I love to give and receive books. My nine-year-old son has requested books for Christmas, which I think is great! It warms the hearts of his librarian parents. Here are a few of my favorites for gifting this year.

Ages 3 and Under

Bright Baby Books-My Big Animal Book
The clear, bright photographs make these enticing for the little ones.

Max’s Toys
Max and Ruby are a favorite here. I especially like the older titles.

Roses are Red. Are Violets Blue?
This is my favorite book from childhood. I have our original copy. It is a color naming and color mixing book. If you can find a used copy, it is worth it!

Car Wash
An easy, fun picture book that has collage pictures.

Ages 4-8

Make It
Crafts for kids made from recyclables. We originally checked this out from the library, but C. loved it so much, I thought she needed her own copy. It is a great book.

How to Build an A
Build the alphabet with the included shapes.

Giant Play and Learn
From Chronicle Books, fun and quiet entertainment!

Zoo-ology
A fantastic book to give as a gift. This oversized book has beautiful illustrations of animals. The animals are grouped into categories including “On the Seaboard”, “Underground”, “Spots and Stripes”, and “Black and White”.

3-D Atlas and World Tour
Really for big kids too-who doesn’t love 3-D?

Big Words for Little People
Usually I am not a big fan of celebrity written books, but her books seem to resonate with kids. Her playful language and themes are a hit.

Ages 8-14

Magic Thief
Once kids really start reading, it is hard to keep them in books. They go through them so fast! This wizard adventure book is just what my son has in mind for a relaxing Winter Break read.

Gods of Manhattan
An adventure story, featuring thirteen-year-old Rory as the main character. Rory finds a parallel city to Manhattan, called Mannahatta, which is populated by Gods.

Savvy
The Beaumont family each is endowded with a special talent-a savvy- on their thirteenth birthday. When middle child, Mississippi, turns thirteen her adventure begins.

Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide: Extreme Junior Edition
I think this will get some laughs from my nine-year-old, and spark his imagination.

Almost Everything
By the same author as Zoo-ology, this giant book has categories including “Trees and Flowers”, “Human Body”, “Costumes of the World”, and “Tools”. The index has a description of each picture.

We were lucky enough to get one of the advance reading copies of my best friend’s new book, Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel. H was thrilled to think he might be the 1st kid to ever read the book in the world.
There will be more to come on this as we read the whole book. H said of the the book, “They are really going to move to Mars!”

Librarians are notorious for reading lots of mystery and detective novels. Eoin Colfer’s, Half-Moon Investigations, is the perfect kid version of a hard-boiled detective novel. We listened to the audiobook version of Half-Moon Investigations, while on a car trip to visit the grandparents.

Fletcher Moon is a twelve year-old licensed private investigator. Fletcher is respected among his schoolmates for his ability to solve mysteries, but he is an outsider. He has a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor that keeps the other students and adults on their toes.

Fletcher takes on a case offered to him by a fellow student to find a missing organizer. Doesn’t sound so exciting? Just wait. When Fletcher decides to investigate a family in his Irish town well known for their extensive criminal activities, he finds himself framed for a crime and on the run. Fletcher must clear his name and solve the crime before it’s too late.

Sean Patrick Reilly lends his voice to Fletcher and the other numerous characters in Colfer’s book.