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Holiday Gift Suggestions 2005

The following is a sample of the best and most beautiful books of 2005, perfect for holiday gift-giving, selected by Harvard Book Store buyers Carole Horne and Megan Sullivan and bookseller Kari Patch. They spoke about these titles, and selections from our Holiday Hundred, at our annual "Holiday Hints from the Experts" party on Thursday, December 1.

See Carole's List See Megan's List See Kari's List See Other Recommended Titles

Kari Patch suggests...

Blankie
by Leslie Patricelli
Candlewick Press (MA)
Our Price: $6.99

Anyone who's spent time with a toddler knows that few crises compare with the (even temporary) loss of a favorite binky or blankie. Here, in her humorous, bold graphic style, Leslie Patricelli plays up two scenarios near and dear to every toddler's heart.

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Little Bird's ABC
by Piet Grobler
Front Street
Our Price: $8.95

Elegantly impish watercolors and a soupçon of naughty humor make this one of the freshest primers in quite some time.

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My Friends
by Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
Our Price: $6.95

Vibrant illustrations and a simple, rhythmic text are perfectly blended in this spirited homage to friendship as a little girl recounts all the things she has learned from an enchanting menagerie of animal friends.

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Chicken Bedtime Is Really Early
by Erica S. Perl
Harry N. Abrams
Our Price: $14.95

" 'A story, a story!' the young bunnies roar. And just as it ends, all the bunnies beg: 'More!' " Sound familiar? It turns out no one wants to go to sleep, not the chickens, bunnies, sheep, or fishes in this clever bedtime romp.

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I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!
by Karen Beaumont
Harcourt Children's Books
Our Price: $16.00

A dab of blue here, a splash of red there, a goopy smear of green...everywhere. To the tune of "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," one creative kid floods his world with color, painting first the walls, then the ceiling, then HIMSELF!

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Seen Art?
by Jon Scieszka
Viking Children's Books
Our Price: $16.99

When the narrator searches for his friend inside MoMA, he is introduced to well-known pieces of art such as Van Gogh's Starry Night, Matisse's The Red Studio, as well as works by Picasso, Klee, Lichtenstein and others. Seen Art? is the perfect companion for a childÂ’s first visit to MoMA!

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Whatever
by William Bee
Candlewick Press (MA)
Our Price: $12.99

Billy can be very difficult to please. Show him something very tall or very small, and he'll say, whatever. Let him play inside the bounciest castle, and he'll shrug and say, whatever. Take him for a ride in the smokiest train or the speediest spaceship — it doesn't matter.

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Ten Thousand Charms
by Leander Watts
Houghton Mifflin Company
Our Price: $16.00

Roddy's dirt poor. He has no family to speak of and has been sold off like a slave to labor endlessly at making rope in cruel Mr. Queeds factory. Thea's father is of royal blood, though his tiny kingdom has been taken away from him. Exiled from their homeland, Thea and her sisters have come all the way from Germany to the frontier of America, where wild beasts still roam, and much stranger creatures too.

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Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi
Creative Editions
Our Price: $19.95

Like many little boys, Pinocchio likes to dabble in mischief, disobey his parents, and shirk his studies and chores. Like many ordinary boys, Pinocchio does what he pleases, with scant regard for the consequences. But the star of this tale isn't just any little boy. And he's certainly not ordinary.

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D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Ingri D%27Aulaire
New York Review of Books
Our Price: $24.95

The companion to D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths a treasured part of so many children's libraries, has returned to print after more than twenty years. The Caldecott medal-winning d'Aulaires once again captivate their young audience with this beautifully illustrated introduction to Norse legends, telling stories of Odin the All-father, Thor the Thunder-god and the theft of his hammer, Loki the mischievous god of the Jotun Race, and Ragnarokk, the destiny of the gods.

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Each Little Bird That Sings
by Deborah Wiles
Gulliver Books
Our Price: $16.00

Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals. But that's not surprising, considering that her family runs the town funeral home. She's more concerned with avoiding her crazy cousin Peach and trying to figure out why her best friend, Declaration, suddenly won't talk to her. Life is full of surprises. And the biggest one of all is learning what it takes to handle them.

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Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys' Favorite Authors Write about Being Boys
by Jon Scieszka
Viking Books
Our Price: $10.99

Selected by voters at the Guys Read Web site and compiled by Jon Scieszka, this collection shows that guys do read. Authors and illustrators including Stephen King, Matt Groening, T.A. Barron, Avi, and Jerry Spinelli share stories, essays, cartoons, and anecdotes about being boys.

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Little Bird's ABC
by Piet Grobler
Front Street
Our Price: $8.95

Elegantly impish watercolors and a soupçon of naughty humor make this one of the freshest primers in quite some time.

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The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature: The Traditions in English
by Jack Zipes
W. W. Norton & Company
Our Price: $65.00

The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature celebrates the richness and variety of over 350 years of literary works for children. This groundbreaking anthology includes 170 authors and illustrators of alphabets and animal fables, fairy tales and fantasy, picture books and nursery verse, among many other genres. Here readers will find beloved works by Charles Perrault, Lewis Carroll, J. M. Barrie, L. M. Montgomery, and Dr. Seuss along with historical classics.

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Operation Red Jericho
by Joshua Mowll
Candlewick Press (MA)
Our Price: $15.99

For Joshua Mowll, it was the surprise of a lifetime. There, among the archives inherited from his great-aunt Rebecca MacKenzie, was a 1920's journal recounting the thrilling and dangerous adventures of fifteen-year old Rebecca and her younger brother, Doug, in the wake of their parents mysterious disappearance in the deserts of China.

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The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
by Jeanne Birdsall
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Our Price: $15.95

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of ArundelÂ’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts.

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The Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury
Our Price: $16.95

A richly imagined new novel about would-be princesses and one small but determined girl's destiny. ”Hale nicely interweaves feminist sensibilities in this quest-for-a-prince-charming, historical-fantasy tale. Strong suspense and plot drive the action.”—Booklist

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The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
by Betty Birney
Atheneum Books
Our Price: $16.95

When Eben McAllister reads about the Seven Wonders of the World, he longs to escape the small farming community of Sassafras Springs and do some exploring of his own. No one else ever seems to want to leave Sassafras however — not even his best pal, Jeb — and so, for now, Eben figures he's stuck on the farm with Pa and Aunt Pretty until he grows up.

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Will of the Empress
by Tamora Pierce
Scholastic Press
Our Price: $17.99

For many years, Sandry's cousin, the Empress of Namorn, has pressed her to visit. But Sandry prefers to stay with her own family in Emelan. Now, as is her right, the Empress has insisted. Sandry will not travel with a group of warriors — that would only insult the Empress. She will travel with her friends from Winding Circle: Daja, Briar, and Tris.

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