Toys And Trips To Pair With Books
Books make great gifts. They are easy to wrap or ship, and readers love them. To make them even more special, consider giving a child a fun gift or a trip to accompany the adventure story they are reading.
For example, give a child the picture book Angelina Ballerina, plus tickets to The Nutcracker or another ballet. They will love being immersed in the world they are reading about.
Here are twelve more books and gift ideas for kids who love to read.
1. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland
This fantasy adventure will thrill 8-12-year-olds. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland includes a crazy tea party, so why not have one as well? Give your reader a tea set to accompany the book, and then host a tea party with them and their friends. Even better, take them to high tea at a fancy restaurant.
2. Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 book, Treasure Island, is an exciting adventure full of pirates, treasure hunting, and mystery. The book includes violence and drinking, so it’s a better read for older children, say 10-14. However, there are adapted versions that work well for 8- to 12-year-olds.
It’s still a fantastic read. Throw in a treasure map leading to a chest of candy, and your reader will love it. Or how about a pirate costume with an eye patch? Set up a date after they finish the book to watch the 1950 Disney classic version of Treasure Island and compare it to the book.
Another book with pirates is Pippi In The South Seas, a sequel to the Pippi Longstocking series. Imagine a 9-year-old girl who is super strong and lives alone with a horse and a pet monkey. Her father is a sea captain who is lost at sea. Pippi sets off to rescue him along with her friends Tommy and Annika. They fight pirates and have hilarious adventures.
Both of these books call out for a pirate party or dinner. Pinterest has great ideas for pirate crafts and games.
3. The Hobbit
For the older readers, introduce them to J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit. Bilbo’s adventures of traveling with dwarves to steal treasure from a mighty dragon will enthrall readers 10-12 years old.
Reading about all the seed cake and delicious food they eat along the way would be a great time to introduce cooking to a child. Along with the book, give them a coupon for cooking lessons, and then throw a dinner party with the food you’ve prepared. You can always find them a ring, not the one ring, of course, but a fun copy or a plastic sword to imagine as Bilbo’s sword, Sting.
4. The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Tolkien wasn’t the only magical storyteller in his writing group; his friend C.S. Lewis also wrote the classic tales of Narnia and other books. Readers would love a copy of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe for Christmas. Children aged 8-12 can escape into a magical world alongside the four Pevensie children and help Aslan, the great lion, fight the evil White Witch.
And what if you include a set of armor for the reader to pretend to fight evil with? When I read this book as a child, I wanted to fight with a bow and arrow like the girls Susan and Lucy. I finally learned archery at a summer camp, but why wait for summer? There are many places that give archery lessons; treat your reader to one. Or how about a horseback riding lesson? They can pretend they’re riding a unicorn.
5. Winnie The Pooh
Is your reader too young for these classics? How about reading Winnie-the-Pooh with them? Kids love this 1926 book of short story adventures about a talking teddy bear named Pooh and his talking animal friends (there’s one human, the boy Christopher Robin, who joins them). Of course, the book should be accompanied by… stuffed animals. Either a Pooh Bear or Piglet, or any teddy bear or plushie, your reader would love to cuddle as you read them this book.
Or play a Winnie-the-Pooh game with them, give them the toys, or sticker books that go with this adventure.
6. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
The Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and other Grimm’s Fairy Tales are fun gifts for readers. There is also Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes for the little ones and Charles Perrault’s Fairy Tales. These are wonderful to read aloud together, and then once they are hooked on fairy tales, get them a couple of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books. These fairy books are a complete collection of fairy tales from around the world. Each book is given a color: The Red Fairy Book, The Green Fairy Book, The Blue Fairy Book, and so on. You can start them off with two or three and see what happens. This might start a Christmas tradition of giving them a new fairy book every year.
Fairy tale readers would love gifts such as coloring books or fairy wands, perhaps a set of wings? You can read more about Fantastic Gifts For Fantasy Readers here.
7. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Am I just listing my childhood favorites and what I wish had been included with them? Yes, yes, I am. I love Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. It was like a modern version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
When Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket to tour a famous and mysterious chocolate factory, he and the other children who win tickets are in for fantastic adventures and surprises. Some surprises are not so good for the greedy and selfish children. Our hero Charlie wins chocolate and more.
You can guess where I’m going with this, right? That’s right, include a chocolate and candy gift basket with this book. Or a gift certificate to a candy store. I don’t suppose there’s a candy factory you can tour together? How about the Hershey Chocolate World tour in Pennsylvania? It’s on my bucket list to visit someday.
8. The Secret Garden
This is one of the first “big kid” books I remember reading as a child. I discovered The Secret Garden in the library and fell in love with reading and gardening at the same time.
This classic is about Mary Lennox, an orphan who is sent to live with her reclusive uncle in a lonely English mansion. Left to herself much of the time, she discovers a locked, hidden garden and is determined to get inside.
Help your reader discover the joys of plants and gardening with a simple window box garden they can plant and care for themself. You can include gardening gloves, trowels, pruners, and even a fun watering can. How about a terrarium for them to start? Or head outside and start a garden with them. If that’s not possible, consider tickets to a nearby botanical garden or park with flowers. Zoos often have beautiful landscaping you can explore together and talk about Mary’s secret garden.
Longwood Gardens in Delaware has a children’s secret garden. Look around and see if there is a garden tour for children near you.
9. From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
What happens when two children run away and end up secretly living in a museum? Claudia and her younger brother Jamie find a mystery to solve, and they aren’t leaving until they solve it. This Newbery winner is such a fun read for kids of all ages who like a little mystery with their adventure.
This is also a great way to introduce children to museums. You can stick tickets to the Museum of History (good for animal lovers and scientists) or the Art Museum (good for artists) in this book before wrapping. Even better? Visit the museum beforehand and design a scavenger hunt mystery for readers to solve as they walk through the exhibits. Some museums already have questions and scavenger hunt clues for school trips; they’ll be happy to share them with you.
10. The Railway Children or The Box Car Children
E. Nesbit’s book The Railway Children is a story about a family forced to move to a small cottage near train tracks after the father is falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. The three children learn about trains, make friends with the railway workers, and have exciting adventures. Another train-themed book, The Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler, features four orphans who run away from their grandfather to live in an abandoned train car in the woods. This book is the first in a series of Box Car Children Adventures.
Both are fun books for readers interested in trains and travel. Tickets to a train museum or even a ride on a train will thrill readers when they finish this book. If you have neither of these nearby, how about a train set to go with the book?
11. The Wind In The Willows
More books about travel and talking animals. Kenneth Grahame’s charming The Wind In The Willows has both. Trains, cars, gypsy wagons, rowboats, all sorts of fun ways to travel, and all used by talking animals.
Rat and Mole become friends along the river and eventually have to help their impulsive but hilarious friend, Mr. Toad, as his obsession with traveling at high speeds gets him in trouble.
Read this book together and then plan a trip to a park with paddle boat rides or even a boat trip if you live near the water. Or add a season pass to a water park or neighborhood pool to this book gift.
12. Sargon The Not So Great
Speaking of books featuring talking animals, I have to add my own book to the mix. Read one of my Tales of Enda books and you’ll see how much the books I recommend influence my own writing. My books feature talking animals and magic, but are set during the Middle Ages on a magical island off the coast of Ireland.
Sargon The Not So Great is a loatron whose protective magic is running away. Instead of being the hero, he appears to be a coward. But that doesn’t stop him from bragging that he’ll stop the ferocious dragon threatening his town.
You can include the free coloring pages I offer with the book. Don’t forget the crayons or markers. Or a fun book about living in the Middle Ages, like A Medieval Feast by Aliki, or the Knights and Castles Sticker Activity Book from National Geographic. Visit a Renaissance Fair or museum and learn more about Medieval and Renaissance history.
What other books would go well with toys or trips? Please comment below and share your childhood favorites. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
