Christmas gift book suggestions for all age groups

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these for babies and toddlers:

Moo by Matthew Van Fleet – nice clear photos of barnyard animals with tabs to pull, flaps to lift and lots of texture to touch and feel. 

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown – nice to give with a (plastic) barnyard animal – we like Schleich, you'll find them in most toy stores.

Imagine by Alison Lester – there are lots of little things to look for on each page.

It’s Useful to Have a Duck – by Isol.  Lots of fun for little ones and their parents.  Maybe with a rubber duck.

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I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen -  also give a hat if you want to add to the present.

Or . . . a beautifully illustrated version of your favourite childhood classic, to be treasured and read later.  Eg The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame and Inga Moore),  The Hobbit (JRR Tolkein and Michael Hague), Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain, Robert Ingpen) or Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren and Lauren Child)

early childhood (2 ish to school age):

The Pig in the Pond – Martin Waddell – hilarious fun for this age.  Lots of frantic repetition of “The pig’s in the pond” and a shocking ending when the farmer strips off and jumps in the pond too! Maybe also give a Schliech pig (available in lots of regular stores).

Extra Yarn – Mac Barnett – great with a set of knitting needles and some wool. (The rhyme we used to teach kids to knit is ‘Through the fence, catch the sheep, back we come, take the leap”). And check out this video of Mac Barnett, it's so great.

Baa Baa Smart Sheep and I Love Lemonade – what is Christmas Day without a few poo jokes anyway.  

for a child (school to about 8 years):

At the Same Moment Around the World – great gift with a watch or an old fashioned alarm clock.

When Pigasso Met Mootisse – good to give with a promise of a trip to the gallery.

Tell me a Picture – goes well with art supplies. (it's one of our collections series)

for pre-teens (8 ish to about 12):

The Last King of Angkor Wat – by Graeme Base – hours of exploration.

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer - Walt Whitman and Loren Long - good to give with the supplies to build a scale model of our solar system.  They take a bit of collecting but it’s a brilliant thing to do – fascinating for all ages. 

Into the Unknown – Stewart Ross and Stephen Biesty – perhaps also give tickets to the maritime museum

for teens:

Amazing Babes  - a book for any age and certainly not just for girls, but as a Christmas present, probably better suited to girls. Great book for prompting other stories about amazing women including their own mothers and grandmothers. 

Imagine a Day - or Imagine a Place or Imagine a Night – all full of lovely words and pictures to set teenage minds soaring.

The Enemy – Davide Cali and Serge Bloch – for teens who feel a passion for peace and change in the world.

and for grownups:

The Gift of Nothing – Patrick McDonnell – because there is no better gift than love.

The Mozart Question – Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman – perfect Christmas day reading material.  Also great for reading aloud on a car trip. If you want to add a little something, beautiful violin music is the way to go.

My Country – Dorothea MacKellar, Andrew McLean –  especially for Australians. Because we really do love a sunburnt country, especially at Christmas.

I hope you find something to love in those selections.