Give Them a Good Story

By Michele Orecklin

On the scale of desirable holiday gifts, most kids are likely to rank books above only socks. But there's no need to disappoint your children, at least not this early in their lives. Diane Roback, children's-book editor at Publisher's Weekly, points out that 40% of the category's sales are made in November and December, so "everything is geared to come out during that time." In other words, there are enough options out there to find something your kid will enjoy.

Even the most video-game jaded should be dazzled by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as reimagined by Robert Sabuda. Modestly calling itself a pop-up book, it is in fact a collection of delicately engineered set pieces that protrude in every direction. On one two-page spread, a group of miniature playing cards arranged in an arch looks almost like sculpture. It may be best to keep the book away from the very young, who will probably be so enamored of it that they'll want to rip, crush or chew its fragile constructions.

Children who want to actively commune with their books are better off with the endearing Tails, written by Matthew van Fleet and designed to be indestructible. Its pull tabs are thick, and its sturdy pages--filled with textured examples of such animal tails as a colorful peacock's--are meant to be touched.

Parents who believe their 4year-olds get enough encouragement to become fire fighters or U.S. Presidents may want to try a new pair of hardcovers that could inspire the next Samuel Pepys. Diary of a Worm, by Doreen Cronin, with illustrations by Harry Bliss, and Diary of a Wombat, by Jackie French, with illustrations by Bruce Whatley, are aimed at kids 4 to 8. In the former, the titular worm goes to school, gets punished for eating his homework and taunts his sister because "her face will always look just like her rear end." The wombat, a bearlike Australian native, accomplishes significantly less. A typical entry reads, "Morning: slept. Afternoon: slept. Evening: ate grass. Scratched." But he does stir to irritate his new human neighbors.

If diarist seems too sedentary a career goal, there's always piracy. How I Became a Pirate, by Melinda Long, with bright and densely colored illustrations by David Shannon, is the funny and sly account of a young boy who makes a brief foray on a pirate ship before realizing he wants to be home in time for soccer practice and a bedtime story.

Moms and dads who have tired of repeatedly reading the two Olivia books, by Ian Falconer, as bedtime stories will be relieved to learn about the third in the series, Olivia ... and the Missing Toy, wherein the young pig loses her favorite plaything and makes everyone miserable, though charmingly so, until she finds it.

While Olivia is dryly funny, the timely Mosque, by trained architect David Macaulay, is smartly informative and probably best for those over 8. With beautifully rendered drawings, Macaulay tells the fictional story of the building of a 16th century mosque. The complex diagrams offer architectural insights that even parents will appreciate.

And just as older kids savor the Harry Potter books, so too may they enjoy the fantasy worlds conjured in Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, and Eragon, by wunderkind Christopher Paolini. Inkheart is the suspenseful, darkly comic story of 12-year-old Meggie, who discovers the perils of fictional characters' coming to life. Eragon, by Paolini, who is only 19, is a fast-paced adventure tale that takes place in a fully realized alternate universe inhabited by a stew of dragons, swords and dark forces. By next year, you'll no doubt be able to supplement the literary gifts with Eragon action-figure stocking stuffers.