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By Lisa Thalhimer

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Boxed Sets of Books are Popular This Year

With over 13,000 children’s books published each year, choosing the right title for the child on your list is no easy task. The following books are this reviewer’s suggestions. The age and gender categories are meant to be guides only. 
 
Gift boxes are popular with publishers this year, especially for series books.
 
Toddlers
From DK publishers, look for a nicely boxed gift set of three Touch and Feel board books. Included are Wild Animals, Farm and Baby Animals. Priced at $20, the set contains lovely color photographs with lots of opportunities for examining texture.
 
What little girl, no matter how young, can resist the Olivia books by Ian Falconer? Atheneum’s decision to publish the two board books, Olivia’s Opposites and Olivia Counts, allows toddlers their first view of the wonderfully energetic piglet.
 
No toddler’s library would be complete without at least one of Eric Carle’s brilliant classics. Philomel’s $35 gift box includes The Very Busy Spider, The Very Lonely Firefly and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (The latter title has sold over 22 million copies since it was published 38 years ago.)
 
Matthew Van Fleet and photographer Brian Stanton’s 2007 title, DOG (Simon & Schuster) is a little large and heavy, but the photographs, clever and sturdy pull-tabs and frequent touch and feel areas make this one a real winner.
 
Picture Books
Non-fiction standouts in this category include two by Steve Jenkins, Living

Color and Actual Size, both from Houghton Mifflin.
 
Sue Stauffacher and illustrator Greg Couch’s biography Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson (Random House) is about the first African-American woman to compete for and win the Wimbledon Cup.
 
Mary Alice Monroe’s and co-author and photographer Barbara Bergwerf’s Turtle Summer: A Journal for My Daughter (Sylvan Dell, 2007) examines the life of turtles in the Outer Banks.
 
As for fiction, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith and The Stinky Cheese Man by the same team are two books children adore. 
 
A new picture book by Kate Feiffer with illustrations by Jules Feiffer (Simon & Schuster, 2007) is titled Henry the Dog with No Tail. This hilarious book is sure to please children and adults.
 
Philomel’s The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers is a clever, multi-layered picture book about a boy who devours books.
 
A favorite of the preschool set is Judy Schachner’s Skippyjon Jones series (Dutton). The energetic hero is a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a Chihuahua. They are fun to read aloud and include a CD.
 
 
Beginning Reader Series
Check out the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dursen (Candlewick). Forty dollars buys the boxed set containing three hardback books.
 
If you’re buying for boys age 8 to 12, take a close look at the Captain Underpants series from Dav Pilkey and Scholastic. The unlikely superhero makes kids laugh—and read! This boxed gift set includes the first four titles in the series.
 
Dan Gutman’s Baseball Card Adventure series (HarperCollins) is filled with fast-paced action, a real hit with boys.
 
Girls ages 6 to 10 will like The Judy Moody Double Rare Collection by Megan McDonald with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds (Candlewick). This $18 boxed set contains three paperbacks. If you don’t yet know Judy Moody, you’re in for a treat.
 
Junie B. Jones’s First Boxed Set Ever! by Barbara Park includes the first four in this hilarious series about a first grader. (Random House, $16)
 
And Peggy Gifford’s Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little (Random House, 2007), while not part of a series, is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud chapter book for readers ages 6 through 10.
 
Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy
Start with the Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of five books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, starring children and faeries. The boxed set sells for $33.
 
Pendragon by D. J. MacHale is a wonderfully successful science fiction and fantasy series for boys and girls. The first three installments are included in a boxed gift set. (Aladdin, $16.)
 
Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spy Glass (Yearling, $22.50 for the set) have been around long enough to be called classics.
 
The Criminal Mastermind Collection, (Hyperion) a boxed set of three paperbacks from Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, sells for $24.
 
Jessica Day George’s Dragon Slippers, published this year by Bloomsbury, features a female heroine that will appeal to girls age 8 to 12.
 
Middle School & Above
Jack Gantos’s Joey Pigza books about a boy with learning disabilities are funny and heartwarming. Boys and girls enjoy this series.

Jeff Kinney draws even reluctant readers to Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
 
A Series of Unfortunate Events, a stellar series by Lemony Snicket, is a good choice for all readers.
 
Kristin Miller’s Kiki Strike series of two books is particularly appealing to females.
 
Gift givers can feel confident buying any books by Gary Paulsen, Brian Jacques, Jerry Spinelli, Louis Sachar, Betty Hicks, Laurie Halse Anderson, Chris Crutcher, Nancy Farmer, Anthony Horowitz, Katherine Paterson, Karen Cushman and Avi.
 
 
Lisa’s head nearly exploded trying to keep this gift list manageable. E-mail her at booklustr@aol.com for your own suggestions.

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