Bookish Kid Gifts

I'm skipping Teacher Tuesday this week, since I'm on vacation and have been pretty firm in my "not taking work home" mantra, I figured I'd really follow through here too. I am going to talk about some bookish Christmas gifts I'm already bought or am considering buying for my son, though, so we're still in the same sphere, that's for sure. 

Sawyer is five and a half and would pretty much be completely happy in life if he could create all day- LEGO constructions, art projects, Magnet Block structures, etc... He is learning to read, though, which is awesome, and he does enjoy sitting down for story time every evening before bed and for homework in the evenings (we probably spend twenty or so minutes reading on average a day, which for a kindergartner I think is totally age-appropriate). I wouldn't say he's obsessed with reading, like his mom, but it's definitely something he likes doing and willingly engages in. He frequently brings Waldo or his LEGO books in the car, which is nice too see as well. 

Because of his love of creating art projects and telling stories, I think I might buy him the Lulu Jr. Illustory Book Making Kit. For a little less than $30 you get a kit that comes with the supplies for making the book and the included fees of sending it back to the company and having them turn it into a hardback copy they send back to you. How cool would that be? I would have LOVED that so much as a kid and since he like to make his own books at home I think he'd really enjoy it. I will definitely supervise the process, though, since I can see him trying to rush through and finis it in like twenty minutes. 

Also in terms of creating and drawing, I ordered him How to Draw 101 Animals, a super cheap, simple book with step-by-step instructions that I know he will love (I'll probably package it with a new drawing pad and a few new art supplies). 

I got him two picture books, The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs (we've reread the human body one a few times this month) and Llama Destroy the World by Jonathan Stutzman (admittedly purchased based off the title alone). I might pick him up on or two more, just because I really believe that you can never have too many books, obviously. We're big fans of everything Mo Willems writes, and I want to grab Andrea Beatty's new one too- she's the coolest. 

We're reading Charlotte's Web right now and when we are finished we are starting the first Harry Potter, so probably in a week or two. I don't have the illustrated ones and Amazon was running a "buy 2 get 1 free" deal on them, so I nabbed the first three yesterday. The first one won't be a gift, since we'll need it soon, but I think I'll just wrap the other two, since I'm pretty sure he will love them. 

I have a feeling Santa will be putting Mad Libs in his stocking, which he might be a little young for, but I know they have the junior version that should work with help. He's super silly, so I'm sure he'll be pretty obsessed once he sees how ridiculous they are.

Here's a few other bookish ideas that we've loved over the years:

- Hard-back LEGO books; there are so many that detail project ideas, types of mini figures, etc... These have kept him busy for HOURS on car trips

- Where's Waldo books- again, perfect for entertaining in doctor's offices, car trips, etc...

- Anything by Mo Willems

- Phonic boxed sets by Scholastic (Marvel, Star Wars, LEGO, etc...)- I truly hate all of these "learning to read" books, but they're so helpful with basic phonics

- The Hug Machine by Scott Campbell- This book is the sweetest and the illustrations are so neat

- Ultimate Sticker Collection books- Literary they are not, but for $10 your child can have 2358385885 stickers in a book to keep him or her very busy

- The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak- Hysterical laughter each and every time (from both child and parent)

- Little photo albums- For the past few years I've printed a few dozen pictures from our summers and put them into little albums for Sawyer to look at he loves remembering all the fun things we've done together (he's taken them for sharing at school and also loves looking at them in the car) 

- Dinosaur Farm by Frann Preston-Gannon- Super cute book about a farmer who has dinosaurs instead of animals. There's a page with some prehistoric feces, so you know the target audience will be pleased

- One Question a Day for Kids- this has been so fun to do every night. I think we started in in March, so in a few months we will start duplicating the questions to see how he has changed.