Thank you to BOB Books for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

MBP Kids Corner- Featured Product

In just a few short weeks, my first baby (B, five years old) will graduate from preschool, and we'll be registering him for kindergarten. I am so glad that he's had the opportunity to be in a wonderful preschool program for the past two years. We've really been focusing on reading this year, and I am pleased to say that through a combination of reading and learning sight words at school, and spending a lot of time reading at home, B is reading on a first grade level. I couldn't be more proud.

We've been using the BOB Books Beginning Reading Books for the past year or so, and they have really helped B to become a confident reader. I love that when we sit down to read, he can now read to me!



 BOB Books came about when teacher Bobby Lynn Maslen recognize the specific needs of children who were beginning to learn to read, from ages 3-5. Maslen couldn't seem to find books that she felt were interesting enough for her students, so she decided to create books for them, on her own.

BOB Books have been helping B learn to read. Their books series come in sets for readers of all levels. For little ones just starting out, the Beginning Reader series are perfect. The books are short, and introduce new words through rhyming and mini stories. B has had a lot of success reading on his own from these book sets.

A brand new game from BOB Books- the Happy Hats Reading Game!

We were thrilled to learn that BOB Books has just come out with a new learning game- the Happy Hats Beginning Reading Game. This fun game is perfect for littles who are just starting to read, or have been reading on their own already. It's a wonderful addition to board games for the family, or the classroom.

Happy Hats is suited for ages 4+, and is intended for 2-4 players.

The game is packaged in a colorful game box, with instructions and key points printed on the box, as well as inside the box. This is a fun game that the whole family can play. The pieces and game board are bright and colorful, immediately capturing a child's attention.

B was excited to see these familiar faces from the BOB Books as game piece characters in the Happy Hats game.

B took it upon himself to punch out all of the game pieces- the figures and the hats by himself, while I brushed up on the game instructions.

Set up was quick and easy.

The Happy Hats game board.

To play Happy Hats, all you need is the game board, player pieces, the spinner, the little hats, and the alphabet cards.

We first selected our game pieces, and then spun the spinner to see who would go first. The alphabet is shown bordering the game board. The player spins the wheel to see how many spaces they will move their game piece. When you land on a letter, you use your own letter cards (each play has five at all times) to build on the vowel or consonant to create a three letter word. If you are able to build a correct word with one of your cards, you may select one of the hats from the center of the game board. Keep collecting hats through out the game and see who has the most at the end!

B landed on the letter 'C' during his first turn, and used his 'ub' card to spell Cub.

Place the card next to the letter on the game board to build your word!

The rules are a little different if you land on a vowel. Find a card that ends with the letter you landed on to be able to collect your happy hat.

B, taking another turn and building up his little hat collection- he was very proud of his progress throughout the game, and so was I.

Take a look at all of the great words we were able to build during our very first round of the Happy Hats Game!

I know that B is a pretty good readers already. He loves books, and we read together every day. The Happy Hats Game is a lot of fun, and I was actually surprised by how much B enjoyed this game. I sort of thought that he would scoff at it and not want to play, but once we got going, he was really excited to see how many words he could build on his own- and he did so without much help from me.


Features of the Happy Hats Reading Game

♦ Play and read with friends Mat, Sam, Dot and Mit in this board game made just for beginning readers.

♦ Children explore letter names and letter sounds as they create simple words to help pave the path to reading success. Along the way, children collect "Happy Hats" for every word that they create. Game play encourages the use of social skills, literacy, and simple counting.

♦ University Games' Briarpatch division is America's leading preschool game and puzzle line, with 20 years of innovative and exceptional learning games. Briarpatch has a strong legacy of stimulating children's lives through fun and educational-oriented kids games and puzzles. This has earned the company over 375 industry awards for product excellence. Since the founding in 1992, the company has applied environmentally conscious business practices such as using vegetable and soy-based inks and post-consumer materials.

♦ Contents include: game board, 44 hat tokens, 4 characters and stands, 40 word ending cards to create over 160 words, spinner, instructions with complete word list.
$12.99

Check it out...

This board game is a wonderful tool to have at home if you've got a rising kindergartner or first grader. Play this game over the summer to prevent a loss of what your kiddos learned during the year. Even if your kids haven't been to preschool, this game will help prepare them for a focus on reading in kindergarten and first grade. It's a fun and exciting way to engage children and to get them excited about reading. I have already witnessed my child confidence in reading soar, thanks in part to BOB Books.

BOB Books has an incredible collection of books sets- hard copies and e-books, for readers of all ages. Take the BOB Books Book Finder Quiz to figure out where to start for your reader.

BOB Books make wonderful gifts for all occasions- birthdays, baby showers (it's never to early to start gifting books!), special milestones, etc. BOB Books would make beautiful Christmas gifts, and I encourage you to consider them as we head into the summer season. They would also be a wonderful gift to a classroom, school or special teacher in your life!

Want It? Buy It!

Head on over to BOB Books to learn more about their wonderful book sets! You can connect with BOB Books on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +, as well as the BOB Books blog!

Want it? Win it!

One lucky MBP reader will win their very own Happy Hats Beginning Reading Game from BOB Books! This giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and older. Please use the RC giveaway entry form below to enter for your chance to win! MBP is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Please see our policies page for complete details.

Special thanks to our new friends at BOB Books for allowing us to enjoy such a fun and wonderful game for beginning readers, and for offering this wonderful giveaway for our MBP readers!

Good luck!

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