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I realize I haven't been posting, but it wouldn't feel like the holidays if I didn't update and share my traditional 150 Ways to Give a Book. They are all MotherReader-approved titles — i.e., Good Books. There are a lot more choices for younger kids, as that’s the group we adults most fear disappointing with giving “only” a book. And picture books are kind of easier to do. After the book and gift selections, I’ve also included ways to wrap a book, and book-themed gifts to include for a variety of ages. There are a few new 2015 titles mixed in with older ones — though there aren’t many classics, as I’ve tried to select books that kids would be less likely to have on their shelves. I've also tried to avoid any branded products, which is surprisingly difficult.
Sometimes I choose the hardback when the paperback is also available, so check if that is important to you. I’ve also linked to the fun extras through Amazon, for example, to save you shopping time, and because I get some small credit for your purchases through the Amazon Associates program. But know that you can find cheaper alternatives for some small things — paints, pens, journals, etc. — at a local discount store. On the other hand, doing all your purchases online and having them sent to your door is priceless.
I'm always looking for new ideas, so leave suggestions in the comments. I hope you'll share this link as you promote giving books as gifts for the holidays and that you find some great ideas for your own friends and family. Enjoy!
Multi-Age
- Give an experience like a trip to a zoo, aquarium, museum, aviary, arena, or city. Put the passes, tickets, or homemade gift certificate with a relevant book to make it feel more tangible.
- Take a road trip with Ask Me so you can use the driving time to ask each other the interesting questions from the book.
- Give a book with a movie theater gift card to see the upcoming film.
- Give a book with a gift card to rent the movie. Include a box of microwave popcorn.
- Give One Hen — How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference with a loan to Kiva or a donation to Heifer International to buy chicks.
- Pair any book with another book from the bargain section, maybe something silly or crafty or gimmicky.
- Pair a detective book with a magnifying glass.
- Match poetry books with word beads or magnetic poetry.
- Pair a picture book with a related stuffed animal.
- Give an interesting, insightful book with a restaurant gift card and a date to discuss the book together over a meal.
- Honor the book enthusiast with necklace along with a new title.
- Celebrate writing too with special journals from Tara Books, an independent press based in India.
Picture Books- Learn letters with ABC, Baby Me! board book or The Sleepy Little Alphabet and letter links.
- Or work with numbers (and colors) with 10 Hungry Rabbits and magnetic numbers.
- Or let them battle it out with 123 vs ABC and bath toys
- Give The Day the Crayons Quit and the sequel The Day the Crayons Came Homewith a pack of fat crayons and a stack of copy paper from an office supply store.
- Or go with Art and Max or Blue Chicken with a paint set.
- Pair Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt and/or The Curious Garden with gardening tools and seeds.
- It’s almost dessert when you give The Cow Loves Cookies with a cookie counting game.
- What else can go with Extra Yarn but extra yarn? Well, and knitting needles and instructions.
- Pair Kite Flying and/or Kite Day with a new kite.
- Give Bats at the Ballgame with a bat and ball. You can throw in a coupon book for practice sessions.
- Take a light-hearted bedtime book like Goodnight Already! or A Bedtime for Bear and add a night light.
- Or choose A Full Moon is Rising or Moonlight with glow-in-the-dark moon and stars — or go high tech with this Moon in my Room.
- Get moving with Giant Dance Party with Kids Dance Party CD.
- Keep up the music by giving Drum City with an old-time tin drum.
- Pair Bubble Trouble with touchable bubbles.
- Ballet dancers will love the classic Angelina Ballerina or the slightly edgyVampirina Ballerina (or both) with a fancy tutu or two… two.
- Give little superheroes SuperHero ABC along with a superhero cape.
- Encourage a future Iron Chef by giving Rainbow Stew or Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon with a cooking set.
- Silliness ensues with Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure and the Pass the Pigs game.
- Take it outside with Chalk with 3-D sidewalk chalk.
- Pair Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site or Building with Dad with toy construction vehicles.
- Give The Monstore with the monster game.
- Who can resist that match-up of Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek with Lincoln Logs?
- Give your little dragon-lover Have You Seen My Dragon?, Lovabye Dragon or Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood with a cute dragon.
- Is there a doctor in the house? There will be with picture book Doctor Ted along with a doctor kit.
- Future firefighter instead? Give Fire! Fuego! along with Firefighters A to Z and firefighter gear.
- Pair picture book Crafty Chloe with a selection of craft supplies.
- What else can go with Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum other than lots of bubble gum.
- Cat lovers can enjoy picture books Here Comes Santa Cat, Katie Loves the Kittens, and A Castle Full of Cats with a cat card game.
- Or let the dogs out with Dogs, Here Comes Trouble!, and If You Give a Dog a Donut and a dog themed game.
- Add a car to a child's train set, but include Steam Train, Dream Train or Elisha Cooper's Train.
- Nature lovers will enjoy Birdsongs along with a guidebook like Backyard Birds and some binoculars.
- For more nature, pair A Butterfly is Patient and/or Butterfly Park with a butterfly garden kit.
- Give your favorite girly-girl Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy with dress-up jewelry and/or a fancy poodle.
- Give your rough little boy Bad Pirate along with genuine pirate gear.
- Another nighttime choice is Goodnight, Little Monster with an Ugly Doll.
- Give picture book Flashlight with a special flashlight and a promise for a nighttime walk or two.
- Or for a different angle with that flashlight, pair with Blackout and prepare for indoor fun with the lights out.
- Take fun picture book Fold Me a Poem and pair it with an origami kit.
- Picture books A Sick Day for Amos McGee or Panda-monium at Peek Zoo would be perfect with a zoo animal collection or game.
- Or head down to the Farm, adding a Lace and Trace Farm Set.
- 999 Frogs Wake Up goes nicely with Flingin' Frogs game.
- For a western theme, give A Night on the Range or Rodeo Red with a cowboy hat.
- Take a special book, like The Lion and the Bird (about a friendship and seeing each other again), and make a recording of you reading it.
- Pair Duck and Goose with a bright ball.
- Celebrate the season with the beautiful Dusk and appropriate lights or decorations.
- The funny wordless book Once Upon a Banana is a perfect fit with a stuffed monkey — but show your sense of humor by throwing a banana into the gift bag.
- Another wordless book choice is the visually stunning Pool, which begs to be given with googles and a trip to the nearest indoor swimming pool.
- Give The Snow Globe Family with a snow globe.
- Pair Lilly’s Big Day with dress-up clothes.
- Or another dress-up option is the Ladybug Girl books with wings and antennae.
- Pair Bubble Bath Pirates with a cool rubber duck.
- Give the wonderful The Day the Babies Crawled Away with a baby doll.
- Everyone needs Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, maybe adding a toy bus.
- Pair classic A Bargain For Frances with a tea set.
Early Elementary
- Pair a nonfiction book about dinosaurs, like Boy! Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs, with a bunch of plastic ones.
- Give Instructions with a book of classic fairy tales, and make time to read them together.
- Introduce a folktale with Maneki Neko: the Tale of the Beckoning Cat and giving lucky cat bank.
- Pair silly beginning reader book The Monster in the Backpack with a cute backpack (monster additional).
- Give beginning reader books Amazing Sharks! and National Geographic Readers: Sharks! and throw in a shark on a stick.
- Take to the ice with book choices Katie Kazoo, On Thin Ice and passes to the local ice-skating rink.
- Give a title from the Soccer Cats series with a soccer ball.
- Pair Toys Go Out with a red bouncy ball, or a plush stingray or buffalo.
- Pair Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs with a kazoo.
- Give early chapter book series books Rainbow Fairies or Flower Fairies with lovely little fairies.
- Blooming fashionistas will appreciate Paper Fashions (Klutz) (all thirty-five Amazon reviews gave five stars!) along with Fashion Kitty.
- Combine sweet Jenny and the Cat Club with a red scarf (don’t worry if it’s too long — so is Jenny’s) and a black cat.
Elementary
- Satisfy a sweet tooth with The Candymakers with a candy making kit.
- Pair Operation YES! with green army men.
- Be a hero and give Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set with Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths.
- Pair fantasy book The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda with a Stars Wars 'Ask the Force' top.
- Give What the World Eats with a promise for an international dinner out or in.
- Pair Every Soul a Star with The Kids Book of the Night Sky and plan a date to look at the stars together.
- For business-minded kids, pair The Lemonade War with a coin counter bank.
- Expand the idea of giving with The One and Only Ivan with an adopt-an-animal program at your local zoo.
- All the elementary school kids will love The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but you can pair it with tin wind-up toys for extra flair.
- Give Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little with um, Stuart Little.
- You can’t go wrong with the funny poems and outstanding art in Frankenstein Takes the Cake along with a cake-baking session, followed by reading the book together. As a matter of fact, throw in Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and make a whole day — and meal — of it.
- Speaking of the amazing Adam Rex, give the hilarious book The True Meaning of Smekday with a the related T-shirt Regarding Stickyfish Teams, I Favor the Bigfield Fighting Koobish.
- Give Kimchi & Calamari with a promise for a dinner out Korean style, or Italian style, or both.
- Wrap up A Crooked Kind of Perfect with excellent toe socks.
- Perhaps Fabulous Hair with a collection of hair accessories will make someone smile.
- Pair a diary-format book like My Explosive Diary (2nd/3rd grade), Amelia’s Notebook (4th/5th grade), or The Princess Diaries (6th/7th grade) with a journal and fun pens
- For a boy, how about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School with the Do It Yourself Journal?
- Have fun with Clarice Bean Spells Trouble and a game of Scrabble.
- Pair Phineas MacGuire... Erupts! with a science kit, or the next book in the series, Phineas MacGuire... Gets Slimed! with the slime science kit.
- Look to fantastic nonfiction, giving Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon with a homemade coupon for a visit to the Air and Space Museum (okay, this might only work around Washington, D.C.) or astronaut ice cream.
- Give a drawing book like Draw 50 Aliens or Draw 50 Animals with a couple of nice sketch pads.
- Pair a spy-themed book like Harriet the Spy, Spy School (chapter book) or The Real Spy’s Guide to Becoming a Spy (nonfiction) with rear-view sunglasses and/or a fingerprint kit.
- Bigger girls like stuffed animals, too. How about Hoot with an owl or The World According to Humphrey with a hamster?
- Select a magic book and fun magic tricks.
- Pair D.I.Y.: Kids with a gift card to a local craft store, and maybe some shopping and crafting time together.
- Match the book and the movie, like The Spiderwick Chronicles with the DVD.
- Pair a theme book like Katie and the Mustang with a horse charm and a satin cord from a craft store.
- Or maybe Fairy Realm with a charm bracelet.
- Give the first books of The Series of Unfortunate Events with a brass telescope.
- Pair The Art Book for Children with watercolor paints or an art set.
- Give National Geographic's Book of Animal Poetry, Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart or Poetry Speaks to Children with hot chocolate, a mug, and a gift certificate for time to read it together.
Teen- Buy a tween Better Nate Than Ever and/or Jack & Louise: Act 1along with tickets to a show.
- Give the companion books Goth Girl Rising and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl , and throw in How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains.
- Pair a book that you and a teen can enjoy with a gift card to Starbucks and a promise to talk about the book over coffee. Some suggestions? Liar, Candor, or The Adoration of Jenna Fox have interesting issues.
- Give Beauty Queens with a small makeup kit, and a healthy dose of irony.
- Rock out with Beige along with a mix CD of the songs in the chapter titles (or an iTunes gift card).
- Pair House of Dance with ballroom dance lessons.
- Give delicious book
I realize I haven't been posting, but it wouldn't feel like the holidays if I didn't update and share my traditional 150 Ways to Give a Book. They are all MotherReader-approved titles — i.e., Good Books. There are a lot more choices for younger kids, as that’s the group we adults most fear disappointing with giving “only” a book. And picture books are kind of easier to do. After the book and gift selections, I’ve also included ways to wrap a book, and book-themed gifts to include for a variety of ages. There are a few new 2014 titles mixed in with older ones — though there aren’t many classics, as I’ve tried to select books that kids would be less likely to have on their shelves.
Sometimes I choose the hardback when the paperback is also available, so check if that is important to you. I’ve also linked to the fun extras through Amazon, for example, to save you shopping time, and because I get some small credit for your purchases through the Amazon Associates program. But know that you can find cheaper alternatives for some small things — paints, pens, journals, etc. — at a local discount store. On the other hand, doing all your purchases online and having them sent to your door is priceless.
I'm always looking for new ideas, so leave suggestions in the comments. I hope you'll share this link as you promote giving books as gifts for the holidays and that you find some great ideas for your own friends and family. Enjoy!
Multi-Age
- Give an experience like a trip to a zoo, aquarium, museum, aviary, arena, or city. Put the passes, tickets, or homemade gift certificate with a relevant book to make it feel more tangible.
- Take a road trip with Ask Me so you can use the driving time to ask each other the interesting questions from the book.
- Give a book with a movie theater gift card to see the upcoming film.
- Give a book with a gift card to rent the movie. Include a box of microwave popcorn.
- Give One Hen — How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference with a loan to Kiva or a donation to Heifer International to buy chicks.
- Pair any book with another book from the bargain section, maybe something silly or crafty or gimmicky.
- Pair a detective book with a magnifying glass.
- Match poetry books with word beads or magnetic poetry.
- Pair a picture book with a related stuffed animal.
- Give an interesting, insightful book with a restaurant gift card and a date to discuss the book together over a meal.
- Honor the book enthusiast with necklace along with a new title.
- Celebrate writing too with special journals from Tara Books, an independent press based in India.
Picture Books- Learn letters with ABC, Baby Me! board book or The Sleepy Little Alphabet and letter links.
- Or work with numbers (and colors) with 10 Hungry Rabbits and magnetic numbers.
- Or let them battle it out with 123 vs ABC and bath toys
- Give The Day the Crayons Quit with a pack of fat crayons and a stack of copy paper from an office supply store.
- Or go with Art and Max or Blue Chicken with a paint set.
- Pair The Curious Garden with gardening tools and seeds.
- It’s almost dessert when you give The Cow Loves Cookies with a cookie counting game.
- What else can go with Extra Yarn but extra yarn? Well, and knitting needles and instructions.
- Pair Kite Flying and/or Kite Day with a new kite.
- Give Bats at the Ballgame with a bat and ball. You can throw in a coupon book for practice sessions.
- Take a bedtime book like Little Owl’s Night, A Bedtime for Bear or Sweet Dreams and add a night light.
- Or choose A Full Moon is Rising or Moonlight with glow-in-the-dark moon and stars — or go high tech with this Moon in my Room.
- Get moving with Giant Dance Party with Kids Dance Party CD.
- Keep up the music by giving Drum City with an old-time tin drum.
- Pair Bubble Trouble with touchable bubbles.
- Ballet dancers will love the classic Angelina Ballerina or the slightly edgyVampirina Ballerina (or both) with a fancy tutu or two… two.
- Give little superheroes SuperHero ABC along with a superhero cape.
- Encourage a future Iron Chef by giving Rainbow Stew or Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon with a cooking set.
- Silliness ensues with Pigs to the Rescue and the Pass the Pigs game.
- Take it outside with Chalk with 3-D sidewalk chalk.
- Pair Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site or Building with Dad with toy construction vehicles.
- Give The Monstore with the monster game.
- Who can resist that match-up of Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek with Lincoln Logs?
- Give your little dragon-lover Hush Little Dragon or Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood with a cute dragon.
- Is there a doctor in the house? There will be with picture book Doctor Ted along with a doctor kit.
- Future firefighter instead? Give Fire! Fuego! along with Firefighters A to Z and firefighter gear.
- Pair picture book Crafty Chloe with a selection of craft supplies.
- What else can go with Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum other than lots of bubble gum.
- Cat lovers can enjoy picture books Here Comes Santa Cat, Katie Loves the Kittens, and Won Ton with a cat card game.
- Or let the dogs out with Dogs, Here Comes Trouble!, and If You Give a Dog a Donut and dog themed dominoes.
- Add a car to a child's train set, but include Steam Train, Dream Train or Elisha Cooper's Train.
- Nature lovers will enjoy Birdsongs along with a guidebook like Backyard Birds and some binoculars.
- For more nature, pair A Butterfly is Patient with a butterfly garden kit.
- Give your favorite girly-girl Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy with dress-up jewelry and/or a fancy poodle.
- Give your rough little boy Pirates Don’t Change Diapers along with genuine pirate gear.
- Another nighttime choice is Goodnight, Little Monster with an Ugly Doll.
- Give picture book The Moon with a special flashlight and a promise for a nighttime walk or two.
- Or for a different angle with that flashlight, pair with Blackout and prepare for indoor fun with the lights out.
- Take fun picture book Fold Me a Poem and pair it with an origami kit.
- Picture books A Sick Day for Amos McGee or Panda-monium at Peek Zoo would be perfect with a zoo animal collection or game.
- Or head down to the Farm, adding a Lace and Trace Farm Set.
- 999 Frogs Wake Up goes nicely with Flingin' Frogs game.
- For a western theme, give A Night on the Range or Every Cowgirl Loves a Rodeo with a cowboy hat.
- Take a special book, like Wow! It Sure is Good to Be You (which is about an aunt loving her far-away niece), and make a CD recording of you reading it.
- Pair Duck and Goose with a bright ball.
- Celebrate the season with the beautiful Dusk and appropriate lights or decorations.
- The funny wordless book Once Upon a Banana is a perfect fit with a stuffed monkey — but show your sense of humor by throwing a banana into the gift bag.
- Another wordless book choice is the visually stunning The Tree House, which works surprisingly well with Littlest Pet Shop brown bear and polar bear.
- Give The Snow Globe Family with a snow globe.
- Pair Lilly’s Big Day with dress-up clothes.
- Or another dress-up option is the Ladybug Girl books with wings and antennae.
- Pair Bubble Bath Pirates with a cool rubber duck.
- Give the wonderful The Day the Babies Crawled Away with a baby doll.
- Everyone needs Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, maybe adding a toy bus.
- Pair classic A Bargain For Frances with a tea set.
Early Elementary- Pair a nonfiction book about dinosaurs, like Boy! Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs, with a bunch of plastic ones.
- Give Instructions with a book of classic fairy tales, and make time to read them together.
- Introduce a folktale with Maneki Neko: the Tale of the Beckoning Cat and giving lucky cat bank.
- Pair silly beginning reader book The Monster in the Backpack with a cute backpack (monster additional).
- Give beginning reader books Amazing Sharks! and National Geographic Readers: Sharks! and throw in a shark on a stick.
- Take to the ice with book choices Katie Kazoo, On Thin Ice and passes to the local ice-skating rink.
- Give a title from the Soccer Cats series with a soccer ball.
- Pair Toys Go Out with a red bouncy ball, or a plush stingray or buffalo.
- Pair Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs with a kazoo.
- Give early chapter book series books Rainbow Fairies or Flower Fairies with lovely little fairies.
- Blooming fashionistas will appreciate Paper Fashions (Klutz) (all thirty-five Amazon reviews gave five stars!) along with Fashion Kitty.
- Combine sweet Jenny and the Cat Club with a red scarf (don’t worry if it’s too long — so is Jenny’s) and a black cat.
Elementary- Satisfy a sweet tooth with The Candymakers with a candy making kit.
- Pair Operation YES! with green army men.
- Be a hero and give Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set with Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths.
- Pair fantasy book The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda with a Stars Wars 'Ask the Force' top.
- Give What the World Eats with a promise for an international dinner out or in.
- Pair Every Soul a Star with The Kids Book of the Night Sky and plan a date to look at the stars together.
- For business-minded kids, pair The Lemonade War with a coin counter bank.
- Expand the idea of giving with The One and Only Ivan with an adopt-an-animal program at your local zoo.
- All the elementary school kids will love The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but you can pair it with tin wind-up toys for extra flair.
- Give Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little with um, Stuart Little.
- You can’t go wrong with the funny poems and outstanding art in Frankenstein Takes the Cake along with a cake-baking session, followed by reading the book together. As a matter of fact, throw in Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and make a whole day — and meal — of it.
- Speaking of the amazing Adam Rex, give the hilarious book The True Meaning of Smekday with a the related T-shirt Regarding Stickyfish Teams, I Favor the Bigfield Fighting Koobish.
- Give Kimchi & Calamari with a promise for a dinner out Korean style, or Italian style, or both.
- Wrap up A Crooked Kind of Perfect with excellent toe socks.
- Perhaps Fabulous Hair with a collection of hair accessories will make someone smile.
- Pair a diary-format book like My Explosive Diary (2nd/3rd grade), Amelia’s Notebook (4th/5th grade), or The Princess Diaries (6th/7th grade) with a journal and fun pens
.
For a boy, how about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul with the Do It Yourself Journal?Have fun with Clarice Bean Spells Trouble and a game of Scrabble.Pair Phineas MacGuire... Erupts! with a science kit, or the next book in the series, Phineas MacGuire... Gets Slimed! with the slime science kit.Look to fantastic nonfiction, giving Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon with a homemade coupon for a visit to the Air and Space Museum (okay, this might only work around Washington, D.C.) or astronaut ice cream.Give a drawing book like Draw 50 Aliens or Draw 50 Animals with a couple of nice sketch pads.Pair a spy-themed book like Harriet the Spy (chapter book) or The Real Spy’s Guide to Becoming a Spy (nonfiction) with rear-view sunglasses and/or a fingerprint kit.Bigger girls like stuffed animals, too. How about Hoot with an owl or The World According to Humphrey with a hamster?Select a magic book and fun magic tricks.Pair D.I.Y.: Kids with a gift card to a local craft store, and maybe some shopping and crafting time together.Match the book and the movie, like The Spiderwick Chronicles with the DVD.Pair a theme book like Katie and the Mustang with a horse charm and a satin cord from a craft store.Or maybe Fairy Realm with a charm bracelet.Give the first books of The Series of Unfortunate Events with a brass telescope.Pair The Art Book for Children with watercolor paints or an art set.Give National Geographic's Book of Animal Poetry, Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart or Poetry Speaks to Children with hot chocolate, a mug, and a gift certificate for time to read it together.Teen- Give the companion books Goth Girl Rising and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl , and throw in How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains.
- Pair a book that you and a teen can enjoy with a gift card to Starbucks and a promise to talk about the book over coffee. Some suggestions? Liar, Candor, or The Adoration of Jenna Fox have interesting issues.
- Give Beauty Queens with a small makeup kit, and a healthy dose of irony.
- Rock out with Beige along with a mix CD of the songs in the chapter titles (or an iTunes gift card).
- Buy a tween Better Nate Than Ever along with tickets to a show.
- Pair House of Dance with ballroom dance lessons.
- Give delicious book A La Carte with personal cooking lessons.
- Match casino gambling themed Drop with a deck of cards and a family game of penny poker or blackjack.
- Pair King Dork with a CD of The Mr. T Experience.
- Treat a tween to Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf along with pink nail polish, lipstick, post-it notes, and special bubble bath, as mentioned in the book.
- Pair
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| Click Read more below for patterns and directions. (Shown above marking my page in Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed and illustrated by Barbara McClintock, Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, 2012.) | |
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Looking for holiday gifts for the readers and writers in your life? Here are a few ideas:
and check out these stores…
Or, how about a year’s membership in The Childrens Book Hub (www.childrensbookhub.com), or a gift certificate for the Just Write for Kids children’s book writing course (www.justwriteforkids.com)?
And for those of you who are already Hub members, don’t forget the Hub store! http://www.cafepress.com/beechtreebooks
Happy holidays!
For all of their elementary school years, I always gave books to my kids’ teachers for the holidays. My favorite book to give was Earth from Above for Young Readers. It’s out of print now, but it embodies my perfect gift for teachers as a book that the adult can enjoy and appreciate, and can also be used in the classroom. That particular title could be used for such a wide range of ages that it was absolutely perfect. Seriously, I bought six of them when they went to a discount price and gave them out for three years straight — and my kids are three years apart. But here are three other great gift suggestions and I'd to hear about more perfect teacher titles in the comments. You know you have them.
How to Heal a Broken Wing,
by Bob Graham
A pigeon is hurt on the sidewalk, and everyone walks by — except one boy and his mother. They take the bird home, take care of it, and let it fly away. I’m keeping the plot simple, so that I can leave room to say that I have not shown this book to one adult yet who hasn’t been deeply moved by it. Kids may see the simple story first, and then the kindness beneath. Adults can see the deeper levels of helping others, healing wounds, and letting go. Or even, as I told my seventh grader, “that sometimes we’re the bird.” Bob Graham’s illustrations are wonderful, and truly tell the story more than the simple text. It’s a beautiful book and would be great for preschool through second grade teachers.
One Voice, Please: Favorite Read-Aloud Stories,
by Sam McBratneyElementary school teachers have tight schedules with all the pressures of different tests and required curriculum. It can be hard to fit in reading as much as they might like. But this book is perfect to use in those extra five or ten minutes. Filled with familiar stories from around the world, it can be shared with a few minutes to spare while ensuring kids are hearing the stories that make up our common understanding.
Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World,
edited by Jan Greenberg
So, how have your holidays been going? Personally, I’m wiped out. I could sleep in for a week — which coincidently, is what I can do for the next seven days. The kids don’t have school, and I’m only working in the afternoons a few days. And boy, do I need the rest.
I had meant to come back with a holiday message after Festivus, but I got steamrolled by family and Christmas preparations. Had I made time, I would probably have referred to Lemony Snicket’s new Christmas book, The Lump of Coal, and its perfect beginning sentence:
The holiday season is a time for storytelling, and whether you are hearing the story of a candelabra staying lit for more than a week, or a baby born in a barn without proper medical supervision, these stories often feature miracles.
I may have even gone so far as to quote the end of the book, which doesn’t give the story away but can only add to your desire to own the book by making this great statement:
It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season — like all the other seasons — is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them, and that’s the end of this particular story.
And then I would have wished you a Merry Christmas and/or a continued Happy Hanukkah.
But I didn’t do that. I was absorbed in my delightful niece, because when two-year old children come on the scene, they are all-consuming of time and energy. But in a good way. We had a wonderful Christmas being together with my family. The fourth grader has barely taken off the earphones to her new
iPod shuffle, and the seventh grader was so happy with her
simple cell phone, that I thought she might start jumping on the couch. Which would have certainly compromised her carefully maintained teenage dignity. The girls and my husband, finding leather Prada purses in the thousand-dollar range, thoughtfully bought me a Prada fragrance which I now love. My husband spent the days finding time for new video games
Pure and
Lost, and we all gathered to watch the complete DVD — with musical commentary — of
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
Hold it. Book blog. Bookwise, I received
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World and
Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid and
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World and
One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good. (Okay, I bought that one myself in desperate hope of change for the new year.)
On Saturday, I chatted online with the other members of the
Cybils Fiction Picture Book panel, and we made our final shortlist. A database that we were using made the discussion more focused, but not nearly as easy as I thought it would be. I’m very proud of our final shortlist and its variety of literary tone, artistic style, reading range, and even genre. The announcement of all the titles will be on January 1 on the
Cybils site. I know — I’m all a-tingle, too.
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I really liked BACK TO SCHOOL TORTOISE and think it would be a fun book for teachers...my mom is a teacher and I'm sure she'd appreciate it. :) It's not necessarily one to incorporate into the classroom, but it sure is a fun little joke for the teachers to enjoy.
I LOVE the poetry speaks books. I have the one for adults, but someday I hope to have the one for kids. We just check it out from the library for now. Thanks for the reminder that it's been a while. Must revisit.
Oh, Back to School Tortoise is a PERFECT teacher gift! It does work on two levels with the little joke at the end. Great idea!