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Great Books for Your Personal Library
By Holly E. Newton

Libraries are a super way to keep kids excited about reading! Just having the opportunity to select a book off the shelf and know that you can take that book home is an experience every child should have weekly!

But not all books are meant to be checked out. Some books are uniquely packaged and often delicate. Books of this sort are meant to be owned and may become highly treasured for years to come. I’ve compiled a list of interesting and intriguing books that may just become your family favorite.

The following four books “pop-out,” making the delicacy of each page be reserved for older supervision when in the hands of youngsters. Blue 2: A Pop-Up Book for Children of All Ages, by David A. Carter, is every bit as incredible as Carter’s first book, “One Red Dot.” If you could only buy one pop-out book for the year, this is the one to get! Carter is a master paper engineer and pulls out all the stops for creating objects of paper that literally explode off the page.

If you’re looking for a really great book about trains, Trains: A Pop-Up Railroad Book, by Robert Crowther, is full of engaging information as the trains glide by with a pull of the tab. Between the short text, bold headings and fascinating 3 D trains, you’ll learn more about this fascinating transporter than ever before!

The Perfect Pop-Up Punctuation Book, by Kate Petty and Jennie Maizels, with the paper construction by Corina Fletcher, has to be one of the best books on the market today to teach children the basics of writing and sentence structure The pop-outs make what could be dry and boring information very fun and inviting! Here, at last, is a fun way to learn punctuation rules and sentence structure.

Titanic: The Ship of Dreams, by Duncan Crosbie, is the perfect coffee table book because the binding is so outstanding. The front and back have a shiny, metallic cover with a porthole effect as you see the giant ship in the distance (which is actually a holograph). This amazing book is filled with pop-outs, pull tabs, actual photos, foldouts, and lift flaps. The use of the many different mediums on each page will draw the reader into reading all that can be read on every page. This is one of those books you’ll revisit again and again. And while we’re on history, Candlewick has recently published Knight: A Noble Guide for Young Squires. If you’re looking for a fun and interesting read about life during the 1200’s, look no further!

If your youngsters like bugs, Wee Sing & Learn: Bugs, by Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp, is the book for you. Actually, this newly revamped book is now oversized and repackaged into an interesting board book, with a handle making it easy to read, carry and learn. The enclosed CD is full of fun and funny songs about bugs that will also make this a great sing along! This book is the latest in a series of books packaged in this manner. And while we’re on the Wee Sing series, The Best of Wee Sing, has all of the songs that little ones will sing along with all day long!

How about an activity book made to travel? Cranium Fun Folio Junior Edition, published by Little, Brown, is packaged for those on the go! You’ll find inside the magnetized folder, cards, stickers, games and one of the best activity packets for kids ages 7 through 12.

And while we’re on fun learning activities, here’s one for the younger set. Hands-On-Learning: Over in the Meadow, is a collection of stacking cards that have raised plastic animals, numbered sequences and a storyline to enliven many skills associated with reading such as prediction, memory and vocabulary. Other stacking cards in this series include animals and trucks.

Disney has a new storybook collection out that features a CD with the original movie voices and sound effects. The Lion King and The Little Mermaid are the newest in this series. What makes this book so unique is the use of those familiar voices and sounds from the movies that the children will immediately recognize and thoroughly enjoy!

And to complete this list are books geared for girls. Little, Brown has just published My First Tiara and Gemstone Activity Book, which has a vanity mirror and unique ways to dress up. Disney has just published Magical Wishes with four of the popular princess in a pup-up diorama making this a fun read and play. And Princess: A Glittering Guide for Yong Ladies, published by Candlewick Press, will delight all who desire to grow up as dainty, pretty and proper as princesses. So, if you don’t have your own private collection of favorite books on your family bookshelf — now’s the time to begin!

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