Holiday Gift Ideas From National Geographic Kids

The holiday is season is fast approaching and today I have a fantastic list of books, from National Geographic Kids, that would make awesome gifts for all the readers on your shopping list...

Weird But True! Christmas: 300 Festive Facts to Light Up the Holidays — (ages 8-12, 208 pages) The PERFECT stocking stuffer! Ready for some totally festive facts? Even Christmas can be weird -- it's true! Did you know that Santa's reindeer are probably all female? Or that artificial snow can be made from seaweed? Or that "Jingle Bells" was the first Christmas carol sung in space? Every kid will ho ho ho when they unwrap this book that is chocked full of the most random and fascinating facts about their most favorite holiday.

Ultimate Dinopedia - (ages 7-10, 296 pages) Attention dinosaur fanatics! This is a big, gift-worthy hardcover that is also the most complete and comprehensive dinosaur reference ever. Although these amazing creatures roamed the Earth ages ago, new dinosaur discoveries are still being made today.  The new edition includes favorites, like the fierce T-rex and the gentle Brontosaurus, plus audacious new finds, like the Anzu, Kosmoceratops, and Yi. Every dino profile is colorfully illustrated and features descriptions of when they roamed the Earth, how they lived, what they ate, and more. There are more than 600 dinos featured in all, including 10 profiles of recently discovered dinosaurs and new entries in the Dino Dictionary. Reports from paleontologists present the latest news and insights from the field.

Bet You Didn’t Know: Fascinating, Far-Out, Fun-tastic Facts - (ages 8-12, 192 pages) “...the whole outing is really tailor-made for dipping and flipping at random....A bodacious wellspring of random knowledge."— Starred review, Kirkus Reviews. BIG, packed with gorgeous photos and illustrations and guaranteed to keep kids occupied for hours and hours, Bet You Didn’t Know is the perfect holiday gift for the fact-lover or for your kid’s favorite teacher’s classroom. Did you know that the first stop signs were black and white? Or that a litter of kittens is called a kindle? Or that butterflies can see more colors than humans can?  Based on a favorite department in Nat Geo Kids magazine, this book is overflowing with fascinating facts, silly stats, and catchy little knowledge nuggets in all kinds of cool categories, from astronomy and sea creatures to revolutions and breakfast. Special features include Extreme Weirdness, Strange Places, Wacky World, and more.

Just Joking Jumbo — (ages 7-10, 288 pages)  What do you get when you have 1,000 giant jokes and 1,000 funny photos?  A stocking stuffer that adds up to some seriously big laughs! If you have a budding stand up comedian on your list this year - this is the perfect book for them.  Knock-knocks, puns, riddles, tongue-twisters, photos of silly situations and even the craziest info about the history of funny business - it’s all here!

Hey, Baby! A Collection of Pictures, Poems and Stories from Nature’s Nursery - (all ages, 192 pages) Sweet dreams are made of this! Join National Geographic Kids on a trip around the globe to celebrate nature's nursery.This collection of stunning photography of wee ones of the wild world will inspire, awe and awww. With dynamic profiles, clever poems, time-tested folktales, amazing rescue stories, and unlikely animal friendships, this book will be a favorite with sleepy little ones, new parents and moms-to-be. Featuring everything from wobbly baby bison to teeny turtles, mini-monkeys to fluffy foxes, this is the perfect keepsake book for the baby animal lover in us all.

How to Ace the National Geographic Bee, 5th Edition (ages 9-12) is the only official study guide available and is chock full of tips from previous finalists, past questions, a country index of vital stats, and recommendations for the best study tools.  The Bee is designed to engage students in diverse ways, challenging them to memorize geographic knowledge, synthesize it, and apply it accurately, compellingly, and creatively.  How to Ace the National Geographic Bee is specifically written to prep the aspiring champion with not just facts, but thought-process as well.  It offers a top ten list of study tips – “learn the language of maps” (latitude and longitude, meridians and Mercators) and “choose your tools” (a large world map, an atlas, and satellite images are a must!) – and advice from past finalists, including “trust your gut,” “be passionate,” and “take the opportunity to learn.” A comprehensive list of sample questions range from “Harry [Potter] catches the train to Hogwarts at Kings Cross station in what major European city?” to “What landlocked country is located farther from an ocean – Paraguay or Kazakhstan?”

With more than 600 titles—including the popular Weird But True franchise and the New York Times Best Selling National Geographic Kids Almanac—National Geographic Kids Books is the recognized leader in nonfiction for kids. Published in 28 languages, NGK Books reaches approximately 85 million kids every year.

Offering K-12 educators resources that align to and support the Common Core State Standards, National Geographic has a long history of providing high-quality informational texts suitable for primary, upper elementary, and middle school English language arts, social studies, and science classrooms.

Disclaimer: I received copies of the books above from the publisher for review/feature purposes.