Can you think of anything better to get or give as a gift than a book? Mr. Sharp and Mr. Schu are giving lots of books this holiday season. Check out their videos below, to see the wonderful books they are giving. You might notice a few Nerdies winners in the video.
We would love to hear what books you are gifting this year. Please share the books you are gifting in the comments below. We would love to hear the books that you feel are gift worthy.
Sharp Gives Books
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Schu Gives Books
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We would love to hear about the books you are gifting this holiday season. Please tell us the books you are gifting, who you are gifting them to, and why.
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Colby Sharp is a fourth grade teacher at Minges Brook Elementary in Battle Creek, Michigan. He loves helping out with the Nerdy Book Club, and #titletalk. He blogs at sharpread.
John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) is a teacher-librarian at Brook Forest Elementary School in Oak Brook, Illinois. He is a proud member of the Nerdy Book Club. He has taught English in Seoul, South Korea, and is loving his eighth year at Brook Forest. John serves on ALSC’s Children and Technology committee, AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning, and two readers’ choice award committees. He was a judge for School Library Journal‘s 2011 Trailee Awards and recently became a FableVision Ambassador. In his spare time (ummm…what’s that?) he reads, travels, and blogs at Watch.Connect.Read.and Two Libraries, One Voice. John is a 2011 Library Journal Mover and Shaker.
Cars Galore and Dinosaur Dig for my 3yr old son. Justin Case, The Hunger Games, and the Strange Case of Origami Yoda for my reluctant reader niece and nephews. People of Walmart and The History of the World According to Facebook for my husband stationed in Afghanistan.
That is so cool that you are giving your husband stationed in Afghanistan a book. Please let him know that #nerdybookclub is thankful for his service.
Llama Llama Misses Mama for my godbaby (20 mos. olf), The Dinosaur’s Night before Christmas for her brother, and the audio of the first Wimpy Kid for her oldest brother.
Great picks!
Let it Snow – daughter because she wants snow for christmas and she needs to know some dream comes true. Tough year for her.
I get a book for everyone in her “other” family – dad, stepmom, 2 half sisters – because I want her to have reading models and to model reading wherever she is
Transfer of Power
City of Bones
Eloise in Paris
Olivia Kidney
The Eyre Affair to a friend at work because we both like discovering authors new to us and she normally reads fantasy. Love how this is based on a knowledge of Jane Eyre – one of my favorite books of all time.
I love Eyre Affair! I just finished the last book in the Thursday Next series. Now I have to catch up on the middle two.
I’m giving Steve Jobs bio to my husband and my brother-in-law.
Focus by Schmoker to my sister.
Divergent to a cousin.
Crossed to a cousin.
The Knife of Never Letting Go to a cousin.
Two Babymouse books and I Want My Hat Back to my niece.
Lego Ninjago guide, Lego Ninjago chapter books (2), Wonderstruck, The Adventure of Sir Gawain the True, and Frindle to my oldest son (9).
Lego Idea book, Look – A book!, Chicken Butt’s Back, and Should I Share my Ice Cream to my youngest son (6)
And I have several books for myself such as: 68 Rooms, Where Things Come Back, 100 Cupboards, and Leepike Ridge – all from a phone conversation yesterday where I decided I HAD to have them.
I gave my 1st grade nephew a personalized signed copy of The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann. He’s not ready to read it on his own yet, but it’s a book that will grow with him.
For my 9 year old – Cabin Fever (he begged for this one at the book fair but I’d already gotten it for Christmas), Horton Halfpott (Tom Angleberger graciously did digital doodles last week so I grabbed a copy of this book) and the Riordans he hasn’t read yet. He’s a book machine! I also grabbed a graphic novel Oz.
For my 7 year old – Binky the Space Cat and several of the 39 clues. He’ll also read the Horton book
Hubby got some R.A. Salvatore he’s been wishing for (we have a double filled shelf of his work at our house)
For my sister I got a paper copy of my favorite all ages web comic – Gronk. (gronkcomic.com) Adorable little monster being raised by a lady geek like me
I received about 8 books from students this year which will also cycle through my boys before going back to work.
I love Binky! You are gifting some great titles:)
No surprise that everyone gets books from me. Here’s my TBG list (to be gifted):
Books Purchased for Christmas 2011 (numbers for each person instead of names, I don’t want to spoil anything!)
1: two Furry Logic books
2: iBooks gift card, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
3: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
4: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
5: Kindle gift card, Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
6: The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf
7: Hound Dog True by Linda Urban, The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson
8 and 9: board books—A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na, several In My… books by Sara Gillingham; picture books: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka, Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator! by Mo Willems
10: The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci, The Complete Maus and MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic by Art Spiegelman, Notes from an Accidental Band Geek by Erin Dionne, Zombie Tag by Hannah Moskowitz
11: Kindle gift card, 5 Anne McCaffrey Pern books (the five she didn’t already own)
12: Maximum Ride #5 graphic novel by Narae Lee, Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
13: My Boring-A** Life and Shooting the Sh*t with Kevin Smith by Kevin Smith, The Arctic Marauder by Jacques Tardi, Just My Type by Simon Garfield, Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book One by Bill Willingham
14: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr, Ashes by Ilsa Bick, Flight of Angels by Rebecca Guay, Holly Black, Bill Willingham and others
I’m excited for the person that is getting Hound Dog True.
For my nephew (age 3) and nieces (K and 2nd grade), I purchased: Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj, Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee and Tony Fucile, and Marty McGuire by Kate Messner. Room by Emma Donoghue for my mother and gift certificates for my brothers-in-law and my teenage nieces and nephew (all avid readers) so they could self-select books.
Marty McGuire is a great gift. They can fall in love with her just in time to pick up book #2.
I bought Kindergarten Rocks and Pete the Cat for my nephews and Santa Bear for baby cousins. My teens enjoyed singing along with Pete the Cat before we wrapped the book…priceless!
My 27-year-old brother is getting BEHEMOTH and GOLIATH by Scott Westerfeld. He’s a somewhat reluctant reader and I got him hooked on LEVIATHAN earlier this year, so he *asked* for these! Huzzah!
My 27-year-old sister-in-law is getting the Hunger Games trilogy. And then for both of them, I’m giving HUGO and WONDERSTRUCK because I am pretty sure they will devour them after seeing the Hugo movie.
For my dad (also a reluctant reader), I’m giving THE WORLD WITHOUT US by Alan Weisman, MIDNIGHT RISING: JOHN BROWN AND THE RAID THAT SPARKED THE CIVIL WAR by Tony Horwitz, and THE DISAPPEARING SPOON by Sam Kean. Several choices so hopefully at least one of those will be something he really likes.
And for my staff at the library… bookstore gift cards! Hoping that’ll inspire them to read some great children’s books over their holiday vacation.
My 10 year old daughter and I are both getting Wonderstruck so we can read it together. Seven year old is getting a signed Ivy & Bean book (can’t remember which one) and my hubby is getting a weird book he asked for called My Dead Dad Was In ZZ Top.
Kristie Hankins is getting the boxed collector’s edition of THE HUNGER GAMES in the morning (of course, she is also getting Kindle Fire in the morning). Noah is getting a Lego Idea Book (and a new Kindle), and Maddie. . .God help her, but she likes those Dork Diary books, so I got her the new make your own Diary edition.
One of my nephews got the Lego Idea book–very cool. I went through and picked out the creations I wanted him to make!
We just checked the Lego Idea Book out of the library – so much cool stuff in there it’s hard to know where to start! Looking forward to hearing how Noah likes it.
I bought Melvin and the Boy for my son’s preschool (thanks to Mr. Schu and 100 Scope Notes). My son is getting Everything Goes: On Land, by Brian Biggs. Still have some more purchases to make…
I gave a signed Darth Paper to two boys I babysit, a signed Origami Yoda to my aunt, and a Curious George book to two other boys I babysit.
Books under the tree this year.
1. Everything on It, Press Here and The Polar Express for my young nieces
2. Wonderstruck, Cabin Fever, Wild Wings for my older nieces
3. 1001 Books to Read Before you Grow Up to my sister-in-law w/ three children under three (my student gave this amazing book to me for our class library-it was an immediate hit)
4. 1001 Books to Read Before You Die to my other sister-in-law w/ older family
5. My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz: Volume One, 1915-1933 to my artist father-in-law
6. Georgia O’Keefe at Ghost Ranch to my artist friend
6. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman to my teenage daughter and niece
7. A Monster Calls to my artistic/ dyslexic (college age) son who will appreciate great story-tellng and accompanying illustration
I loved Wild Wings!
I am giving my hubby a Kindle Fire, so I’m giving him a virtual plethora of books right at his fingertips! Best way to get my techy to read more.
My nephew asked for a baseball scorekeeping book, so of course he got it. What could go better with it than Linda Sue Parks’ Keeping Score. Shh….my daughter will wake up to find Ellen Hopkins’ Perfect under the tree.
This year the list was especially bookish – I got my dad a Nook and my mother-in-law a Kindle. The babysitter got a gift certificate for an indie bookstore she likes and her boys got books – a Mercy Watson book and a Babymouse book. Nephew is getting a stack of books – Origami Yoda and Darth Paper plus a copy of the latest Wimpy Kid book. There was someone who got a copy of Lamb by Christopher Moore, too.
This year my sons picked out books for each other. At first Jordan was mad because he didn’t get to pick a book for a brother and a book for himself. He had one all picked out but I had to explain things don’t work that way! I just told his brother what he wanted though so in the end it all worked out! Jordan (4 1/2) wanted the Star Wars Scanimation book and then he picked an Elmo search-and-find book for Danny (1 1/2).
All the nieces and nephews expect books from Aunt Sue! Here are a few:
Matched (matching copies for my 13 year old nieces who are romantics like me!)
The Uprising (turns out she’s learning about theTriangle factory fire in school- bonus!)
Out of My Mind (I admit -an empathy project)
One Crazy Summer, Firestorm and Rodzina for my niece that enjoys historical fiction just like her aunt!
2 autographed Jerry Palotta alphabet books for 2 lucky nephews (from the lucky aunt who met him at the CECA conference)
2 autographed Jerry Palotta “Who would win?” titles to two other equally lucky nephews from same said aunt
Judy Moody for the neice who could have been the inspiration (and btw after reading about Marty McGuire through this twitter thread, she has another one coming via Amazon Prime mid week!)
Oh, and a copy of Won ton for a colleague who is also an animal lover and huge shelter supporter.
Thanks to our all for the inspiration!
I gave my son Curious George, I’m Going to Like Me, and Teddy Bear Picnic. I bought my husband’s parents The Color Purple because they love the movie. The Color Purple is also one of my favorite books and I know they are going to like it.
I gave multiple copies of THE BOOK WHISPERER, including one to my principal. My father-in-law got LAST CALL: THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION by Daniel Okrent. I didn’t have any kids to buy for, so I compensated by placing an eyebrow-raising book order for my classroom library. (Eyebrows were raised by my husband. Me: “It’s for the kids! Don’t you want the kids to have books?” Didn’t mention how many of the books just happened to be on my TBR list.)