We celebrate Christmas in my family, and I like to share gift ideas every year. So, for those of you looking for ideas at the last minute, I will suggest books! Amazon can ship fast.
For a very young friend I bought Cedar Sanderson’s The Cute Moose, which is full of fun rhymes and lovely art. It’s a surprisingly rich book that will lead to the mystery of not just where the cute moose might have gotten to, but also what all those things which rhyme with moose might be. It’s charming.
J.M. Ney-Grimm’s Talisman Arcane is going to an older girl. I beta read this book before it was published, and was completely swept up in this beautifully written re-imagining of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. A young girl discovers the truth of a history-haunted house and the woman who hides within. Adults may enjoy this one, too.
Last but hardly least comes Dave Freer’s Changeling’s Island. It’s the gift I keep on giving, a perennial favorite as it were. Teenager Tim Ryan comes into his own as he faces danger on a remote Australia island where magic lurks in land and sea.
I loved it, and it’s going to a ten-year old nephew, but give it to any adult who likes fantasy coming-of-age tales. It was nominated for a Dragon award, and richly deserved to have won.