Saturday, January 17, 2009

Christmas Book Stacks, 2008

Finally, I'm posting our book stacks from this Christmas. I had such fun putting them together. I got some at a local used bookstore, several used from Powell's, and many through the kids' Scholastic book orders. Most of them are paperback copies. I picked a few of the past year's favorites to add to the family library, as well as some new books to explore.

Without further ado, here they are!

Skye's stack:
~ Two Warriors Manga books: She devoured them both over break.
~ Stink #3: Stink and the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers: Ditto the above.
~ Schooling Around: Treasure Fever: "I loved this book! It had a school that was crazy and a teacher that taught them fun things instead of their regular lessons."
~ The Ghost, the White House, and Me: In honor of a new president.
~ The Name of This Book Is Secret: Looks neat, in a Mysterious Benedict Society sort of way.
~ Salsa Stories: Could be a fun one for us to read together - and cook some of the recipes afterwards.
~ Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat: I love the rat crawling along the margins, flip-book style.
~ Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism: I keep hearing about this one; I think we should read it together.
~ Rocks & Minerals: A cheapie Scholastic science book.
~ Every Minute on Earth: Skye gives this one an A++++, "'cause it has cool facts."
~ The Giving Book: It would be fun for her to go through this one sometime this year. There are several of these books, so if she likes it, maybe next year...
~ My Amazing Book of... Autographs!: I found this one at the used book store. It was published in 1974, and hasn't been written in at all! (This was Skye's extra-special book this year.)

Felix's stack:
~ Legend of Zelda Manga, Volumes #1 & #2: Link from the Legend of Zelda is his favorite character for pretend. These books help fuel that magic.
~ Who Stole the Cookies?: A cheapie Scholastic book based on the children's rhyme/game. He loves it.
~ The Little Penguin: Penguins are a favorite animal around here.
~ Scaredy Squirrel: This one is a big hit. I can't wait to explore more Scaredy Squirrel books with him.
~ Say Hola to Spanish and Say Hola Otra Vez: These rhyming books looked like a fun way to introduce another language.
~ Sun Is Falling, Night Is Calling: A sweet bedtime read - you can never have too many of those!
~ Anno’s Journey: I've been waiting for Felix to be old enough to enjoy this one; I love the illustrations.
~ Skippyjon Jones, Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble, and Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse: These are the best read-alouds!
~ The Little Red Bird: He loves this story and asks for it again and again.
~ Otto Runs For President: In honor of a new president.
~ I Love My Little Storybook: I love books about loving books!
~ Henry’s Amazing Imagination: I met the author, Nancy Carlson, at our local independent children's bookstore. It was great to chat with her, and she signed this book to Felix, including a cool illustration. (This was Felix's extra-special book this year.)

This year, we continued the tradition of opening the book stacks last on Christmas morning. The past two years, we took our time with them, opening one or two at different moments of the day. It was a nice, calm way to keep the surprises coming.

But when Skye started in on her stack this year, there was no stopping her. I watched with delight as she tore through the wrapping paper, exclaiming with glee at her discoveries. She then went to work with Felix on his stack, happily announcing each new title to him. I loved seeing her so excited about this, and it was such a treat to see the kids going to the two piles throughout the day to enjoy the new reads.

Because we love books around here so much, Santa knew to bring us a few:

For Skye:
~ The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil
~ The Klutz Encyclopedia of Immaturity: Santa hit the jackpot with this one. She's picked it up every day since Christmas.

For Felix:
~ Snowmen at Night
~ 365 Penguins: Skye loves reading this one to Felix.

For our whole family:
~ Free to Be You and Me and Free to Be a Family
~ Poetry Speaks to Children

And Mom just doesn't know when to quit, so the kids got these extras:

Night before Christmas gift:

To Skye:
~ When Santa Fell to Earth
~ The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon
~ 101 Holiday Jokes

To Felix:
~ Deck the Halls
~ Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas
~ You Can Do It, Sam

From Mom & Dad to kids on Christmas morning:
~ The Gingerbread Man with pictures by Karen Schmidt
~ The Gingerbread Man, retold by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Barbara McClintock
~ The Gingerbread Girl, Lisa Campbell Ernst
~ Gingerbread Baby, Jan Brett

Winter break involved lots of reading time this year. It's been great having these stacks of books to entertain us during this cold, snowy winter.

3 comments:

jennifer said...

Wow! Skye and Felix scored big with books this Christmas. Lucky, lucky. I want to take a closer look at the books on Skye's list, especially "Every Minute on Earth," which would appeal to Simon.

You must have had so much fun putting together these stacks. I'm inspired to put more effort into ours next year--in fact, I think I'm going to start now, with one book a month.

Caryl said...

That's the way to do it, collecting books throughout the year. Helps with money and time, and it's fun!

Michelle said...

I've got my eye on "Every Minute On Earth", too. Ben would like that, as well as "the Giving Book". The Scardy Squirrel books have been favorites around here, too.

What a great bunch of books you picked out..I can understand Skye's enthusiasm!!