Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
books
My holiday gift giving book list just keeps getting bigger. I just realized I’ll never be done, so I’m going to post it now, since the time to buy gifts is just getting shorter and shorter. This is finals week for the classes I teach, and I never get any shopping done before that, but I know quite a few people are almost done by now:)
So here is my quite random and incomplete gift giving book guide:
Children’s Books
I’ll start with kids books because for me those are the best ones to browse. I could have done a separate list of just kids books. The New York Times puts out a fantastic list every year of the best illustrated children’s books, which you can view as a slideshow. What a wonderful resource.
The Black Book of Colors is my favorite from the list this year. The book conveys the experience of seeing through touch, and has raised black line drawings on black paper along with written and braille text. Along with being subtly beautiful to a sighted person, I think enabling young children to imagine a world without sight is an invaluable lesson.
My Friends, by Taro Gomi. This is my favorite of his books and our copy is quite dogeared. The story is simple and sweet and the illustrations are just amazing. This is my standard gift for new babies.
In our house, Sparkle and Spin has been a favorite for a long time. Originally written in 1957 by Ann Rand, it was illustrated by her husband, the graphic designer Paul Rand. The words are fun to say and the drawings are graphically beautiful in true Rand style.
The Kid Who Named Pluto, by Marc McCutcheon. Amazing true stories about incredible kids.
The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, by Eric Berlin. A story about a boy who loves puzzles who sets out to solve a mystery involving more and more puzzles. The book is fun in that there are numerous puzzles for the reader to solve as well.
Sing, Nightengale, Sing, by Daniel Goyone, Francoise De Guibert, and Chiaki Miyamoto. 51 birds are illustrated and described and there is an accompanying cd with a recording of each of the birds singing. The best thing about the book is that there is a wonderful piano accompaniment that plays along with the birds and it is done in such a way that it seems as if the bird and piano are in duet.
Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song. Can you tell we like birds in our house?
Right now, this is my favorite book pick for adults:
The Laws of Simplicity, by John Maeda. I know I’ve mentioned this book here before, but it’s worth repeating. It’s easy to understand and is applicable to everyone.
Art, Design and Photography
The Sculpture of Ruth Asawa. A beautiful book with not only stunning images of the artists famous wire sculpture, but also images of her drawings and paintings and many thoughtful essays on her and her work.
Designing Design by Kenya Hara. The design work and philosophy of this talented Japanese designer who is on the board of MUJI.
Structure and Surface. Published by MOMA to go along with a Japanese textile exhibit, this book showcases exquisite textiles made by unique methods of fabrication and manipulation.
Still. Oceanscapes by Debra Bloomfield. Photographs of ocean and sky that I could get lost in. And I love the name of the book:)
Short Stories
Birds of America, By Lorrie Moore. Short stories by one of my favorite writers.
No One Belongs Here More Than You, By Miranda July. Another short story collection. I read this in one sitting, holding my breath.
The house on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. Stories of a girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Visit her website here.
Food
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Pollan follows 4 different food chains from source to table and discusses the eating choices we face in modern America. I ffound the history and research in this book fascinating, if not scary at times.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison. This is the cookbook in our house.
By the way, my favorite bookstore is William Stout Architectural Books. One of the things I miss most about San Francisco. And they are having a sale right now!
Happy browsing.
on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 7:44 pm:
Hi notmartha. I love giving books too, and I often order then from betterworldbooks.com. They have free shipping, except for a few pennies for carbon-neutral offsets. Plus they donate profits to literacy programs! I swear, I don’t work for them, but I love them. I love your blog too.
cheers!
on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 8:31 pm:
what a great, inspiring list! thank you.
and i love miranda july, too–have you seen ‘you, me, and everyone we know?’
xo
on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 9:20 pm:
Thanks so much! I’m very interested in the John Maeda book. Also love Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and all of Deborah Madison’s cookbooks.
on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 11:56 pm:
Wow. What a great list!! Thank you, thank you!!
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 12:19 am:
Thanks for the list! Many new discoveries. Right now I’m especially interested in children’s books (I’m just pretending they are for my daughter
). I love Taro Gomi and have several of his books. Funny - I just ordered a few copies of “My Friends” in English to send to friends with kids. I’d only known the original in Japanese and was quite dissapointed with the over-sweetness of the English text - the original has quite a bit of irony, a bit of a “sting” that makes you smile.
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 12:38 am:
The other day I saw this book:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/ABC3D/Marion-Bataille/e/9781596434257/?itm=3
and thought of Uniform Studio.
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 12:44 am:
i love this site, for kids and grown-ups:
http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 12:47 am:
thanks for the list! Books are the best gift I want to receive for out family including my daughter. My dilemma is that my 3.5 yrs old daughter is currently obssessed with “princess stories” and thus doesn’t show that much interest in the books, which I buy and read after a lot of research. What should I do?
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am:
So inspiring! Thank you! I guess I’ll be stopping over at Amazon in the very near future
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am:
i love your picks martha. i am very intrigued by the laws of simplicity and the still: oceanscapes books. xox
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 10:17 am:
I am really excited abou this list martha. Thanks for compiling it for us. I am off to scour now.
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am:
thank you for these lovely recommendations. I love the children book illustrations slideshow! what a gem!
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm:
oooh. i did books today today. great minds….. xx
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 8:59 pm:
Thank you for posting such a great list. I’m going to have a look into getting The Laws of Simplicity. And also thank you for doing such a nice blog! I’ve been reading it for sometime now and have been very inspired by you.
on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm:
Thanks for the GREAT list! I needed an engaging book for my niece - done. Muji? done. Veg cooking? done And William Stout? A special store in a special spot with Dwell tucked just around the corner. I am inspired.
on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 7:46 am:
Fun! Steve just put The Laws of Simplicity on his wish list and I’ll 2nd the recommendation for My Friends. It’s a regular pick for Eleanor. She just loves adding the animals sound to each page.
on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 5:27 am:
Some fantastic books here! Thanks for sharing.
on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 6:39 pm:
hi martha,
oh, good choices. books are my favourite gifts.
i love ann hamilton very, very much.
i hope you are well.
hugs,
cindy.
on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm:
thanks so much for this, martha! your list is coming with me to the bookshop tomorrow… i am enjoying children’s book browsing most of all
xo
on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 11:33 am:
[…] Katie got more Bob books for her collection and Tristan got My Friends and Sparkle and Spin as recommended by […]