We here at Kaleidoscope kids would like to remind you all that there is a limited time left to get your special order in on time for gifts to arrive by Christmas or the end of Channukah! We’re open until 8 o’clock every Thursday and Friday for your shopping convenience, so stop on by!
Here are some Holiday themed recommendations!
Picturebooks
Dashing Through the Snow: A Canadian Jingle Bells by Helaine Becker and Werner Zimmerman, the same team that brought you A Porcupine in a Pine Tree last year, is a must have for Christmas time. Both books are hilarious, ingeniously rhymed and in true Canadian fashion!
Simon and the Bear: A Hanukkah Tale by Eric A. Kimmel is a wonderful and adventurous picturebook about the true meaning of Hanukkah. It celebrates some of the cultural roots of Hannukah, but mostly it’s about remembrance, believing and sharing – be it stories, culture or a good meal.
I Know and Old Lady who Swallowed a Dreidel by Caryn Yacowitz is one of the most creative and fun picturebooks that I’ve read all year. Whether you celebrate Channukah or not, this is a very apt rendition of a beloved children’s song. I know that I laughed the whole way through. Certainly worth a read.
The Animals’ Santa by Jan Brett. This year Jan Brett has produced yet another beautiful picturebook for Christmas time (you may know The Mitten or The Hat). The Animals’ Santa brings to life the world of animals and follows a spunky bunny as he endeavours to uncover the identity of the animals’ Santa. It’s really a charming story told through the breathtaking art of Jan Brett.
The Rupert Annual is a Holiday time classic. Join Rupert on his new Stuart Trotter adventure with mischievous friend Snowflake. Also, enjoy the regular annual content like Rupert and the Boffit and Rupert and the Ocean.
Middle Grade
Galaxy Zack is a great middle grade series about Zack who lives on, and has intergalactic adventures on, a distant planet that is like (and yet very unalike) Earth. In this edition he longs to see a “White Christmas” and wants to venture to Earth – will he make it? Will he ever see a white Christmas? This is a really fun adventure, and can be a nice segue into a middle-grade series.
Jingle Bells by Catherine Hapka is a part of the Horse Diaries series. This edition takes place in 1915 Wisconsin. A nice blend of landscape, historical time period and an opinion of the invention of the car – striaght from the horses mouth! This is a great horse book that I would have loved in grade school. There’s a little action, a little adventure and it’s very rich in context.
Kid Fiction
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce & Laura Geringer is the first book in The Guardians series (there is a movie called The Guardians, these are the books, and they’re better!)! This book is full of the wonder and imagination of childhood while still being an action packed adventure with a likeable (swashbuckling Santa) hero. A really great read.
Ice Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson is a great survival story that features a girl dog-sledder named Victoria and her dogs when they encounter a snowmobiler that needs help. Soon the two teens are stranded – lost in the frigid wilderness their survival depends on Victoria’s skill and her animal companions. A great contemporary survival story with a realistic heroin to compete with Katniss. A great winter read.
Teen Fiction
Let it Snow, a book of short intertwining short stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. A perfect book for snuggling up in a warm sweater with a hot chocolate. Heartwarming, heartbreaking and beautifully connected these holiday love stories are a great gift idea for your teenaged girl.
Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis is a science fiction dystopia retelling of Snow White. It features a kick-ass heroine, plot twists, action, romance then add this to your to-read list, pronto! A cold and clever futuristic spin on the classic Snow White fairy tale.
Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston. The story opens in post environmental apocalypse Las Vegas (New Vegas) on a lowly blackjack dealer named Natasha Kestel who is looking for a way out and into the Blue. The way is trecherous but the Blue is said to be edenic. So, she joins a group of mercenaries led by Ryan Wessen and the adventure begins. What starts out as science fiction genre bends into fantasy adventure with a splash of romance. An epic start to this teen series.
The Devils Pass by Sigmund Brouwer is part of the Seven Series - where the Grandfather leaves a will to his seven grandsons that requires them to complete a task in order to claim their inheritance. When Webb gets the call he is a street kid busking on the streets of Toronto, he is tasked with voyaging to Canada’s far North where he really has to delve into himself in order to survive the wilds, he discovers that there are much scarier things than the cold and the occasional grizzly bear… This is a gripping story about a boy who comes of age on an adventure of a lifetime, a great addition to the Seven series.
Adult Books
Rainbow Rowell’s Landline is the story of a marriage on the rocks and two people struggling to connect over emotional, physical and temporal distance. A touching read and brilliantly written by the witty Rainbow Rowell.
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