Spreading the Word on 10 Books as Holiday Gifts for Children

In the spirit of the season, I offer my Top 10 list of books suitable as gifts for small children.

The first seven are new titles, and therefore hard cover and a little on the pricey side. Bear in mind, though, that they can also be enjoyed for free, courtesy of your nearest public library.

Whoopi Goldberg is apparently winning over a new audience with her first children’s book, “Alice.”

It is a humorous and suspenseful takeoff on “Alice in Wonderland,” but here Alice is a semi-invisible rabbit and Wonderland is replaced by a sometimes frightening big-city setting.

The illustrations, by John Rocco, are colorful and have a dreamlike quality. “Alice” costs $15.

“The Sign of the Seahorse,” by Graeme Base, is subtitled “A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts.”

The story is set in the sea. Super hero Pearl Trout and her consorts lead us on an adventure through a coral reef, sunken ship, underwater junkyard, and even the continental shelf.

The rhyming story is accented by astoundingly bright illustrations. It costs $15.

Amy Tan debuted on the best-seller lists a few years ago with her novel “The Joy Luck Club.” Her first children’s book is based on a chapter from it.

In “The Moon Lady,” a Chinese-American grandmother cures her granddaughter’s rainy-day boredom with a story about a woman who lives on the moon and grants wishes.

“The Moon Lady” has, I think, the brightest and richest illustrations of this bunch, provided by Gretchen Shields. It costs $16.95.

“June 29, 1999” is not just a title--it is a day that the main character, Holly, will never forget.

She once tossed some vegetable seeds up into the ionosphere as part of a science project. Then, on June 29, blimp-sized vegetables started falling to the earth.

How will cities and towns survive the onslaught of giant carrots, turnips, broccoli and other veggies? Pick up “June 29, 1999,” written by David Wiesner, for $15.95, to find out.

Stephen Biesty’s “Incredible Cross-Sections” lives up to its name: 18 complex buildings and machines are illustrated in sections with arduous detail.

A submarine, space shuttle, cathedral, tank, Spanish galleon, the Empire State Building and a jumbo jet are some of the things dissected. The book costs $20.

The “Sesame Street Songbook” is a must for any fan.

Issued by Macmillan Publishing, the songbook includes 64 favorites from Sesame Street TV shows and films such as “Bein’ Green,” “Skin!” and “Keep the Park Clean for the Pigeons!”

Each song has a bright color illustration of a popular Sesame street character, as well as a score for piano and voice (easily manageable for the average piano-plinking parent). The songbook costs $25.

The “Reader’s Digest Children’s Book of Poetry” is the best collection of juvenile poetry I know, offering a variety of topics, styles and levels of difficulty. It’s a great way to introduce kids to literary techniques such as simile, metaphor, alliteration and rhyme.

It is illustrated generously in beautiful primary colors by Alan Snow. Edited by Beverly Mathias, the book costs $13.

Now for three classics that are decades old, but still a thrill for today’s kids.

“The Little Prince,” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, chronicles the adventure of a little prince who comes to the Sahara from a tiny planet.

During his visit and talks with the narrator (a pilot whose plane has gone down in the desert), the boy learns what to value and not value in life.

“The Little Prince” costs $13.

“The Giving Tree,” by Shel Silverstein, has enduring appeal. It is about a boy who is loved by a tree. He enjoys the tree’s shade, its apples and swings on its branches. But with age, he begins to demand too much from the tree.

It’s a good story about the nature of giving--why and how to give, and how much giving to expect from others. It costs $12 and contains black-and-white sketches.

Finally, my all-time favorite: “The Velveteen Rabbit,” by Margery Williams.

In the story, a little stuffed rabbit tries to answer the question (which many of us still ask), “What is real?” His eventual answer: you’re real when someone loves you.

First published in 1922, “The Velveteen Rabbit” can be found in many editions now, ranging in price from about $4 to $15.

These books are good draws at bookstores, so they should be easy to find.