Book Ideas for Christmas Gifts
Books are a favorite and beloved gift in our home. In fact, one of their favorite Christmas morning gifts is a basket full of books we give them each year. We set the basket under the tree (unwrapped) and add books (that I have collected through the year) to it throughout the month. They can SEE the books, but not touch. Christmas afternoon they lay around reading these new books.
I thought I would share some of our favorite book ideas for Christmas gifts that we would recommend. Most of these books were enjoyed this year, mostly as read alouds. Read by a parent to the boys (ages 8 and 9). As parents we enjoyed the beauty of these stories too, so the age range for these books would be a recommended 8+. Also, a lot of them are series – which makes for great follow up gifts or sibling gifts.
Currently Amazon is running a $10 savings when you spend $25 or more on books by using the code HOLIDAYBOOK. They have a similar sale every year about this time and it is one of my favorites! This morning I sat down with my 9 year old and told him he could buy $25 worth of books for $15 if he would like, and he loved browsing through all the books and picking out some with his own money (they’ve been making a killing dog sitting!) He ended up choosing the two other books in the Green Ember series, mentioned below, and a couple joke books for his brother.
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The Forest Feast For Kids by Erin Gleeson – this cookbook is one of Wesley’s (8) favorite books. It is beautiful to look at and seeing as the recipes are all vegetarian, they are also (mostly!) all gluten free, too. I have borrowed the adult one from the library a few times and it, too, is beautiful to look at.
Hank the Cowdog by John Erickson has been a delightfully hilarious treat about a cowdog and his antics. The audiobooks are also excellently done (read by the author) and are just as great an option just for his dynamic read aloud skills. Mr. Erickson has done a marvelous job depicting the persona of a dog.
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey is a tender story of a boy and his bear – it’s a bit on the heavier side with, but a wonderful adventure story and rather descriptive of the Alaskan Brown Bear.
American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg this book is a school book but made the cut as they have loved these tales and we have really enjoyed reading through them. It is a collection of short stories about American legends, such as Paul Bunyan, Stormalong, and Davy Crockett.
Rasmus and the Vagabond by Astrid Lindgren was read over a year ago but is a story we keep coming back to. The humerous adventures of a little orphan boy and a vagabond. Written by the same author who penned the magnificant Pippy Longstocking.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George was also read over a year ago, but was the first book my eldest ever brought to me that he had read on his own and asked me to read it so we could talk about it so this book has a special place in my heart. It is another grand adventure story of a boy surviving on his own.
Wingfeather Saga (there are currently 4) by Andrew Peterson – does everyone know about these books yet?! If not, they are fantastic! That being said, I must confess that I passed the reading of these on to Paul. They weren’t quite my cup of tea, even if I did enjoy the parts I listened in on. There were too many made up words and a little too much fantasy for it to thoroughly grip me. But Paul and the boys really loved the series (they haven’t read number 4 yet, but it’s on our gift list for them!)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is a fun series that was recommend to us. A wholesome series full of adventure, mystery and fun that follows 4 children that have been chosen out of dozens to go on a secret mission.
Redwall Series by Brain Jacques is a seemingly unending series that has kept my oldest thoroughly captivated. (I just grabbed one to photograph – I couldn’t find number one in the series.) The series follows the mice of Redwall and their warrior like escapades and many dishes of food.
A couple other books of note:
The Green Ember by SD Smith is a relatively new book (there are two more in the series now). Paul and the boys listened to it together on audio while Paul was away this summer. It is an adventure story about rabbits.
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat had us in stitches laughing. It is the hilarious tale of a boy in a small Canadian town and his two pet owls. We lent it out to a friend so I don’t have a cover to photograph. But it’s a hoot.
What would you add to this list of book ideas for Christmas gifts?
Also, consider using swimming goggles in place of a ribbon when tying books together for children! I think it adds a fun little twist.
Momofthree
I am a sucker for book lists! Add to that the fact that my 8 year old son has just started to fall in love with reading on his own and I may have trouble limiting the number of books I put under the tree. He has started reading the How to Train a Dragon books – we went through most of this series as read aloud books last in the last couple of years but he is now going back and reading the first one on his own. My oldest has always loved reading all genres and keeping her in books is a big challenge but I’m still on the hunt for the kind of book that will help my 7 year old fall in love with reading too. So far it is looking like anything to do with animals whether nonfiction or fiction. Anyway thanks for the great ideas – we have purchased a lot of books that your family has enjoyed with lots of success!
Question about the affiliate links – is there a way to get an affiliate link to the Canadian site? Or do you know if it will still work if I click your link and then click over to the Canadian site? I can’t get free shipping if I go through the .com site instead of the .ca
Jessica
I have no idea about the affiliate link … I waited so long to respond because I was hoping to have figured it out! But I haven’t yet … but will try to!!