Wrap 'em Up

I always give books as gifts because besides loving beautiful books, they're easy to wrap- or done for you. And, if you've ever struggled with odd shaped packages in a hurry you'll get this.

Following the theme for the December Carnival, I made a list of a few terrific books. Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera was given to my two-year-old from a teacher friend, and we've read it at least twice a week for the past year. This is one of the best takes on the well known sing-song rhyme I've seen. The hardcover edition is the perfect bedtime book and definitely worth giving.

For that special, cynical, world traveler in your life, Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik is a treat. I'll give you a taste, Gopnik is describing the real reason he and his wife moved from New York to Paris when his first child was born, Barney. "We had seen one after another of our friends' children- charming children of parents who parse Greek texts or write long metafictions set in the eighteenth century- sunk dumbly in front of a television set watching a man in a cheap purple dinosaur suit sing doggerel in an adenoidal voice with a chorus of overregimented eight-year-old ham actors." I gave this book to a friend who just returned from Paris and told me stories of Euro-Disney princess adventures with a four-year-old, a good match I think.

And for those dog lovers celebrating baby's first holiday season of joy and good cheer, here is an old favorite. Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day is a picture book showing what happens when the family pet is entrusted to watch the baby. I plan to give this in the hardcover edition with the board book, Carl's Christmas to my sleep-deprived, dog-barks-too-much neighbors. BTW Carl has a website at Good Dog Carl.
Happy Wrapping.