Whenever I asked my father for his Christmas gift list, he would say all he wanted was his two front teeth, echoing the popular, holiday song. Since he already had two real, perfect front teeth, his dad joke amused him, but it left me relying on my own creativity and imagination.
You probably won’t get that response from the children in your life. They know exactly what they want for Christmas and most youth will promptly provide you with their list. Are you wondering what else to add to their requests?
Choose books!
There’s a book to suit every age and interest from board books to YA (young adult) and topics range from colors and ABCs to the environment and social activism. Here are the age ranges:
Board books: babies to age 3 The sturdy, hard or cloth books can handle bites and battering.
Picture books: age 3 – 8 The illustrations help supplement part of the story and often add interesting details not included in the text. Wordless picture books are fun for narrating your own wording of a story.
Early readers: ages range from 6 to 9 and depend more on reading skill levels than on ages or grades. Illustrations are often black and white sketches, which are secondary to the story.
Chapter books: ages range from 7 to 10 for strong readers who have progressed beyond short chapter books/early readers and are ready for a challenging story with more characters and complex plots.
Middle grade: for ages 8 to 12 The themes often reflect developmental topics for the age range and deal with friendships, school issues, new independence, and the ways readers begin to interpret the world.
Young adult: for ages 12 to 18 This group can range from younger YA, with less mature themes to older YA that touches on more adult-like content.
New adult: for ages 18+ Themes center around adulting issues like the first career job, etc.
If you’re struggling to choose a book for a gift, the web is full of recommendations, reviews, and Best of Lists to point you in the right direction. For additional help on what children are reading, contact bookstore staff and your community librarian. Although the children in your life may never ask for two front teeth, books might soon top their gift lists. Don’t forget to support your young readers by ordering a free “I’m reading” bag tag for them on this site’s Welcome page!
Wishing you a merry Christmas & a happy new year!