Disclosure: I received these books for the holiday gift guide. Post contains affiliate links; opinions shared are mine.

The week before Thanksgiving, our school hosted a book fair in the library.  It was wonderful to see my students get so excited about reading.  My students keep their own TBR lists (to-be-read) in their reader/writer journals. Many added titles like these National Geographic kids books on their TBR lists.  Why not consider some of these for the holiday gift list.  Whether you’re shopping for the kids, their teachers, or a holiday angel, you’re sure to hit the target with these.

From the eye-catching covers to the bold pages, each National Geographic Kids title makes reading fun. You can keep the educational part to yourself!

How Things Work turns everyday items like the refrigerator into fascinating facts!  Highly engaging with vivid photos and diagrams, this page-turner will find a spot in your trivia fan’s backpack.   The text is challenging but readable for my 7 year old, which is perfect for him to read with help.

Along the same lines, 5000 Awesome Facts is sure to spark a lot of “Did you know?” conversations.  There’s a running total of facts along the bottom of the pages, which is immediate gratification for those kids who enjoy that type of thing.  It’s visually engaging with high-quality glossy pages.  This book is a winner!

For many consecutive years, my daughter asked Santa for a “real life” mermaid tail.  While Santa never came through on that request, the Ultimate Oceanpedia would really satiate her desire for all things ocean.  The cool weather-related facts stood out to me in this book.  I expected to see the information on marine life, but connecting it all to tsunamis and geography helped to make this a comprehensive text.

For the child who wants more adventurous bedtime stories, why not gift a copy of Tales from the Arabian Nights?  The stylistic illustrations will hold sway over your child’s imagination, while the dramatic stories might just inspire you to read under the covers!  Some of the tales are a bit frightening.  Be sure to read this with your child so you can talk about the perilous moments. Don’t neglect the sidebars; reading those with your child allows you to promote good reading skills.

The Book of Heroes and The Book of Heroines absolutely deserve a spot on the bookshelf!   Spanning the course of history, readers will find notable visionaries in areas of science, civil rights, government, and more.  These would be excellent resources to keep on hand for research projects!  Try reading a story each day.  With your child, identify one or two characteristics of the individuals you read about, then make an effort to personally model that life skill.