Great books for keeping the kids busy
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.
If you have children, you may already know the power of a good activity or novelty book to keep small hands and growing minds fully occupied and entertained. Here are some of our best suggestions for keeping the kids busy during the Christmas season – from babies through to tweens.
OUR TOP PICKS FOR BABIES, TODDLERS & PRESCHOOLERS
Baby Fish Finger Puppet Book – This sweet story about a little fish’s big day is packed into a small and sturdy board book with a finger-poking puppet. For ages 0 and up.
Buildablock – A chunky and cleverly designed board book solely devoted to the action, sounds and machines of a building site. For ages 1 and up.
Busy Vet – Push and pull the tabs in this rhyming, and yes, extremely busy trip to the vet. For ages 2 and up.
Tacos: an interactive recipe book – The youngest of aspiring cooks can get prepared for the kitchen with this novelty book that uses flaps, tabs and bold illustrations to act out all the steps of making tacos. For ages 2 and up.
Uni the Unicorn – A sweet and appealingly illustrated story of a unicorn who dreams of friendship with a real life little girl. For ages 3 and up.
OUR TOP PICKS FOR BIG KIDS
Deep in the Forest: A Seek-and-Find Adventure – A truly stylish and immersive search-and-find book that spans morning to night in an exotic locale. Find okapi, ants, hyenas and more. For ages 4 and up.
A Thousand Billion Things (and Some Sheep) – A delightfully idiosyncratic picture book about all the choices in an average kid’s day, and some very tricky items to find among the hundreds of teeny-tiny illustrations. For ages 4 and up.
Origami City – A fantastic beginners origami kit with all the stickers and paper necessary to make 12 models to play with on a large city map. For ages 5 and up.
Pirates Magnified – Wield the provided magnifying glass and get ready for an illuminating historical immersion in all things pirate. You might even spot a few hidden treasures along the way as well. For ages 7 and up.
EtchArt: Hidden Forest – Use a wooden stylus to uncover beautiful woodsy scenes of flowers, trees, animals and birds. For ages 7 and up.
A gratitude journal for children – This creative and positive journal provides a space for your child to practice the art of gratitude and mindfulness. For ages 7 and up.
OUR TOP PICKS FOR EVEN BIGGER KIDS
The Official Minecraft Annual 2018 – A dream book for every Minecrafter, this annual is chock full of ideas for map builds, YouTube highlights, strategies and challenges. For ages 8 and up.
Under Earth Activity Book – This awesome activity book is full of prompts and activities (colouring in, designing, mazes, completing scenes) around all things underground, from tree roots to archaeological finds. For ages 8 and up.
Pierre The Maze Detective: The Mystery of the Empire Maze Tower – Detective Pierre is hot on the tail of Mr X the Phantom Thief in this large format, hardcover and entirely mesmerising maze book! For ages 8 and up.
The Line – An anarchic, bossy, freewheeling and wonderfully imaginative notebook adventure that starts with a pen and one line. For ages 8 and up.
David Astle’s Gargantuan Book of Words – Word-nerd David Astle delivers up a huge serve of wordy puzzles, games, codes, slang, puns, rhymes and quizzes. For ages 8 and up.
Build the Dragon – Build a spectacular 3D moving model of a Western dragon, then wind up the motor and watch it come to life! For ages 8 and up.
