Don't read this post, Bea!

a birthday/holiday book roundup

Bea sometimes thinks it would be more fun to have a summer birthday, or at least a birthday that didn’t fall the same week as one of the biggest holidays of the year—a holiday that has nothing to do with swimming, hide-and-seek, eating cupcakes, or dressing up (at least, not in the fun way).

I rather like having a near-Thanksgiving baby, because I loved Thanksgiving as a kid (a chance to see cousins!) and because it reminds me that raising kids is, ideally, something you do as part of a community. Our first Thanksgiving as parents was spent with our dear friends Krista, Ismail, Aliya, and Khalil, and I’ll never forget it: how wonderful it was to share a delicious meal with them, and to have our baby snuggled and admired by people we love. Somewhere on my computer there’s a photo of newborn Beatrice in tiny overalls, sacked out on their sofa, but I couldn’t find that one, so the photo above shows Bea at four days old.

Though I’m not a shop-far-ahead sort of person (maybe early November doesn’t seem far ahead to you), this year it seems especially important to think about gifts for everyone, including Christmas presents, early—maybe even before Small Business Saturday, which is November 27.

Our go-to gift shop for years has been McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village. They have a great kids’ section, new fiction and nonfiction, a classics/literature room (with a fireplace and comfy chairs), an excellent cookbook and puzzles selection, stationery and other gifts, and even a whole room dedicated to mysteries. Keebe, Pete, Johanna, and Billy are super-helpful, and they’ll even wrap your book for you in pretty paper.

I’m planning to go this weekend to shop for Bea, and thought I’d share some of the new books I’m considering in case they might be good for your book-loving kids:

Rick Riordan’s Daughter of the Deep. Bea loves Rick Riordan but has no idea this book exists! I’m going to try to keep her away from the R section of the library! From the New York Times:

Rick Riordan is such a veteran of the middle grade best-seller list, he may think it’s no big deal to find himself there yet again, this time with “Daughter of the Deep” at No. 2. But Riordan’s latest novel, a modern-day homage to Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” has an important distinction:his first one focused exclusively on a young woman. On his website, Riordan explains, “Though obviously I’ve had lots of female protagonists in my previous novels, this book is told first-person solely from the point of view of Ana Dakkar, a high school freshman who learns her parentage is every bit as complicated as Percy Jackson’s, though it has to do with science, not Greek gods.” In an introduction to “Daughter of the Deep,” Roshani Chokshi, the author of the Star-Touched Queen duology, writes, “Ana is everything I wished I could be at 15.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets MinaLima edition: After reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in MinaLima’s intricate, pop-up edition, Bea said she wanted to wait to read all seven books this way (MinaLima is the design house that developed the graphic style for all of the Harry Potter films). I told her that would probably take seven years (since they come out with one a year), and she relented, reading ordinary paperbacks (and loving them). Even though she’s read this one, I know she’ll love having it and rereading. Really special for kids who like papercraft and art (and Harry Potter).

This fancy new Greek Myths book from Taschen. It looks beautiful and kind of grown-up, which she’ll like, and includes 47 illustrated tales!

All Thirteen: the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat, which just won the Kirkus Prize and sounds like a great parent-kid read. Here’s what the judges had to say:

This work of middle-grade nonfiction is written with the suspense and pacing of a thrilling adventure novel. All Thirteen brings to life each of the players in this true survival story that made global headlines in 2018, while sensitively centering Thai culture. The judges were impressed by the author’s meticulous research, supported by informative sidebars and eye-catching color photos.

This boxed set by Christopher Paul Curtis, including Bud Not Buddy, The Mighty Miss Malone, and The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. Boxed sets are great introductions to writers, and Bea hasn’t read anything by Christopher Paul Curtis yet. If you don’t have the Beverly Cleary collection, Bea got it as a gift from Nana and Grandpa two years ago and it’s been a favorite.

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo (I got this from So and So Books the other day and couldn’t resist giving it to her… she read it in a day and loved it).

We’ll do another book round-up from Beatrice soon, and I’ll tell you about the environmental nonfiction I’m reading. On tap this weekend:

What books are you thinking about giving as gifts this year? Also, what are some of your favorite local bookstores? Tell us in the comments: