Books:
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Best Christmas gifts for kids? The gift of reading
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Let's face it: it's easy to give Christmas gifts that children will enjoy. The challenge is in giving gifts that will enrich as well.
Choose reading for the children in your life!
Search for Christmas books reviewed on this site:
Best Christmas gifts for kids are the ones they choose themselves
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Amazon gift certificates
Well, first and foremost, you can purchase and deliver an Amazon gift certificate in seconds (via email), even on Christmas day. Second, you'll never find a wider selection of reading material than at Amazon. Third, certificates are available in amounts as small as $5.
(You can also print out your Amazon gift certificate, or have them mail one for you.)
Of course, there's nothing to keep a kid from using your gift certificate to buy something other than a book. That's why it's nice that Amazon allows you to inscribe a note on your certificate, whether it's mailed or emailed. Here's what my gift certificate message always is:
Good books in quantity...cheap
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Amazon is great, but when you want quality AND quantity for your money, there are other options. I know a website that sells children's books (and other books) at discounts that will blow you away. 75% is typical.
There's a link below, but don't click yet: I want you to know how to take full advantage.
The link will take you to their home page. Click then to the Children's Books section. You'll find lots of different subcategories. Shop books for lots of different kids.
These are book closeouts, editions that will no longer be published. Bookstores return unsold inventory to the publisher, and the publisher makes the books available through this company. You can find some real gems.
(These are not crummy books. Oftentimes they're very popular books that are just being replaced with a new edition!)
You'll also find autographed books, as well as blank journals at unbelievable prices. What could encourage literacy more than an old fashioned diary?
Finally, through the end of 2009, you can get free shipping on orders over $35.00 to all 50 US states and Canada. Write down these codes for checkout:
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- Coupon Number: freeshipping
- Coupon Password: bookcloseouts.com
At these prices you can buy extra books and not worry that the kids won't love every single one.
Okay, now click on the bookworm.
Good books in quantity...cheap
Why should you think about eBay for children's books? Because you may know a family that doesn't have enough books in the house.
With eBay, you can fix that with one small purchase. Buy an instant children's books library. Don't think of them as used children's books. Think of them as Christmas gifts for kids that have already been loved!
I've pasted in a search below. You'll find thousands of sellers offering tens of thousands of books. Just hover, click and explore. And if you don't like my search terms, choose your own, like:
- picture books
- chapter books
- Dr. Seuss
Give the gift of LOTS of reading!
When you think Christmas gifts for kids, think children's magazines. Reading material delivered every month is
- A gift that reminds a child of your love regularly, and
- A gift that helps develop a healthy reading habit
(Or, if you already have a magazine in mind, click straight to magazines.com with the ad to the left.)
Want to let the children in your life pick their own magazines? Buy magazine gift certificates.
A Personalized Children's Book
Sarah and Sarah at Custom Made for Kids have put together a book entitled, "The First Adventures of Incredible You."
They deliver a personalized book featuring your child's name, as well as people and places in his/her life. There are 16 separate personalization options for you to choose.
Unique Christmas gifts for kids. Unique kids!
The book is pretty affordable, considering that they have to be printed one at a time! And what I like about Sarah and Sarah's product is that it's NOT commercialized. So many of the personalized kids' books options out there feature the likes of Barbie and Spiderman.
Yuck. This book is about the child, not a famous cartoon character. Take a look!
Do you have a pre-reader? There are so many ways to get pre-readers interested in books, but most of them involve you doing the reading!
Leap Pad is a wonderful toy for alone time (and car time!) that can actually help teach a youngster to read. It's won tons of awards. Visit my Leap Pad page to learn more.
Let's face it: the future of reading is not books. It's electronic. They may have to drag you and me kicking and screaming to an "electronic reader," but - for our children - it just might make reading "cool" again.
Amazon's Kindle is the electronic reader that's actually catching on. It's coming down in cost, but it still isn't cheap! Still, it can actually reduce reading costs by reducing the cost of good books. The searchable, indexable King James Bible
This is not a gift for young children. It's an expensive piece of electronics. But if you're searching for a special gift for an older child that might actually increase the appeal of reading, consider the Kindle: the Christmas gift for kids that can re-kindle a lifelong love of reading!
.Reading/Coloring/Learning/Behavior Improvement Books
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My Child Behavior Books don't make great "wrap 'em up and put 'em under the tree" gifts, but they are a perfect "here's something very productive for the kids to do" during family visits gift.
The other grown-ups will be quite impressed with you, and the kids should be thrilled too.
For three dollars, you can print out this fun download for multiple children.
One payment. Multiple copies. As many Christmas gifts for kids as you want!
My behavior books are unillustrated picture books. In other words, standard picture books except that your kids provide the pictures. They have an added benefit too - they can improve problem behaviors.
And for the older kids, check out Pass Around Storytelling. Reviewed on this site, it's a great extended family game that helps them create a story together.
KidPix is not reading or writing material, it's an art program for the computer intended for young children. But...
It's amazing! The reason I mention it is it'll help teach your child how to use a computer. And in a day and age where literacy often comes through a computer, that can be a good thing.
Kidpix will teach them to use a keyboard (with all those wonderful letters), and pretty soon they'll be producing art that'll blow you away.
Words can also be incorporated into the art. And KidPix is a wonderful alternative to those mindless online coloring pages. To learn more, visit my Kidpix page.
For the aspiring children's book author
The most purchased book from this site is Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market. You'll want to read my review. If there's a writer (or illustrator) in your life (perhaps you), you'll want to read this.
Amazon Christmas gifts for kids that they pick themselves
