Hellobee

I did this post about gifts to go along with books since I always love gifting books and, with my kids’ birthdays coming up as well as the millions of birthday parties we attend every weekend, I thought it would be nice to come with a new batch of ideas.

Explorers of the Wild– Cale Atkinson is one of my favorite author illustrators.  There is something about his unique style of illustrations that has always drawn me in and I bought Explorers for the Wild a few years back for Drake’s birthday because I thought it was a great book for a little boy like Drake who is ever so curious about the big world around him. I recently found this Outdoor Kids Exploration Kit complete with binoculars, compass, whistle, etc and wanted to get it for Drake for his outside explorations this summer. I think together this would be such a cute gift for the outdoorsy kid in your life.

Ellie– Ellie the elephant saves her zoo by picking up a paint brush and turning the zoo into a colorful, whimsical, place again.  Such a sweet story showing that we all have talents to share with the world no matter who we are.  We own both Ellie and the follow up Ellie in Concert and the girls both enjoy it.  When I found this cute elephant toy that you can not only doodle on but wash off in the washing machine to doodle on again, I knew it would go wonderfully with the Ellie series. What’s better than an elephant stuffed animal? An elephant stuffed animal you can draw on!

Rosie Revere Engineer– I really love Andrea Beaty’s series of kid tinkerers and scientists including Rosie, Iggy, and Ida.  Along with The Most Magnificent Thing and Doll-E 1.0, many of these books fill our shelves because I really love the encouragement of STEM learning as well as that many of the characters are female.  Im hoping my girls will read the stories and relate to the characters and want to try their own hands at tinkering and taking apart things along with being princesses and ballerinas. I think this Tinker Box is a great way to just try stuff and let their imaginations take them to whatever they desire to do without having to follow instructions or rules.

The Nutcracker– This was one of the books I got Juliet for Christmas that she seemed to really like and still ask me to read some nights even though we are well past Christmas time.  I loved the Nutcracker story as a kid and always dreamed about seeing the ballet one day so Im hoping this is something that I can do with all my kids one day.  In the meantime since Juliet really took to the story I found this cute Nutcracker painting set so that she could make her own just like Clara in the story.  She really enjoyed it and it might be a good accompaniment to the book if you arent ready to head to the theater just yet.   There is a single one too, if you wanted to just paint one.

The Brilliant Deep– I was enchanted the moment I saw this gorgeous book cover.  The more I read about the more I loved it though.  Through the watercolor majesty of the illustrations we learn about Ken Nedimyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation and his quest to help rebuild the amazing vibrant and beautiful coral reefs that are slowly dying off in our oceans.  Of course the best gift to give along with this book is a donation to his organization to help preserve and save these delicate ecosystems, but I also found this cute crystal growing coral reef kit which might be fun as well to try.

Drawn Together– As a child of immigrants myself ,straddling the culture world between the one I grew up in and the one my family came from, I related to this story very much.  I was never able to communicate well with any of grandparents because of the language and cultural barriers between us and I learned to play Mahjong and other card games in the summers I went to Taiwan to visit as a way to bridge the gap between myself and my grandparents.  In the story the boy and his grandfather find their commonality in drawing, a language that transcends words.  An art set or canvas and paints would all go so well with this book.

Miss Lina’s Ballerina– This is a three book series about Miss Lina’s little ballerinas done in sweet pastels and cute little rhymes, you learn some ballet moves as well.  Juliet loves this series and we read them often.  There are a lot of darling ballet stories out there which Im sure many little girls enjoy. Ballet shoes, a ballerina doll, ballet dress up, or even a jewelry box with a dancing ballerina inside are all great add ons I think for the girl who loves to dance.

Wave– Wave is one of the wordless books I bought years ago for Drake and we are still a fan.  Sometimes simple illustrations and a child’s imagination are all you need to make a great story. Beach toy sets (another option here) and this book sound like a fun day indeed!

Flowers are Calling– Its spring time and nature is awaking.  With its flowing illustrations we can watch the Earth spring to life and the animals who help spread the magic of spring through pollination do their work.  I have always been interested in pressing flowers and it seems like a cute summer activity activity to do with kids.

Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet– Gilbert the goldfish has everything he wants, a food, a castle, a treasure chest but what he doesn’t have is a pet of his own. This fun silly story about finding a pet for a goldfish in a tank is delightfully cute and perfect for the kindergarten through third grade set especially.  All my kids find the whole book amusing and, while I wouldn’t let them get a real goldfish, a toy fish tank might be easier to gift anyway. A stuffed fish or even a fish kite is also nice alternatives parents might be happier with.

Have you ever given or received a book themed gift? Please share your ideas in the comments.