All year I gather books that I am sure will please children on my holiday gift list, matchmaking them with interests, ages and personalities. Here are some new books that might fit those on your lists.
Activity books and kits are always the best received and the publisher whose work succeeds most consistently is Klutz Press. They know how to mix fun and learning. This year they have gift possibilities to fit a variety of passions. Children with inventive spirits will enjoy Rachel Haab's Fairies: Petal People You Make Yourself (Klutz, $15.95) The thirteen-year-old author shares designs and directions for tiny bendable fairies and Klutz provides the materials, from embroidery floss to flower petals.
For children who love to make gifts, Klutz has several possibilities. The Anklets Kit (7.95)- provides directions and threads to make 8 anklets, while the Gelly Ring Kit (7.95) includes mini gel pens, 25 gelly rings and plenty of design ideas. Anne Johnson's The Body Book: Recipes for Natural Body Care ($21.95) has recipes and ingredients to create beauty from face to feet.
Nature lovers may have to wait until spring to fully appreciate the press and supplies included in Squashing Flowers, Squeezing Leaves ($19.95) while inside artists can start right away on Drawbreakers: A Drawing Book that We Start and You Finish ($10.95)
Books that inspire laughter are sure hits. For the younger set, Alan Katz's Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other silly dilly songs (McElderry,$15.00; grades K-2) has lyrics which fit familiar tunes as well as situations children know. When you and your children sing "I've been Cleaning Up My Bedroom" to the tune of "I've been working on the Railroad", you'll turn groans to giggles and drudgery into fun. Goofy illustrations by David Catrow illustrate daily dilemmas from changing a baby's diapers to going to bed.
Families with older children will laugh over David Wisniewski's The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups: The Second File (HarperCollins, $16.95). Written in a tongue-in-cheek style with amazing cut-paper collages, Wisniewski portrays himself as a sleuth willing to don costumes and raid secret sites to uncover truths behind commonplace parent cliches. Enlightened children will brush to prevent bored teeth from rebelling and they'll certainly clean under their beds to "stop the horrific growth of killer dust bunnies".
Then there's Dav Pilkey's irreverent fifth novel, Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (Scholastic, $16.95; ages 6-9). The title speaks loudly enough to convey the type of humor!
Certain subjects have appeal to certain children and books that fit interests are always a successful. There are typical intrigue areas. For example, most young boys love trains, cars and action. Sam Williams pairs trains with rhyming verses, noises, counting and flaps children can lift to reveal the hidden cargo of Long Train: 101 Cars on the Track (Scholastic, $12.95; ages 3-5)
Dinosaurs, a fixation for many children, has offerings at two age levels. For the younger dino fans, there's David Carter's rhyming, playful Flapdoodle Dinosaurs: A Colorful Pop-up Book (Little Simon,$15.95; ages 3-6). For the older, more serious scholars, there's Dinosaur Encyclopedia (DK Publishing,$29.95; ages 5 and up) which comes a CD titled Dinosaur Hunter and colorful drawings to capture the giant reptiles' existence from the dawn of time to extinction. Dinosaurs star in Dennis Nolan's story, Shadow of the Dinosaurs (Simon and Schuster, $16.00; ages 5-8). In this sequel to his award-winning Dinosaur Dream (Simon and Schuster, $5.99; ages 5-8), a dog finds a bone and is suddenly transported to an ancient, dinosaur-filled world.
Young dancers will be pleased by Anna Pavlova's girlhood story, I dreamed I was a ballerina (Atheneum, $16.00; ages 4-6) beautifully illustrated with art by Edgar Degas. Older girls drawn to lavishly illustrated fairy tales will find happiness in a Grimm story, Mother Holly , retold by John Stewig and illustrated by Johanna Westerman (North-South, $15.95; ages 6 and up). It's the story of two sisters who harvest the rewards of their contrasting behaviors. Excellence of illustration and story are also found in Lauren Mills' original tale, The Dog Prince (Little Brown, $15.95; ages 6-10) which tells the story of a bored, spoiled prince whose deeds transform into a bloodhound and he comes to understand love and loyalty.
Two titles jump out for those children who are not devoted readers. They'll be captured by these books long on pictures and suck-you-in subjects and short on words: Book of World Records 2002 (Scholastic, $9.95) and Ripley's Believe It Or Not (Scholastic, $14.95)
David Seidman's Secret Agent (innovative kids, $19.99; ages 7 and up) begins immediately with a mystery--you have to solve a puzzle to open the kit! Written in compelling spy-lingo, this book includes more than fifty "brain bending" challenges.
Laurie Coulter unites mystery and codes in Secrets in Stone: All About Maya Hieroglyphs (Little Brown, $17.95; ages 6-10) The author does a great job in blending Mayan history, culture, and language, then linking these with modern-day experiences through examples and activities. The writing is involving and the reproduction of art and inscriptions excellent.
There's nothing like sitting down as a family and taking the time to dream. Each year there seems a special book that offers an opportunity to gather, read, and marvel together. This year it's Julia Cunningham's The Stable Rat and Other Christmas Poems (Greenwillow, $15.95; ages 6 to adult), a miracle of a book. The lyricism of Cunningham's sensory poems wraps around readers transporting them to the first Nativity night where they will be captivated by a variety of viewpoints. The crows set the scene with their "hoarse Hosannas", "mighty hymns/that thundered the tops of trees,/tossing their leaves/every which way." Coming closer to the manger, meet "The Stable Rat", unnoticed in most nativity scenes. He paints pictures with insight and imagery, seeing "the sheep, clotting their corner/in four mounds of wool/white as moons". His voice holds the envy of a small beast who is "...alone and gray, forgotten,/ a fill of skin so small among their legs." And then comes the magical moment when a small hand clutches his tail, giving him a halo like a flame "a rising higher than the evening star-/a glory given me,/shadow and self together." Cunningham's carefully chosen words portray the psyches of many and the marvels of all with a beauty that lifts the reader to another realm. Anita Lobel, moved by the poems, has created illustrations which portray the aches, joys, curiosities, triumphs and wonderment of that first Christmas.