It’s a Most Wonderful Time To Give Books as Gifts
Reviewer Ronna Mandel shares her selection of favorite books from 2012 to help make filling those stockings less stressful. There are really tons more I’d love to mention, so if you are hankering to expand your list, just click here now to browse through the covers on our Pinterest page for more ideas.
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Most Original and Pro Mom Picture Book
The Insomniacs (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $16.99, ages 3-5)
by Karina Wolf and illustrated by The Brothers Hilts.
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Best Science Book
What Color Is My World?:
The Lost History of African American Inventors,
($17.99, Candlewick, ages 8 and up) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
co-written with Raymond Obstfeld and illustrated by Ben Boos and A.G. Ford.
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Best Board Books to Teach Colors and Opposites
PANTONE: Colors ($9.95, Abrams/Appleseed, ages 1 and up).
Hippopposites ($14.95, Abrams/Appleseed, ages 2 and up) written and illustrated by Janik Coat.
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Most Clever Follow-up Book
This Is Not My Hat ($15.99, Candlewick, ages 4 and up)
written and illustrated by Jon Klassen.
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Most Uplifting Picture Book
Because Amelia Smiled ($16.99, Candlewick, ages 3-7) by David Ezra Stein.
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Favorite Family Cookbook
The Mom 100 Cookbook: 100 Recipes Every Mom Needs in Her Back Pocket ($16.95, Workman Publishing) by Katie Workman with photographs by Todd Coleman.
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Best Middle Grade Novels
LIAR & SPY ($17.99, Random House, ages 9-12) by Rebecca Stead.
Wonder ($15.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, ages 8-12) by R.J. Palacio.
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Best Young Adult (YA) Novel
Between Shades of Gray ($8.99, Penguin paperback; ages 12 and up) by Ruta Sepetys.
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Best Silly Books for Preschoolers
Icky, Sticky Monster: A Super Yucky Pop-up Book ($12.99, Nosy Crow, ages 3 and up) by Jo Lodge.
Poopendous!: The Inside Scoop on Every Type and Use of Poop ($16.99, Blue Apple Books, Ages 4 and up) by Artie Bennett.
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Best Classics
BabyLit board book series including Dracula: A BabyLit Counting Primer and A Christmas Carol: A BabyLit Colors Primer both by Jennifer Adams with illustrations by Alison Oliver ($9.99, Gibbs Smith, ages 1 and up).
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Favorite Biographies
A Boy Called Dickens $17.99, Schwartz & Wade, ages 4-8) by Deborah Hopkinson with illustrations by John Hendrix.
Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose: Growing Up On Mount Rushmore ($16.99, Dial Books for Young Readers, ages 5 and up) by Tina Nichols Coury with illustrations by Sally Wern Comport.
