Around this time of year, I get a lot of queries from readers about book recommendations for gifts. I thought I’d post some of my suggestions here. I’ll start with picture books (which make great family gifts as well as special presents for small children) and over the course of this week will try to work my way up to older readers as well. And of course I’ve already listed a lot of our favorites in the sidebar—what I’ll be posting here are (mostly) books that aren’t already listed there. If I put ALL the books we treasure, this page would take forever to load.

All righty then. You already know that I think Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury would make a lovely family gift, one destined to become part of a holiday tradition. It brings together in one volume these stories: The Mitten, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, Trouble with Trolls, The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Hat, The Night Before Christmas, and the book that had me in tears earlier this week, Christmas Trolls.

The Rainbabies by Laura Kraus Melmed. Beautifully illustrated tale of an elderly couple whose yearning for a child is answered in a most unexpected manner. (Would make a extra-special gift in tandem with this adorable rainbow gnome babies set, or you could make your own with the pattern I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Not to up the ante too much—the book is a beautiful gift all on its own.)

—More to come later—the kids just woke up and it seems St. Nick paid a visit in the night, for their shoes are full of candy. I am summoned to the joyful hullabaloo!