It would be impossible to name every one of them, but if you are in for someChristmas ideas, these are a few of our tried and true, mucg loved books. Quite a few of them are activity/drawing books...sometimes I think those are best for the stages kids go through when they don't really want to pick up a big old book at the end of a school day. Guinness World Record Books Someone always gets the new year's edition under the tree. They are filled with amazing (and gross) things. Scribbles My mom got this for Andrew for his birthday and he loves it. It's a super thick book that has pages with half drawn sketches that you can finish off. The Art Of Cartooning Matt and Andrew both love this book. A big book and very good with step by step easy to follow instructions for the 6-12 crowd. Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes All my boys love this. I found it on Andrew's floor one morning with about 10 airplanes laying around everywhere. Apparently, when I thought he was snug in the bed for the night, he was up working away at aircraft. Life Picture Puzzles When you just can't eek a book out at bedtime, these are easy and fun. Manners Can Be Fun I love, love, love these books-there are three of them. Manners Can Be Fun, How To Speak Politely and Why, How To Behave and Why. You all know about these I'm sure. Andrew was excited to get the newest one. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, Book 8 Childhood Of Famous Americans These are all really well written. My boys really like the sports guys. BOB Books Do you know about BOB books? They are great for teaching reading, and building confidence. I learned about them with my first (got them from the library) and then eventually bought them all. They really helped each of my kids learn to read. They start out really really slowly, with very simple pictures and lots of repetition and progress up per set. Pendragon Series Matt had read and reread this series. Abbey and Isaac have read them all also. Matthew who is fourteen loved this series this year: Beyonders The Complete Set: A World Without Heroes; Seeds of Rebellion; Chasing the Prophecy Abbey LOVED the Beacon Street Girls. Good wholesome tweenie reading. The same with this collection-Catwings. The Daring Book for Girls-filled with fun activities and facts. Matthew, my science guy, loves this collection. Basher Science: Core Science Library (Maybe I should read them and relearn what I never learned in any of these classes because I was too busy passing notes.) I love the National Geographic series for kids. ALL the books are great but these are our favorite so far. National Geographic Kids United States Atlas National Geographic Kids National Parks Guide U.S.A. Here are some more of our favorite National Geographic books: Weird But True's Myths Busted!: Just When You Thought You Knew What You Knew... National Geographic Kids Quiz Whiz: 1,000 Super Fun, Mind-bending, Totally Awesome Trivia Questions This Star Wars book is SO worn out-it's been taped up quite a few times. Patrick and Andrew love it. Star Wars Character Encyclopedia They also love this one: LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles This year I started buying one hardcover picture book a month to freshen up my collection. (My favorite ever is old Harry the Dirty Dog.) On my blog's sidebar is a link to more of our favorites. I think Santa might bring a few of these this year for Janey: Little Golden Book Classics