Books Also Make Great ‘Tween’ Gifts

Image Source: http://www.ua.edu/features/tween/video_reading.html

A couple of days ago we put out a post that suggested some books for younger children (4-8). The holiday season is also the perfect time for middle school students to get some reading in before the new semester. The weather is cool and they have a bit of time to catch up on some fun reading. Here are some books you can gift to your student to help encourage holiday reading. Some of the books Tutor Doctor and I’d recommend (most have been tested on my daughter the English Lit. Masters student) are:

The Mysterious Benedict Society
Students reply to a newspaper advert and have to pass a series of tests in order to qualify for the team which embarks on a mysterious investigation. The students go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened where they discover all manner of secrets.

The Harry Potter Box Set
If your student hasn’t experienced the joys of the Hogwart’s School of Wizardry, then this will make a gift of epic proportions. It doesn’t matter if they have already watched the movies; the books are far more action-packed and intricate and will still be a thrilling read.

The Giver
This coming-of-age novel investigates the world where Jonas lives free of choices, pain or war, until (at the age of 12) he is exposed to these elements by the Giver. This is a great novel and your student will not be able to put it down!

The Hobbit
Try to get your student to read this before going to see the movie. The Hobbit is a classic for good reason as readers are taken on scintillatinly exciting adventures with Bilbo Baggins as he sets off from the Shire with Gandalf the wizard to battle dragons for stolen treasure.

Holes
When Stanley Yelnats goes to Camp Green Lakes for the summer, he is transported to a desert devoid of any greenery at all. As Stanley’s summer takes a turn for the worse, he is accused of stealing a pair of shoes and made to dig holes in the desert sand. He soon figures out that the dastardly camp leader is searching for a hidden treasure…

Twilight Saga
This is a favorite that will have your student sitting on the edge of their seats as they enter the intriguing world of vampires and werewolves and follow the tales of Isabella Swan and her romance with 100 year-old vampire Edward Cullen.

Esperanza Rising
Esperanza lived on her affluent family ranch in Mexico until the Great Depression forces her and her mother to flee to California. Esperanza must learn to face life as a farm worker, as well as overcome the hardships of their new financial difficulties to carve out a life in her new home.

Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl is a twelve year old with a difference; millionaire, genius and criminal mastermind. Artemis bites off more than he can chew when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit.

Books Still Make Great Gifts

Image Source: http://library.lhs.usd497.org/AnnualReport2006-07.htm

It is getting down to the wire for Christmas gifts and one of the toughest gifts to get young children are books. Luckily Amazon has not put all the local and national book stores out of business. I say this because going to the store is a great way to look for book options and to discuss them with individuals who generally love books. It makes a difference when you can touch the book rather then just look at something on your screen.

Some of my favorite books this year are:

Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton, Marjorie Priceman (Illustrator) - Treasury for all Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year

Jamie Lee Curtis & Laura Cornell – My Brave Year of Firsts: Tries, Sighs, and High Fives

Sally Lloyd-Jones & Jago – Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

Chris Alexander – Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away….

Deborah Underwood, Renata Liwska – The Christmas Quiet Book

Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Rebecca Guay – The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories

Another great source of suggestions is your local library and you can also check the NY Times best-seller list.

 

 

Sharing Your Favorites

Sometimes, there are books that stay with you. My all-time favorite book has to be The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This classic children’s tale, translated from French into hundreds of other languages, deals with love, loss, and other huge life themes in a way that’s accessible to children of all ages.

For a long time, I held my favorite book selfishly (and maybe slightly shamefully, as an adult who loved a children’s book so much), not sharing it with anyone. Slowly, though, I began to open up. I gave copies to family members. I told people that it was my favorite book.

This holiday season, my plan is to donate a few copies of this book to an as-yet-to-be-decided agency that gives gifts out to local families.

What’s your favorite book…and how do you share it with others?

Best Birthday Presents

For whatever reason, our family seems to have a plethora of birthdays in the summer months. Birthday parties means figuring out birthday presents, and it gets even more complicated when you want to give a present as opposed to money. So what are some of the best gift ideas that I’ve observed at kid’s parties? Here are some tips!

Don’t forget the beautiful wrapping paper! (Image Credit:http://www.masterfile.com/stock-photography/image/600-01041962/Girl-Holding-Birthday-Presents)

Books

Books can be expensive, and with e-readers and public libraries at kid’s fingertips, print books can go by the wayside. For my goddaughter’s birthday last weekend, I bought a copy of my all-time favorite children’s book, The Little Prince. To make the gift even more personal, I put an inscription on the inside front cover along with the date. Now, it’s not just a book–it’s a memento. Although books are an easy gift to turn into a memento, you can put an inscription on a lot of gifts to make them more personal.

Do It Yourself

Over the summer months, kids tend to have a lot of free time. What could be a better gift, then, than something kids make themselves? Do it yourself type gifts range from friendship bracelet kits to microscopes. Try to base the DIY gift on something that the birthday boy or girl is already interested in, but don’t feel too restricted! Maybe you’ll help spark a child’s interest in something new. After all, when my brother and I got a telescope for our birthday in the late 90s, we developed an interest in the stars.

Take It Outside

Another way to help occupy kid’s time and help them enjoy the great outdoors is a gift that will get them outside. Beach toys, pool accessories, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, and other items that encourage outdoor activity can make great gifts. For these kinds of gifts, it’s probably best to call the child’s guardians ahead of time to check in and see what items they already have so you don’t replicate. After all, a dozen hula hoops seems a little excessive, doesn’t it?

Interior Decorating

For teens, tweens, or the child who has everything, why not try giving something that can be used to decorate a bedroom? This requires a little more advanced planning, but a quick phone call to the child’s guardians can give you an idea of color schemes and what might be appreciated. For my fourteenth birthday my parents decked out my new bedroom with a bookshelf, a repainted dresser, and a big chair for reading, and those gifts have lasted a lot longer than many other gifts I received. This doesn’t mean you have to go big or go home, however. Small gifts, like a picture for the wall or a rug or a bedding set, can be just as effective as larger gifts. After all, a little goes a long way in a small space.

The Gift of Time

This gift has the added benefit of helping out the child’s guardians as well as being a great birthday gift. This gift idea gives an interesting twist to the traditional gift card or card with money. Give the child a certificate to do an activity with you–whether it’s a trip to the museum or the beach or to go out to dinner or to a play. If you’re not sure what activity would be best, don’t necessarily offer carte blanche, but give a few different ideas on the homemade certificate.

What are some other great ideas you have for kid’s birthday gifts?

Promoting the Magic of Reading

The Reading Bug (Source: Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570?cm_mmc=Targeted-_-Misc-_-120523_NH_SUMMER_READING_KICK_OFF-_-summ3 )

So by now you might have guessed that all our writers love their books and will stop at nothing to pass along the reading bug! Looking at my inbox today I found that Barnes and Noble are offering free books to young readers. According to the BN site you need to:

Step 1. Read any 8 books and record them in the Reading Journal
(PDF).
Step 2. Bring the completed Reading Journal to your local B&N store.
Step 3. Choose a FREE BOOK from our selection on the Reading Journal list at the store… Enjoy reading!

Another great spot for free rewards for your readers is your local library. Often they have programs sponsored by organizations like Applebee’s Bookworm Reading Club and Pizza Hut’s Book It. If you know of any other programs please send them along!

Rewards for reading are a great way to get children reading. Plus it helps keep them busy over summer and reduces ‘summer learning loss’

 

Family Book Club

Let’s face it: children’s books are in right now. From The Hunger Games to Harry Potter to Twilight, young adult fiction is not just for young adults anymore. While some may bemoan the fact that maybe this means reading ability has decreased and that good fiction is dead, I personally see this as a triumph. What could be better than getting more people interested in books and reading than getting people interested in books that can involve an entire family?

Find books that appeal to family members of all ages to help increase your odds of book club success! (Image Credit:http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com/site/c.jhLSK2PALmF/b.4425441/k.7FE1/Frequently_Asked_Questions.htm)

Unfortunately, my younger brother was never much of a reader, and both my parents seemed to always have their own reading they wanted to do. I worked my way through all the Harry Potter books on my own, and this past February, when I worked through Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, I did so alone. However, after giving rave reviews, my mom decided she was interested in reading the novels. Her enthusiasm quickly caught on, and my stepmom started reading the books as well. Good book recommendations can catch like wildfire, and our Nooks made it simple for us to share our reading material. While this unintentional group reading was great, I can’t help but wonder how much more fulfilling it would have been if we had all read the books at the same time, and started our own impromptu family book club.

Could a family book club work? I definitely think so. Finding the books may not always be as easy as The Hunger Games proved for my family, but having each member bring a recommendation and then having a discussion/vote could be helpful. For those seeking alternative entertainments that don’t involve television, this could be the answer. So what do you think? Would you start a family book club? What books would you recommend for such an endeavor?

Home Library Organization

My book collection has become rather sizable, and as I’m reaching the end of my university career and starting to think towards the future, I realize I’m going to have to start making some big decisions regarding my extensive book collection in the very near future. But what is the best way to organize books? When I was younger, books went on my single bookshelf in whatever order they ended up in. Throughout my undergrad and graduate degrees, I’ve organized my books by course. All the books for British Romanticism went in one section, and the books for Early Modern Love Poetry in another. Over summer holidays, I started arranging my books (which now span over two bookshelves) in alphabetical order by author’s last name. But what are some other choices?

By Color

A beautiful design choice, but is organizing by color practical? (Image Credit:http://dornob.com/sublime-spectra-3-bookcases-neatly-sorted-by-book-colors/?ref=search)

My addiction to design blogs first introduced me to the concept of arranging books by color. Unfortunately, for the most part my books seem to be of similar colors, mostly consisting of blacks and dark blues and whites. While I love the way that this organizational choice looks, other than aesthetics it doesn’t seem to offer much in the way of organization.

By Subject

Although the vast majority of my books are novels, choosing to organize by subject matter can be helpful if you have a broader collection. For an English major like me, I would break my books down by time period or genre.

Alphabetically

My current system has worked well for a number of years, which involves going by author’s last name. The only problem I’ve found with this organizational system is that sometimes, when I get a collection of books that look beautiful together, I have to separate them out from the rest of the collection. For example, my Penguin Classic books with cover designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith now sit on the top shelf of my bookshelf because I can’t bear to separate them.

By Importance

For people who are constantly using books for research or reference, sometimes it helps to keep the most significant books within easy reach from their work space. Rather than piling books up on the desk like I tend to do, why not bring over a smaller bookshelf where you can keep those volumes at hand? For books you use less often, try one of the other organizational styles.

What are some other ways you can think of to organize a book collection? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Hungry for More of The Hunger Games

Oh, so you thought that this blog would miss out on the cultural phenomenon that is The Hunger Games?

Not a chance.

The trilogy first came on my radar seriously about four months ago. Touted as a great young adult book series with similarities to Harry Potter, I was intrigued. It wasn’t until my spring break from school and a bout of illness that finally got me to read the books. I purchased the first book in the series on my Nook, and it was the first book I read using my e-reader. While I could spend another post extolling the virtues of the e-reader technology, for this post I’ll only focus on my immediate love for the narrative Suzanne Collins created.

Why choose between the book and the film? I choose both! (Image Credit:http://youarewhatyouread.scholastic.com/adults/books/show/the-hunger-games-suzanne-collins)

Wow.

I was hooked. I finished the first book in record time and immediately bought the two final books. I read straight through, from sunup to sundown, and when I reached the end of the third book I had to resist starting from the beginning of the series again. The Hunger Games have everything I love in books. Collins crafts an intricate universe through a compelling narrative. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is a strong and resourceful female who doesn’t rely on others to survive. The books are as politically aware as George Orwell’s 1984 and as wonderful to read as Harry Potter. Collins caters to both young and old alike, and the movie does the same.

I’ve made no secret of my love for books that are turned into films, and The Hunger Games gets it right. The film doesn’t shy away from the violence, but it is brutal and revolting rather than attractive. This may not be a film you want to take the youngest members of your family to see, but certainly children over the age of ten should have no problem viewing the highly stylized, fast-cut shots of violence the film portrays. Everything is phenomenally done. I would argue that this trilogy has the potential to be as successful, moving, and enjoyable as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Even if you or your child hasn’t read the film, go see the movie. Hopefully, it will inspire you to give Collins’s amazing book a chance.

What did you think of The Hunger Games? Did it live up to your expectations?