GiftLit: April 2010

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 with these wonderful book recommendations for all ages, including picture books that celebrate nature, eco-fantasies for middle graders, and thought-provoking environmental books for adults.

Happy Reading!

Earth Day Book Recommendations

My Garden by Kevin Henkes – Celebrate nature and a child's imagination with this botanical fantasy that is a read aloud to treasure. Part of our gift book recommendations for ages 2-5 collection. Browse our gift books for girls and gift books for boys ages 2 to 5.

Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter – Perfect for Earth Day, this hilarious book with dazzling artwork is based on true events and will teach young readers the importance of recycling. Part of our gift book recommendations for ages 5-8 collection. Browse our book gifts for girls and book gifts for boys ages 5 to 8.

Just Grace Goes Green by Charise Mericle Harper – This lively chapter book from the beloved Just Grace series is imbued with fun and mischief as Grace and her friends learn about pollution and what they can do about it. Part of our gift book recommendations for ages 8-10 collection. Browse our book of the month gifts for girls and for boys ages 8 to 10.

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve – Even a magical farm can't survive when the rains stop in this original fantasy with an environmental message where Polly and her brother have to make it start raining again before it's too late. Part of our gift book recommendations for ages 10-12 collection. Browse our childrens book of the month club gifts for ages 10 to 12.

Stuck on Earth by David Klass – This fun and funny fantasy raises questions about human responsibility for the planet when Ketchvar, an alien sent to earth to give humans a last chance to prove their worth, inhabits the brain of 14-year-old Tom Filber. Part of our gift book recommendations for ages 12-14 collection. Browse our book gifts for girls and book gifts for boys ages 12 to 14.

Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd – With short diary entries, this riveting eco-thriller envisions a future Britain where “carbon rationing” is mandatory and each person is allotted a prohibitively small measure of carbon points. Part of our fiction recommendations for teens collection. Browse our book of the month gifts for teens.

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben – This cautiously optimistic assessment of our planet's future offers galvanizing possibilities for adapting as the world we've known breaks down. Part of our gift book recommendations for adults collection.
Browse our book gifts for adults.

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change by Annie Leonard – Weaving together engaging personal stories with hard facts and rigorous analysis, renowned environmentalist Annie Leonard calculates the full ecological and social cost of our "stuff". Part of our nonfiction gift book recommendations collection. Browse our book of the month gifts of nonfiction.

We hope you share our love of literature and passion to inspire people of all ages to read and will consider GiftLit for your next gift purchase.

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We have some terrific book recommendations to share with you this month in addition to a great Easter picture book suggestion!

Happy Reading!

Easter Picture Book Recommendation

The Easter Egg
by Jan Brett – Celebrate Easter with this gentle tale from best-selling author Jan Brett, whose lovable bunny hero, Hoppi, hopes to create the most dazzling egg and become the Easter Bunny's helper.

March Book Recommendations

Children's Book Recommendations

Lmno Peas by Keith Baker – With delightful illustrations and rhyming text that never misses a beat, hundreds of tiny pea creatures introduce the alphabet in this hilarious and refreshingly original picture book. Part of our Educational Picture Books Age 2-5 collection. Browse our gift books for girls and gift books for boys ages 2 to 5.

All Star!: Honus Wagner and the Most Famous Baseball Card Ever by Jane Yolen – This well-crafted biography of Honus Wagner, one of baseball's greatest shortstops, highlights his humor, perseverance, passion and sheer talent and explains how his baseball card sold for three million dollars. Part of our Favorites for Boys Age 5-8 collection. Browse our book gifts for girls and book gifts for boys ages 5 to 8.

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry – Newbery medalist Lois Lowry delivers a lighthearted fairy tale with a comical twist that is full of wit, wordplay, princes you'll love to hate, and a princess with a mind of her own. Part of our Favorites for Girls Age 8-10 collection. Browse our book of the month gifts for girls and for boys ages 8 to 10.

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve – Polly's family runs a magical rhubarb farm - the plants taste like chocolate, jewels appear in the soil, and bugs talk - but when the rain stops and her brother gets sick, it's up to Polly to save the day. This original fantasy with an environmental slant is a great read for Earth Day. Part of our Great New Releases Age 10-12 collection. Browse our childrens book of the month club gifts for ages 10 to 12.

Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers – In this vivid and compelling book, Bowers brings to light the surprisingly untold story of a secret and extensive spy network created by the state of Mississippi to crush the civil rights movement. Part of our American History Age 12-14 collection. Browse our book gifts for girls and book gifts for boys ages 12 to 14.

Teen Book Recommendations

Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray – When Ross is killed, his three best friends steal his ashes and head out on an unforgettable journey where they get thrown off a train, escape from the police and discover some uncomfortable secrets about each other and their friend Ross. Part of our Fiction for Teen Boys collection. Browse our book of the month gifts for teens.

Sandman: Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by P. Craig Russell – Gaiman's 1999 award-winning novella that weaves ancient mythology into a tale of the forces beyond life and death is reimagined as a graphic novel with exquisite Japanese-inspired artwork. Part of our Graphic Novels for Teens collection. Browse our fiction book a month gifts teen.

The Double Comfort Safari Club: The New No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel by Alexander McCall Smith – The two ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency travel to the north of Botswana to visit a safari lodge in the latest installment of this much-beloved series that resonates with wit, warmth and wisdom. Part of our Adult Fiction for Teen Girls collection. Browse our monthly book gifts of adult books for teens.

Adult Book Recommendations

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson – The unlikely hero of this witty debut novel set in the English countryside is the very embodiment of British aristocracy, but his life takes an unexpected turn when he finds his soul-mate in a Pakistani shopkeeper. Part of our Favorites for Women collection.
Browse our book gifts for women and gifts for moms.

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes – This brilliant and unforgettable war epic, written by a decorated Marine over the course of thirty years, tells the story of a young lieutenant and his comrades who are dropped into the Vietnam jungle to face the horrors and heroism of war. Part of our Favorites for Men collection. Browse our book of the month gifts for men and book gifts for dad.

The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald – Beautifully written and filled with unforgettable characters, this captivating novel portrays the cultural tumult of the mid-20th century through the eyes of Henry House, who grows up as a "practice baby" handed off between practice mothers in a college home-economics program. Part of our Great New Hardcover Fiction collection. Browse our monthly book club gifts for couples.

Horns by Joe Hill – In this wickedly funny mystery/horror/love story, Ignatius Perrish wakes up, after a night of drinking, to find he has grown horns that give him an unusual power to make people tell him their darkest secrets. Part of our Fiction for Men collection. Browse our book of the month club gifts for fiction readers.

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt – This sensitive, tender memoir is a beautiful account of one family's struggle to cope with loss by building on the small mundane routines of everyday life. Part of our Great New Hardcover Nonfiction collection. Browse our monthly book gifts for readers.

Family Book Recommendations

Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems by Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins – A stunning collection of poetry celebrating the seasons that combines the work of many poets, including Carl Sandburg and Karla Kuskin, with Caldecott Medalist Diaz's radiant artwork. Part of our Read Aloud Ages 4-8 collection. Browse our book of the month club gifts for families.

The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone – This inventive story of two lost souls, whose lives are touched by lightning, explores the magic of nature and the power of redemption. Part of our Parent & Teen Hardcover Fiction collection. Browse our gift books for families to read together.

We hope you share our love of literature and passion to inspire people of all ages to read and will consider GiftLit for your next gift purchase.