I think learning through fun is really important, these would be perfect for my boys learning
Thay look like a game
I love how interactive they are.
They are really bright and colourful. They would be wonderful for getting my 3 year old ready for big school
fantastic fun and educational x
they look really stimulating for children with activities and different things to feel
They are learning whilst reading.
I like the fact that my child could learn a lot from these books
They are educational, interactive and appealing for young children.
Great selection of topics!
The ‘trails’ my little boy loves to follow lines with his finger
They seem to be able to hold the childrens interesft
I Like these books as there not just stories they are to help learn to…
My little boy would love these – can see him smiling!
What a fab giveaway! I like that the books are interactive as well as bright and colorful, perfect to make learning fun! and to get a child prepared for school and such a good selection of different topics. These will keep the kids entertained for ages! x
Great for pre-schoolies as they contain many things children come into contact with on a daily/weekly basis
There colourful and children won’t lose interest 🙂 my daughter starts school in September so these would be perfect 🙂 xx
Educational and fun.
I can see my children (5 and 3) reading them together. My 5 year old is starting to read well, so he would enjoy reading them to his brother.
There’s a great variety.
The pictures are enticing and they are topics my son and daughter are both interested in.
They are educational but fun at the same time!
i love these books they are large print and colorful and easy to read
My two youngest kids would love these books. They love, animals, insects and farms. The books are also bright, fun and educational too!
good quality and you can trust they will be interesting, educational and engaging 🙂
I love the chunky pages and bright colours that I know would really catch my little girls eye! x
the colours and the way they are presented are very good for pre-school x
Love how appealing they would be to my twin boys, who are at the age these would be ideal for x
how educational
I like that they are interactive
Lots of colourful pictures, and educational.
I think I’d like to play four of a kind with my 3 year old niece.
Great kids topics 😀
These books would be great to win for BattleKid for helping to get him ready for school!
My grandson would love to ‘read’ them with a little help and he would feel ready for school.
These books look ideal for my Grandchildren aged 2 upward as they are colourful and interactive which will help keep them interested, I find the learn as they read and play such a great concept.
i like that they are both fun and eductional. at a young age children need to have fun to learn 🙂 xx
The children like animals
We like books that have activities to do
I love how bright & eyecatching they are – nice & big for sharing!
Lovely pictures and educational
my son has a speech sound disorder and these look really cool and helpful these could really help us help him 🙂
It would give child a head start before school.
These books are bright and eye catching and easy to follow, especially important with pre-schoolers with special needs.
I love the touch and feel aspect.
great pictures for learning
They look like such a good collection. Would be ideal for my niece who loves turning pages in books and learning new things!
they have lots of information in a child friendly way that makes books and learning fun
i love that they are educational but also fun!
Love the large text and bright colours and that the quality is there so they will hard wearing.
I love them because they are so suitable for pre-schoolers and touchy-feely too and with topics that interest this age group.
Perfect for young children .
They look educational and fun
The beautiful bright colours of the illustrations
They make reading fun for the little ones!
really educational with lovely bright pages
I love how simple but still colourful they are!
they make learning fun!
Bright and cheerful they would grab the attention of my little boy x
I love that these are perfect to keep my niece and nephews entertained
It’s learning made interesting.
These look wonderful! Love the use of photographs too!
I love the fact there is a lovely selection of different topics my little ones would love these x
I like the finger trails, I know my little one would love doing those! I love that the books are bright and bold, perfect for preschoolers.
Pictures and colours 🙂
Would be great for my youngest who is struggling with phonics, forming letters correctly and numbers.
Would love to win these as they would be really useful for my nephew
They are perfect for learning & my son is at that age where he is picking up so much valuable information!
amazing selection, perfect for my little preschooler
They look really fun and stimulating, they’d be perfect for my nephew!
amazing giveaway I would like to win ^_
Great selection which I know my child would love
i love that they are fun and educational
They look like they are varied and will help my little one who is in preschool at the minute.
I like the colourful images
love how interactive they are xxx
Love that they are the type of books your child learns from as well as having fun.
I love how they are so colourful and interesting for children while still being so educational without them even realising!!
I work in a special needs school and the children love these books
They are lovely and bright and my little ones love books about animals !
These books look great. Animal books are a big hit with my three year old. He has delayed speech so any books with pictures he can point to and make signs or sounds about are fab.
I like that they are fun but educational 🙂
great engaging subject matter
I love that they are so bright and eyecatching
the children will find them interesting
My son would love these, especially the bee one!
Reading with activities engages children so they enjoy it more and learn more, too.
They look bright and colourful full and very appealing to young children so will encourage them to do them
I love interactive books for kids, they’re so tactile and that really helps young kids.
The images looks very attractive
Amazing prize love reading to my 1 year old and trying to get him a mini library so lots of choice when he can start to read.
They look educational but fun at the same time. Nice and colourful and well illustrated.
bright and colourful
I love how they cover a wide range of animals and interesting things
learning and fun for our children, lovely books
look great for the kids with a selection of topics x
They look really robust. Something thats always on the top of my list when choosing new books for my younger children
A really good selection and looks fun and easy to follow for kids.
They’re very adorable!
They look very stimulating even to children who have a shorter attention span.
They look vibrant and colourful and cover a variety of topics, early learning is very important…too many children are lacking in basic english skills especially reading so I think it’s very important to read with your children/grandchildren. I read all the time with my grandson so if I were to win this I would be reading these with him x
matching words and pictures are a great start for any toddler…. mummy likes playing with them too xx
I like that they are fun but they are also educational.
Great varied selection of books to appeal to different moods
Any books where the children are learning AND having fun at the same time is fine by me. And throw in animals and you’re on to a winner 🙂
These books are interactive and such good learning tools. I collect for the Salvation Army and these books would be very loved by an underprivileged child xx
What a lovely selection
i think they are great for learning the basics athome xxx
My little grand-daughter loves to read,she’s only just turned four and starts school after summer.She seems so young,I’d be delighted to win these and read them with her x
these look great for getting my little boy ready for school
These books are great stories, lovely quality, great subjects for the little ones
These look like the sort of books my daughter-in-law would find very helpful to use with her two pre-schoolers.
Such a brilliant selection
They are very appealing to young children, and there’s a mixture of subjects to keep them occupied
Love that they are so much fun and educational as well
They’re so interactive, being able to ‘play’ with the book it way more fun than letters and pictures!
The interaction. I love my 2 hours I get with my 4 year old whilst her sister naps and these would be a perfect activity for us to do together
These books look very appealing to little ones – and very hands on which little ones love.
These books look fun but educational.
I love these books because of the pictures,
that I can show to my child
so we can capture memories with a glow,
as these are book that are ours to know
and my child would have a smile
that I can treasure and would keep
when my child’s fast asleep.
Bright, interesting and educational
love the different activities so the children can interact with the content of the books
I love that they’re fun as well as educational. The card game element is a great idea.
I love that they are interactive & will hold my little girls attention by getting her involved
Early learning books
My son would love these as they look very interactive
I love that they are interactive but very informative at the same time. My daughter would love them!
They look great for some share time with the children.
They look like great fun and educational at the same time.
that I can help my pre-schooler learn. I’m never sure what he’s meant to be learning or how and these would be really helpful
These look great for learning
These books would be lovely for my neighbours great grandchildren, she has 15+
It’s not all learn learn learn, there are fun activities to do whilst learning
these books look great, they would be perfect for my little granddaughter, i strongly believe if you develope a childs love of books they will always have something to do and somewhere to escape to. i instilled the love of books into my three daughters as soon as they were old enough to look at the pages and they are all in their 30s now and still love books.
They look quite good and educational
What a lovely looking range of books! Animal books especially are popular in our house
They do not look as if someone has tried to make the over sophisticated, they look bright and clear to me and would be a great addition to any childs learning schedule!
They look ideal for my 2 and 4 year olds
they all look really good fun
There are lots of different activities to help my child learn
I love how educational they are and how interactive they are to keep the child’s attention
They are so clear and colourful – definitely good for holding interest.
I like that the books cover a diverse range of subjects that would keep my three year old interested .
DK books are always great quality. Lovely pictures and engaging layout.
My 3 year old daughter is really keen on learning so these books would keep her well entertained
They look varied enough to appeal to kids
I like that they work on key skills and fine motor skills in a fun way
the educational value
I like the clear layout and the photos look good
I like interactive books
Love that they are fun but teaching as well
i am sure they are informative and educational but they also look fun and engaging.
I like the books because they are bright,fun and educational.I also like the fact that they come with a booklet and cards to assist the childs learning .
they appear creative
It’s a nice mixture of books that will keep my little one entertained
What a good selection of books. Perfect for little ones 🙂
Lovely clear pictures and large letters. Will hold interest longer and make learning enjoyable xx
Love the variety of learning. Fun way to learn
Books about animals are great!
Lovely selection of topics and their simple and clear for a young child
I love that these engage the person reading it (or person having it read to them!)
There’s a good selection of topics and content and that’s always a bonus.
They are varied and start to teach children about liking books well before they go to school
They make reading more fun for children as they are interactive.
Simple but effective with clear information
great books to read together
They are very colourful
Great educational books
They look interesting and my daughter loves books x
I like that the books are so interactive for children.
They look alot of fun and just what my 4 year old son needs 🙂
wonderful selection
Good selection and look great for my kids
They enable a fun way to learn whilst being appealing.
A good range of different learning tools, plus they look fun!!
There’s a great variety of different topics
Great topics and my son loves any book x
These books look bright and colourful and the kids can really learn and engage with the books.
I’ve had a lifelong interest in reading and it got me through some sticky times. Everyone underestimates the power and abilities reading can provide you with. Learning is much easier when you can pick up a book or even peruse an article on the Internet to improve and expand your understanding. This bundle looks to be a good start on a lifetime enjoyment.
Lovely selection
a great assorted bundle for bedtime
good selection of themes
My grandson loves books with such a passion and these would be great in the lead up to starting nursery 🙂
They look colourful and fun and there educational a win, win
I like that they are educational but lots of fun to read as well.
Books are so vital for learning but they must be enjoyable would love to win these for my grandaughters
They are great books for pre-school readers and will get them used to reading more.
They are colourful and interesting, perfect for my little girl
that they are aimed at pre-schoolers
They are fun and interesting so they will engage any child’s curiosity
Love how they look so colourful and engaging
These make learning lots of fun – essential to holding a little ones interest.
I like the variety and educational element – great for my little boy 🙂 x
The wide variety of the books on offer.
They are perfect for learning but look fun too
so much can be learned about animals and nature
They seem to be really informative
Nice bright pictures. Simple content, easy for the little ones to engage with.
My kids love learning new words and about animals so these look perfect X
I like that they’re educational and fun at the same time
they seem to have lots of activities to get children involved
Fab topics and wonderful illustrations.
They are fun and educational for a little one 🙂
I love the variety¬ will keep kids entertained for ages
I like that they look interactive, lots to do and see
I like these books because they are easy learning and has lovely illustration.
They are accessible, whislt being challenging.
My 6 year old would love to read these to her younger sister x
I love that there is a variety of topics, they look like great little books!