Best Intermediate Gift Books
Quality Reading Titles for Older Children Grade 3 and Up
Save time, money - shop online for memorable books to give children, teachers, and family members this holiday.
Holidays are a perfect time to expand library collections in classrooms and homes everywhere. If gift-giving should be meaningful, then books - the written record of our culture - are the perfect solution. Here are some mini reviews of this year's best.
The Painted Circus by Wallace Edwards (Illus. by Wallace Edwards) Kids Can Press, 2007. Just the subtitle of this gorgeous, oversized book is worth the purchase price. "P.T. Vermin presents a mesmerizing menagerie of trickery and illusion guaranteed to beguile and bamboozle the beholder.” And that, my friend, is just what you need for your third through fifth grader. With illustrations reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, and eye-popping colors, Painted Circus is a phantasmagorical story of a circus full of fanciful animals you'll never see at Ringling Brothers. Frosting on the cake, each page has an optical illusion the reader must interpret. An excellent classroom diversion. $17.95.
1 2 3 I Can Sculpt! and 1 2 3 I Can Paint! by Irene Luxbacher (Illus. by Irene Luxbacher) Kids Can Press, 2007. Two lovely, interactive volumes on quality paper with clear, user-friendly illustrations. Each page offers some basic advice about color, painting, and sculpting. Each page offers a simple three-point step-by to create an art project. Average completion time seems to be about 15 minutes per project, but you could make them go longer if you wanted to. This is a perfect book to use as a series of special treats for kids who accomplish something worth rewarding. Used in the classroom or at home for great quality time together. $12.95 each.
Different Like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews (Illus. by Elizabeth Matthews) Candlewick Press, 2007. Biography, one of the favorite genres of all readers, as a mesmerizing effect on children and your little girl, just beginning to explore fashion, will adore this story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. From the inside cover with quotes like, "in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different," to the jazz CD illustrations of women doing their own thing, this book sends an awesome message to girls. Today's girls are bombarded with scary media messages about self-image, fashion, and trendiness. Read this with a cool little girl. $16.99.
My Little Grandmother Often Forgets by Reeve Lindbergh (Illus. by Kathryn Brown), Candlewick Press, 2007. Author Lindbergh is, of course, the daughter of aviator-authors Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Her books, including My Hippie Grandmother, are delightful. This one, the story of a grandma facing memory loss and the grandson who loves her. Is written in pleasant rhyme with nostalgic pastel illustrations. An important book. $16.99.
Mrs. Marlowe's Mice by Frank Asch (Illus. by Devin Asch), Kids Can Press, 2007. Here's a mystery, perfect for reading to children in the classroom or at home. The story moves along well. The text is too difficult for early readers buy it would appeal to fifth or sixth graders who are drawn in by the beautiful, almost monochromatic illustrations. Is Mrs. Marlowe’s fancy house a sanctuary for mice or is Catlan security mistaken? $$16.99.
Muckrakers by Ann Bausum (Photographically Illus.) National Geographic Books, 2007. Muckrakers is destined to be the inspiration of some future world-class journalist. This is an eminently readable and understandable biography for intermediate to advanced readers. A most fascinating story of how Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair and Lincoln Steffens worked to invent investigative journalism. With all the excitement of a fictional action adventure, and a foreword by Daniel Schorr, news analyst at NPR, this is not to be missed. Adults will not be bored by this one. $21.95. Net proceeds support exploration, conservation, research and educational programs through National Geographic.
This Is My Planet by Jan Thornhill and Smart-Opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything, by a compendium of children’s writers and illustrators. Both from Maple Tree Press and printed on ancient forest friendly paper. You couldn't do better than this pair for any intellectually curious juvenile. They open doors to hundreds of family conversations or classroom activities. Beautiful to look at, intriguing to browse these two books touch on everything from polar bears to teeny-weeny sea creatures and from greenhouse gases to the innovations of mankind. These would be fantastic gifts for your favorite science teacher. If you can only purchase one, make it Smar-Opedi. See the world through kids questions and answers, ancient myths and legends, maps, timelines words from famous folk and more. $12.95 and $22.95, respectively.
