The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) has released the 2012 Guide Book to Gift Books. This annual publication includes over 300 book recommendations for children from birth to high school.
“Books make wonderful gifts, but between the rush of holiday shopping and the overwhelming amount of books out there, choosing the right one for your recipient can be difficult,” said Deborah Stevenson, editor of The Bulletin. “We’ve put together an up-to-date, easy-to-use guide that makes navigating the bookstore, digitally or otherwise, simple—and you’re likely to find a few gifts for yourself as well.”
The Guide Book is available as a free download in PDF format at the journal’s website and can now be downloaded to smartphones for easy access while shopping. The guide includes information on more than 300 books broken down in to four age groups – Picture Books, Books for Young Readers (Grades 1-3, 6-8 years), Books for Middle Readers (Grades 4-6, 9-11 years) and Books for Older Readers (Gr. 7-12, 12-18 years).
“Our selections offer a broad range of styles, genres, subjects, and challenge levels, so there will be something here for the young person on everyone’s gift-book list,” said Stevenson.
The Bulletin, founded in 1945, is devoted entirely to the review of current books for children and publishes eleven times each year. Each issue provides concise summaries and critical evaluations with information on the book's content, reading level, strengths and weaknesses, and quality of format, as well as suggestions for curricular use.