CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – You don’t need to be a bibliophile to know that a book is quite possibly the perfect holiday gift for a child. As any lover of literature knows, books are just as immersive and entertaining as video games, they don’t require batteries and won’t crash while they’re being used. Not to mention that they’re relatively inexpensive, and no assembly is required.
If you’re an adult looking to give a youngster a gift of a picture book, an age-appropriate nonfiction title or graphic novel, let the 2009 edition of the Guide Book to Gift Books be your book-buying guide. It’s available as a downloadable PDF file.
Published to coincide with the winter gift-giving season, the 27-page annual guide is produced by Deborah Stevenson, the editor of the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
The guide provides short descriptions of more than 300 of the best and most recent books published in four age groups: picture books for infants, toddlers and preschoolers; books for primary-grade readers (6- to 8-year-olds); books for middle-grade readers (9- to 11-year-olds); and young adult titles (12- to 18-year-olds).
Stevenson and her colleagues compiled the guide from their full book reviews of the past year, adding more than 100 new books to the 2009 edition.
Among Stevenson’s favorite books for 2009:
- “Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11,” by Brian Floca. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of NASA’s expedition to the moon, this picture book recreates Apollo 11’s historic mission, from the point-of-view of the astronauts to the people watching the drama unfold at home. “I think it would be really enlightening for kids, especially because this is now ancient history to them,” Stevenson said.
- “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate,” by Jacqueline Kelly. “This is a vibrant, thoughtful and funny novel about a girl in the turn-of-the-century Texas who is just beginning to find the scientist in herself,” Stevenson said.
- “100% Pure Fake: Gross Out Your Friends and Family With 25 Great Special Effects!” by Lyn Thomas. “These are fabulous recipes for things like how to make fake barf with a side of realistic-looking brains and eyeballs,” Stevenson said. “This is a good one for youngsters who might be interested in cooking up crafts but aren’t necessarily interested in making kitchen-made Christmas tree ornaments. Our reviewer tested several of the recipes, and found them to be quite convincing.”
- “Binky the Space Cat,” by Ashley Spires. “This is a graphic novel for younger readers,” Stevenson said. “One of the things I like about graphic novels is that it allows kids who are more comfortable with pictures than words to ease their way into reading novels. It’s got the smartness and sophistication of a novel but with the pictures of a comic book.”
- “All the World,” by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. “One of my favorite picture books this year, it’s a very affectionate and moving portrait of a circle of family and friends that begins in the morning and ends at night after a day of ups and downs,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson says that the “shared” aspect of reading books is what sets them apart from most other forms of entertainment.
“Although reading can be a profoundly individual experience, if you’re trying to connect with a grandchild or niece or nephew, a book can be a very personal way of saying, ‘Here’s some things I think you might be interested in.’ “
Just how many children’s books do Stevenson and her colleagues at the Bulletin, which reviews children’s books for librarians and educators, read each year?
“We review about 900 books, and we read about 1,500,” she said. “But that includes picture books, which don’t take us that long!”
There is also some overlap reading of books for the Bulletin’s annual “Blue Ribbon List” and for starred reviews, “and we’re also reading outside of our Bulletin jobs.”
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books began publishing the Guide Book to Gift Books: An Annotated List of Books for Youth in the winter of 2002.
The Bulletin is affiliated with the Center for Children’s Books, a research collection of about 16,000 books for young readers. Both the Bulletin and the Center are part of Illinois and its Graduate School of Library and Information Science, which is consistently ranked the No. 1 library school program in the nation.
