This Boy's Life
Books-plus and novelty kits ideal for busy boys
Karyn M. Peterson -- Gifts and Dec, 8/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Book-plus and novelty collections are typically a staple of independent and specialty toy stores because they're an ideal gift selection, offering something appealing and interactive for today's kids on the go. From arts & crafts to science exploration to all-in-one activity kits, here are some of our recent favorites that boys will love.
The spiral-bound Color Magic Sticker Play Book, produced with NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows kids how colors mix and change in an innovative way. Kids can continually layer the more than 2,000 translucent, reusable stickers (which come in geometric shapes of various sizes) on top of one another to create their own designs and unique colors mixes, while the book offers familiar scenes, such as home, a playground, a beach, and a farm, with a few illustrations to get kids started. ($24.95) Abrams Books, New York
In Oceanology: The True Account of the Voyage of the Nautilus, author Dugald A. Steer writes as Ferdinand Zoticus deLessups, the 16-year-old sole survivor of the 1866 wreck of the submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. His account includes detailed information about diving bells, shipwrecks, coral reefs, ice canyons, sea monsters, underwater volcanoes and even the island of Atlantis, told through lots of interactive, pull-out elements, such as booklets, 3-D artifacts, photos, letters, charts, maps and a set of dice for nautical games. ($19.99) Candlewick, Cambridge, Mass.
Ben Grossblatt's Stereobook: Vehicles, for ages 4 and up, features 15 full-color, action-packed scenes supplemented by stereo audio modules, which surround readers with exciting sound effects as they read and follow along. Vehicles featured include a space shuttle blasting off the launch pad and Formula One race cars zipping around a track. The Stereobook series also includes titles about dinosaurs and wild animals. ($24.99) Chronicle Books, San Francisco
Tricky Video gives directors-to-be the skinny on what it takes to become masters of viral video with easy-to-achieve video tricks, gags, gimmicks and simple special effects that kids can easily do with a home video camera, including how to stage a painless fight scene, how to turn someone into a cartoon and how to make people disappear. The book also comes packaged with a Hollywood-style clapper to mark the start of every scene. ($19.95) Klutz, Palo Alto, Calif.
Nancy Honovich's The Field Guide to Dinosaurs, for ages 8 and up, is written in the style of a first-person narrative set in 1929 in The Petrified Forest of Arizona. Through a series of journal entries, maps and illustrations, junior paleontologists can join the hunt to uncover dinosaur fossils and numerous other prehistoric mysteries. Includes eight dinosaur models for kids to build, plus a museum-ready diorama. ($15.95) Silver Dolphin Books, Berkeley, Calif.
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