Bookivore and Mr. Bookivore learned early on that it was impossible (and fruitless) to compete with grandparents in the toy-giving department, so we began giving books to our nieces and nephews instead. When our own kids came along, we found there were always books we wanted to get for them, so why not save them for Christmas and dilute the river of toys a little with some quality literature? After all, every book you buy is one less toy that will break or end up at Goodwill.
So here's the breakdown for 2010:
So here's the breakdown for 2010:
The Lost Hero: two copies of this for our tween nephew and niece. Hardbacks of this one are reasonable through Amazon. I also saw them at Costco for about the same price.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda: for my 11 year old nephew. Should be a hit.
Maximum Boy books: a new old series that my 7 year old recently discovered. 11 year old Max Silver accidentally becomes a superhero and has fast paced, silly adventures saving the planet. Humor that is a bit more sophisticated than Captain Underpants (but not much).
Down, Down, Down and Sisters and Brothers: We love Steve Jenkins books and these are two fairly recent ones. Informative text, beautiful collage art. These are for my 7 and 4 year olds.
Ingo: for my 13 year old niece. Loved the dark tone of this mer-people tale.
Hunger Games series: for my 16 year old nephew. He's a total omnivore when it comes to books and has been trying to get these from the library and failing. Not sure if we'll be getting him Mockingjay, but the first two for sure.
Sabotaged: for my 9 year old daughter. She began the Missing series and really likes it, so book three is going to make an appearance under our tree.
The Girl Who Could Fly: this one for my 11 and 13 year old nieces. 11 year old Piper McCloud discovers she can fly, just before she's packed off to a school for special kids called I.N.S.A.N.E. -- nothing ominous in that, right? A gem of a book.
Bobby Vs. Girls (Accidentally): for my 9 year old daughter. She is very into humorous writing now, so this one should work. Fourth-Grade Bobby Ellis-Chan is sandwiched between two sisters and has a girl as his best friend, but this is not something he wants to advertise. He gets into a series of mishaps (like finding his sister's underwear static-clinging to his shirt the day of his speech) that should have my daughter rolling.
The Case for Christ for Kids: my daughter specifically requested this one, so I think Santa is going to bring it. I haven't read it, but if it's anything like the adult volume it should be pretty good.
The Once Upon A Time series: my 12 year old niece really likes these, so we're getting her a couple to round out her gift pile. I have not personally read any of these, but my sister-in-law speaks highly of them. There are a bunch of them, retelling both classic and lesser-known fairy tales.
Here's what I'm NOT getting:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth. Although both my son and his cousin want this one, I can't do it. I am not a big fan of the Wimpy Kid books -- I find the characters mean and crude and disrespectful. Sorry, no sale.
Here's what I'm NOT getting:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth. Although both my son and his cousin want this one, I can't do it. I am not a big fan of the Wimpy Kid books -- I find the characters mean and crude and disrespectful. Sorry, no sale.
Knufflebunny Free: I loved the first two Knufflebunny books, but this one just jarred me. I realize the author is trying to show the passage of time by giving the parents in the story new hairstyles and such, but I found the change really hard to swallow. Hmmmm....maybe I'm more of a toddler than I thought.
Next week is the start of the Scholastic Warehouse Sale, so I may add a few things to my list if I hit some good deals (okay, who are we kidding -- I will almost certainly overbuy in the the book department. Don't judge me). You can check out last year's recommendations for seasonal books if you like and you can check Scholastic's website for a warehouse sale near you.
RRoom for a Little One by Martin Waddell may end up in my 3 year old's stocking this year. It's got pretty pictures and a sweet story. Animals are coming one by one -- tired, old, lost -- and all are welcomed into the stable. At last, Mary and Joseph arrive and are welcomed, too. When baby Jesus makes his appearance, well, of course there's room for him as well. The paintings positively glow and it comes in a nice boardbook format.
The next two are so similar, I think you could probably throw a dart and be equally happy with either. Voices of Christmas by Nikki Grimes and The Twelve Prayers of Christmas by Candi Chand. Their formats are almost identical: a retelling of the Christmas story through a variety of perpectives. In Twelve Prauers the perspectives are rendered as prayers, while Voices tells the story in first-person narrative poems.
Both books have stunning artwork and I loved the ethnic flavor of both -- Gabriel is black, Mary looks hispanic or middle eastern, baby Jesus has dark hair. It makes a nice change. My sense of Voices is that it's more Poetry (with a capital p) and some of the lines seem better suited for older kids. In Joseph's poem, he wonders "How can I marry a girl who is having someone else's baby?" Most of the Voices poems are longer than those in Twelve Prayers, again making them maybe a little better for older kids. Twelve Prayers poems are shorter, rhymed texts, beginning with Mary and ending with Jesus. Both of these are gorgeous books with lush, detailed paintings amply complimenting the writing.
I like to have a collection of books like this to bring out at Christmas and leave scattered on end and coffee tables. Even my oldest, who is "too old for picture books, Mom!" will pick them up and thumb through them. It's nice to have some new options for the season.
