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Holiday 2008: For Good Girls & Boys
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Published: Jan 01, 2008
Category:
Beyond Classification
Holiday 2008: For Good Girls & Boys
When your child is small, every present is big.
We bought our almost-seven-year-old daughter a real desk — well, it has a secret compartment with a mirror and a stash for her jewels — and a real chair, and although she has an advent calendar, her countdown to Christmas doesn’t seem to be about more acquisitions. She got her dream. She’s cool.
If children are greedy, it’s because parents program greed into them — buying compliance with bribes. We don’t do that here. But just to drive the point home, I recently asked a neighbor, a sweet-looking woman who works for the FBI, to remind our kid, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists or children.” Message delivered!
If there’s a kid on your list you’ve got to bribe, most of my suggestions will be as welcome as lumps of coal. If you’ve got a kid who’s curious and alert, these may get you a real thank-you — if not when presents are opened, but long after the shine has faded and the plastic has cracked on other gifts.
THINGS
Glow Star Globe: Because the kid needs to think bigger than country.
Stuffed animal storage: The kid’s room is cluttered? No more. In one zip, you get storage and the kid gets a chair.
Magna-Tiles: Magnetic plastic building blocks. Beloved around here.
MOVIES
All-Time Greatest Ever Animated Movie
The Snowman: One word: gorgeous.
If You Must
The Nutcracker: A bearable version.
MUSIC
The Queen of Kids
Laurie Berkner: She’s the Beatles.
The King of Kids
Justin Roberts: And so is he.
BOOKS
All-Time Greatest-Ever Christmas Book
The Polar Express: Gather them ’round — even the older kids — and read it to them. Just try not to cry at the end.
Better Than Coloring Books
Taro Gomi: No penalty for going outside the lines.
Books Little Kids Can “Read” to You
Flotsam and The Adventures of Polo: Every picture tells a story.
Pop-Up Books
Robert Sabuda: The gold standard.
Science for Little Kids
Buzz: Creepy crawly.
Girls Under 7
Fancy Nancy: If Eloise lived now….
Teenage Girls
Kabul Beauty School: A Michigan beautician goes to a war zone.
The Queen’s Gambit: Some sex and drugs. But much more: a heroine.
Teenage Boys
We Die Alone: Real-life WWII survival story.
Donbas: A 16-year-old, forced to work in the Russian coal fields, makes a great escape.
GAMES FOR KIDS (4 to 8)
Gobblet: Tic-tac-toe, four-in-a-row, with pieces of varying size that can cover smaller pieces and dramatically change the game.
Toot and Otto: The winner spells his/her name first.
Brain Quest: For kids who think it’s fun to be smart.
Wig Out: A fast-paced matching game with unusual characters.
