Images and text by Sarita Rajiv
Have you ever thought of gifting your kids a bit of magic? You read that right. Only I’m not talking about the illusionary kind. I’m talking about the kind of magic that can take you places you never knew existed, the kind that can make you smile and chuckle, the kind that can make you weep in sadness and especially, the kind that makes you wonder . And isn’t unbridled wonder one of the most lovely things about being a child?
A birthday ritual
In our family, we have a ritual we follow for my daughter’s birthday every year. Among the birthday gifts we give her, there are always some books. Books, to me, possess a kind of magic that’s unmatched (though I’ll admit some movies do come close!). What makes them a nice birthday gift for a child is their longevity. They last long after toys have been played with and put aside, they remain fresh for years and the magic they weave lasts a lifetime.
I’ll bet most of us can remember our favourite childhood books or favourite author. My personal favourite for a long time were Enid Blyton's books -- Famous Five, Mallory Towers, St Clare's I devoured them all!
While looking for books for my four-year old, I chanced upon on this beautiful book called STARS by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee. The illustrations by Marla are beautiful and have a serene quality about them. The author Mary has used stars as a metaphor to talk about a child’s life. Sample this,
“Pin a star on your shirt and you can be sheriff
Put a star on a stick and you’ve made a wand.”
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The next time you’re thinking about gifts for children, how about picking a good book? Kids love short stories and there’s rarely a child who wouldn’t appreciate a lit bit of magic and a dollop of fantasy.
What’s your favourite book from childhood? And do you follow any special birthday rituals in your family?
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Sarita Rajiv is a writer, gifting specialist and founder of The Orange Gift Bag. She’s on a mission to uncover the ‘best gifts after love’. When she isn’t dreaming up unique gift ideas, she writes for The Copenhagen Post and The National Geographic Traveller India among others.
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Childrens Books
02/07/2014 at 10:29I think many children like those story book which contains colorful photo of birds or stars.So it is better to publish such story book which contains more photo which are liked by children. Childrens Books