With Christmas now less than two weeks away, I’m starting to get that ever so slightly panicky feeling. I think that people generally divide into two types: those who are incredibly organised, start early and finish most of their Christmas shopping by Black Friday; and those of us who can’t even think about it until the first window on the Advent calendar is open (at the earliest!) and then get it all done in a frenzy in the last week or so. I am in the latter category. If that’s you too, then you might still be looking for gift ideas. Last week I posted three blogs of book recommendations for children and adults, but I recognise that it’s not always easy to choose a book for someone else.
So, if you know a book lover, but can’t necessarily predict what they might like, here are a few ideas for you.
Bookends
I’ve seen loads of these this year, and they are great because you can combine two interests that your recipient has, eg bookends in the shape of bikes, dogs, children’s characters and many more. The Literary Gift Company has a great selection.
Tote bags
I have picked more canvas bags from courses, conferences and open day events than ever I had plastic bags! Most are just cheap advertising and will probably end up in landfill, sadly, but the literary ones I’ve seen are just beautiful. I love the Penguin classics ones which come in a whole range of titles.
Stationery
In my experience, most book lovers are also stationery lovers and list makers. There are some fabulous notebooks with literary covers, notecards, pens and pencils. My blog and websites like Goodreads enable me to keep track of what I’ve read these days, but I still love a reading journal. I love all the notebooks in the Listography range and the literary themed one is great too. Available from the obvious high street outlets and online retailers.
Bookmarks
It’s an expensive time of year and sometimes you just need a little token. Bookmarks are wonderful for popping into a card and can be as simple or as elaborate as you want, can convey a warm message, humour, be beautiful or functional (eg have a reading light on the end!). Go as cheap or as pricey as you want, maybe even make yourself, like these gorgeous watercolour ones from The Hob-bee Hive
Games
Particularly good for kids, for example, there’s a great range of Roald Dahl themed options, such as Matilda playing cards and a game in the Brain Box range. There is also Roald Dahl Monopoly and, for the grown-ups, ‘Bookopoly’.
I hope that has given you a few ideas. There is always, of course, the option of a book token, either for a specific store or a National Book Token. Again, great for kids as it will actually get them into the bookshop, browsing and making them think about what they’d like to read.
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Becoming by Michelle Obama
Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi
Barefoot Books World Atlas by Nick Crane & David Dean (£9.99). I love the values and ethos behind Barefoot Books. Multi-cultural and humanitarian themes are present in everything they publish and their books can be valuable tools in combatting exclusion in our world and teaching children about kindness. This world atlas focuses on the interaction between environment and the communities and cultures of the world.
Illumanatomy by Kate Davies and Carnovsky (£15.00). A superb large format book about the human body that goes into real detail. The illustrations are outstanding; when viewed with the special lenses provided you can see different parts of the body (skeleton, muscles, organs) and how they interact. Perfect for budding biologists!
EtchArt: Hidden Forest by AJ Wood, Mike Jolley & Dinara Mirtalipova (£9.99). This is rather like those books in the colouring trend except the images you create are shiny and sparkly. The child uses the etching tool provided to produce glorious forest-themed pictures (there is also a sea-themed one available). Lovely, and nice and solid.
Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith (£12.99). Yes, I know it’s not exactly a reading book (though there are plenty of words) there are writing and drawing opportunities. I actually love this series as I think they tap into teenagers’ anarchic tendencies, whilst also encouraging a degree of creativity. Here’s the 2017 offering and the cover is much nicer than previous editions. Good fun.
I love Christmas, especially since having children, but now my kids are a little older (11, 13, 16) I find that I enjoy it more and more as we tend to ‘hunker down’ as a family. We do visits to and from our extended families before and after the 25th of December, but Christmas itself is spent rather quietly together, just the five of us. We have a great time hanging out together (the kids all make a real effort to get along!), watching films, playing games (poker was our favourite last year!), cooking and eating. As the children have got older, the gift-giving (or more accurately, the gift-receiving!) has become less important.
Nadiya’s Bake Me A Story: Fifteen stories and recipes for children by Nadiya Hussein. My kids love baking and adore the Bake-Off and Nadiya’s victory in the competition last year was inspirational to many. Nadiya is a judge on the children’s Bake-Off on CBBC so kids will still be very familiar with her. This is a lovely book, and Nadiya is a lovely person who has qualities that naturally appeal to children. I love the idea that recipes here are combined with a quirky take on some classic fairy tales.
The Usborne Creative Writing Book. Children are programmed to be creative, but modern life does not always allow them to exercise that muscle. Consequently, a blank page can be daunting for some children and they may need a little nudge or guidance to express their inner writer/artist/designer. There are a wide range of creative journals around just now; I bought this one because writing is the particular interest of the child I have in mind, but others are more gender-based or tailored towards different interests. They provide a great little tool for when kids say they are bored; boredom is good!
Guinness World Records 2017: Gamer’s Edition. The Guinness World Record Book has been a staple for my son’s stocking since he was young, but at 15 he is no longer as interested as he once was. The Gamer’s Edition is a compromise, acknowledging his passion for computer gaming, whilst fulfilling his mother’s passion for the very un-tech world of books – sneaky!
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. Building on the success of his similarly titled books for adults, Covey has written a book for teenagers which encourages goal-setting, helps to build resilience and gives advice on managing relationships with family, friends, peers and authority figures. It is non-patronising and is written very much in the context of the digital age. Just don’t let them see you reading it!
Fun Science: A guide to life, the universe and why science is so awesome by Charlie McDonnell. Charlie is a highly successful YouTuber who vlogs about science, in the linguafranca of the young people. He has over 2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and clearly has a great passion for his subject, which is always to be admired. The look and feel of the book is a world away from a textbook, so I doubt it’s going to help much with GCSE revision, but the enthusiasm is quite infectious, which is half the battle. I could see this appealing to 11-13 year olds.
My children’s Christmas stockings would be incomplete without at least one book – whether they want one or not! – and they can be sure that this family tradition will continue even when they are older. Call it my personal crusade. I am also the book-giver for all the little people in my family; with all their senses under assault at this time of the year, I love the idea of giving something that can provide a little space and calm, and a retreat into their own imaginations.
This poem was first published in 1823, and is written by Clement C Moore. Despite its age, it is very accessible and is an absolute joy. We have been reading this to our kids on Christmas Eve since they were toddlers and they still look forward to it even though they are 10, 12 and 15! There are many versions available – ours is a rather quirky one (designed by William Wegman), where the models in the pictures are dogs dressed up! The pictures are key to the children’s enjoyment of it, so choose a version that is beautiful to look at and will become a family heirloom.
Julia's books 