Gift Giving

by Judy Newman

Kim, a close friend of mine, is recovering from surgery, and I wanted to get her some books to read to entertain her during her convalescence.

I have worked in book publishing my entire career. I was born an avid reader. Books and reading are literally part of my identity. But even with all this background and experience, I had no idea which books to get for Kim.

We know each other well but I wasn’t confident I could buy a book for her that would resonate and entertain. It took some detective work: I had to ask her son which author she likes (James Patterson!), what genre (true crime and adventure), and what other types of books (fantasy). Armed with that information, I went to Watchung Booksellers, my amazing local Montclair, NJ, bookstore, and—with their help—bought five books for Kim (including a brand-new James Patterson title) which I think she will want to read.

But it was a risky gift. I had no idea—nor did Kim’s son—about which books she might already own. Or, which books she was in the mood for. It would have been a lot less stressful to send flowers, or a food basket from Goldbelly,
or some bath products.

(Update: Kim did just tell me that she was really enjoying the fantasy novel I picked out. And I know she’ll love James Patterson and Brian Sitts’ Holmes, Marple & Poe. Hopefully, she’ll like the other books as well. But I also imagine she will be too polite to tell me if they aren’t entertaining or if they are already on her bookshelf.)

It struck me hard: the whole process of giving books as gifts is tough even when you know the giftee and their reading tastes, have access to a wonderful local bookshop, and the resources to make a purchase. 

Buying books as gifts for kids can be even more challenging. With adult gift giving, often the fact that you remembered to send something is enough. The giftee doesn’t need to like the flowers or the food basket, or actually use the bubble bath to feel appreciated. But when it comes to kids, I want to clock more than thoughtfulness. 

I want to really contribute something to the child’s reading life. My giftee doesn’t have to love the book—in fact, it’s great to hear kids explain to me why they did not like the titles I give them—as gifts for their birthday, or as the Book Lady on Halloween. I don’t need them to like the books, but I don’t want my gift to sit on the shelf unopened like an ugly Christmas sweater or worse, turn them off of books and reading altogether. I want kids to engage with my gift of books—as they would with any popular toy—and decide whether that book resonates with them. If they don’t like my gift choice, I want them to be inspired to keep looking for a book that they WILL love to read. 

Like most aspects of our collective commitment to ensure literacy for all kids, I think we overestimate how easy it is to connect kids to books they will read and love. It is not an automatic process, or a natural muscle kids’ grown-ups can exercise. We get in big trouble when we assume your average well-meaning grown-up knows how to share books with kids. Or buy books as gifts. 

There’s another huge hurdle to gifting or choosing the right books for kids. In addition to different tastes and experiences, small people also have very different reading levels. I’ve met first graders who have blown through the Harry Potter series and other kids in their same class who are struggling with Frog and Toad Are Friends. I watch the #1 reader in my own life, my granddaughter Sophie Rae, who is already a voracious pre-reader: “reading” books that have been read aloud to her that she memorizes. She is excited to try out new stories and is fully committed to learning her letters and their sounds. She is determined to become a reader. But even with all that avidity, she loves some of the books I (and other book gifters) get for her and couldn’t care less about other titles. I cannot take it personally if she rejects a book gift. It’s all part of the process of learning to be a reader. But I will admit, even for me, who understands all this, it hurts a little when Sophie doesn’t like what I’ve picked out. 

I think about all these challenges as I read one dismal report after another on how reading scores are falling; how kids living in poverty and attending under-resourced schools are falling even further behind; how frustrated teachers are that their students don’t have home libraries; and how difficult it is for authors and publishers to launch new books and have them be discovered by kids who will love them.

When I think about this problem through the lens of a gift giver, I get it. It’s really hard to know which books are going to spark kids’ imaginations. And which books are going to be so boring they turn kids off to reading even more.

My job as Scholastic’s Chief Impact Officer is to help find ways to engage kids and help their educators and all the grown-ups in their lives: teachers, families, caregivers, gift givers. The goal is for kids to build their fluency, their identities as readers, and their literacy, without which they will not be able to participate fully in society, make a good living, vote, express themselves, and understand what others are saying. 

Reading does a lot of things throughout every young person’s childhood: it creates a cozy, comforting bedtime routine; builds self-confidence, imagination, and vocabulary, and gives all kids the tools to reach their potential in school, train for a career, and succeed in all aspects of life. No one wants their child to be the kid who is forever left behind because of illiteracy. But it’s hard to ensure all kids are inspired to become readers. Giving kids books we think they will like is a big part of the process. But it’s really hard to feel like a successful book giver.

I am going to work on a big, audacious way to organize book recommendations to help children’s book gift givers—and other adults working hard to ensure literacy for all. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite reader series in case you need a gift idea for a 4 to 8 year old. These books are not the perfect fit for every child, but their universality makes them each a pretty good bet! 

Early Readers are the most difficult genre for publishers and booksellers. They are small books (usually 32 pages) and often get lost in bookstore displays or in search results. But I think they are the perfect format: short, filled with beloved characters living in wonderful worlds, simple, accessible, and imbued with important emotional, growing moments. Teachers need to be introduced to new reader series (and reminded of old chestnuts). These books represent an instrumental step in helping children develop their fluency and confidence as readers. I appreciate this format so much, I wrote The Bobs and Tweets reader series under the pseudonym Pepper Springfield, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell. And while I truly love these books, I speak from first-hand experience how tough it is to get them launched and discovered.

OK, here’s my short list of pretty foolproof book gifts for 3 to 8 year olds:

Tony Baloney
by Pam Munoz Ryan 

Poppleton
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague

Frog and Toad Are Friends
by Arnold Lobel

Little Bear
by Elise Holmelund Minarik, pictures by Maurice Sendak

Otto series
by Todd Parr 

The Bobs and Tweets
by Pepper Springfield, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell

Scholastic’s Branches Series—which has a wide range of readers at different levels. Highly recommended!

And remember: please make it OK for the giftee to tell you how much they liked—or did NOT like—your gift. Encouraging dialogue about books and reading is a key element of developing literacy. Even if you feel a little bit like a chump for not showing up with that gift all the other kids salivate over.

Happy Reading!

XX,
Judy

Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer, Scholastic