As the Holiday season fast approaches I find myself grasping at gift ideas.

Allow me to backtrack a bit first. Last year, and every year before, my kids made out at Christmas. Presents upon presents. Our tree was lit alone by all of the colorful paper. We really went too far. Year after year we would sit for a good hour or so watching my kids open present after present not really appreciating the one that came before. (Did I mention I have four of them?)

This year I vow it will be different.

Rather than pages upon pages of Christmas lists, this year we offered this: Ask for something to wear, something you need, something you want, and something to read. To my surprise they were on board. My kids all have varying interests and wants. For instance, Oakley (my three year old) loves everything trucks, trains, and books. Natalie (my ten year old) on the other hand loves Harry Potter, soccer, animals, and anything spa. As you can see the interests are wide and varied. As varied as they all are I am confident that I will be able to find gifts to appease them all.

The one gift that tends to stump me are books. There are so many to choose from and with four varying ages and interests what do I get?

The first thing that you should know about me is that literacy is my passion. I feel it to be the most important thing that we can teach our children. Too many kids today aren’t instilled with this same passion. Luckily my kids love to read. To make it easier for my fellow literacy enthusiasts I have compiled a list of age appropriate books that I am sure your kids will love (I know my kids love them).

• An Otis Christmas
• Thomas the Train books
• Clifford
• Dr. Seuss books-any!
• The Magic Treehouse Series
• Rainbow Magic Series (But I will warn you Jack Frost can only do so much!)
• Anything Pokémon
• The Harry Potter Series
• The Percy Jackson Series (or any Rick Riordan book for that matter)
• The Kingdom Series
• The Never Girls
• The Maze Runner
• The Girl Who Could Fly
• The Hunger Games
• The Divergent Series
• Charlotte’s Web
• Peter Pan
• Trumpet of the Swans
• Call of the Wild
• Little House on the Prairie Series
• American Girl Series
• Roald Dahl books (any, they are all great!)
• The Hobbit
• Stuart Little
• Any classic book!

Now that I have given you a never-ending list to think about, have fun! Pick one, pick them all. PLEASE do your child a favor, give them a gift that they will remember forever. A gift that will follow them throughout their lives. A gift that with both entertain and improve their literacy skills for years to come.

Merry Christmas and happy reading!