Of course, books make for easy Christmas shopping. Just point and click on your
computer. No in-store hassles, struggles with unruly crowds, or fighting for a parking
space.
But that’s not the only reason—not even the most important reason—to buy books for
Christmas gifts. And especially AbyD books.
Books encourage reading, open new worlds for the reader, start a lifelong good
habit…and help wean kids from spending so much time in front of their video games.
But that’s not all AbyD books do.
We’ll cover books for adults in another post. Right now, let’s look at books for kids,
especially young ones.
If your child, niece/nephew, grandchild, or other young gift recipient is a member of a
minority group (and if s/he isn’t, we’ll talk about him/her in a minute), how many books
has s/he read that feature someone s/he can relate to on a deeply personal level? If
s/he is African American, do most—do ANY—of his/her books feature a young Black
child, as AbyD’s THERE’S A TIGER IN MY HOUSE, THE LOST BICYCLE, THE LAST
DROP OF SUNSHINE, or WHEN I GOT A SISTER do?
If s/he is Native American, do any of his/her books feature a Native American as AbyD’s
JUST INDIAN does?
If s/he is Latino, how many of his/her books feature Latinos as in AbyD’s ABUELITA’S
TREE or MOVING DAY FOR ALEX?
Now, what if your giftee is NOT a member of a minority group? Well, then…don’t you
think it would be helpful to introduce him/her to kids in print who are minority
members—especially if your gift recipient goes to a predominantly white school or pre-
school. If s/he doesn’t know many kids like those who populate so many of our books,
reading our books will help prepare him/her for the wider world out there and help make
people from different backgrounds seem not so strange, not so “other.”
Now…what if your giftee is a “special needs” child, regardless of his/her ethnicity?
Someone doesn’t have to be a special needs child, though, to appreciate the story of a
special needs reindeer who, despite her disability not only saves Christmas for a little
boy, a lost puppy, and even Santa himself, but helps make her own dearest wish come
true. And yes, we did say “HER” disability; the hero of HEARTFELT, THE SPECIAL
REINDEER is female. Anyone, special needs or not, can appreciate this story.
Is your giftee an adult or an older child? As we said earlier, we’l cover gifts for them in a
future post. Meanwhile, whether you’re celebrating Christmas or Chanukah, and
possibly Kwaanza…or even Festivus—Happy Holidays!
