Of course, this is not an original idea. Brooke of The Brookeshelf has indeed already written two posts on this subject, with many more to come, I'd wager (you'll find them here and here).

First come the useful ideas insofar as you need to find a Christmas gift for a librarian you love. With that in mind, BB-Blog hasn't let me down. BB-Blog never lets me down.  I recommend checking the site out for all your I-don't-know-what-to-get-this-person holiday ideas.  One abecedarian offering includes this book-end:

The Longstockings have also been posting a whole plethora of cool gifty things of their own.  I was particularly taken with these mug and tray sets from Fishs Eddy:

And though I know it's entirely off-topic, I got this one in The Sneeze's posts on Great Moments in Unnecessary Monopoly. This, I am sad to say, is an actual product that you could purchase:

Fun gifts aside, librarian Walter Minkel reminds us that with all the fears regarding lead poisoning lurking within our children's toys, books are usually safe. With that in mind, here are my top 2007 gifty choices for those of you looking to give someone the perfect present.  This is NOT my best books of 2007 list.  These are just titles that I think make excellent gifts for one and all.

Babies:  In searching for my little baby Bird of a niece I've found that good board books are hard to find.  So I'll tell you right here and now that I don't know the best ones that came out in 2007.  Not really.  The two that I did see that I thought were pretty cool were:

Charlie and Lola's Numbers by Lauren Child
Charlie and Lola's Opposites by Lauren Child
Bow-Wow Naps by Number by Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash
Bow-Wow Orders Lunch by Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash

And here are my other picks, then.

Superior Readalouds:
The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington
What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Mokie and Bik by Wendy Orr
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Picture Books of the Jaw-Droppingly Gorgeous Set:
Little Night by Yuyi Morales
Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio

They're Just Awesome - Picture Books:
The Bearskinner by Laura Amy Schlitz
Scribble by Deborah Freedman
The Zoo by Suzy Lee

Kids Just Learning to Read:
My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems
I Am Invited to a Party by Mo Willems

Kids Just Getting Into Chapter Books:
Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins
Violet Bing and the Grand House by Jennifer Paros

They're Just Awesome - Chapter Books:
The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
No Talking by David Clements
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell
The Qwikpick Adventure Society by Sam Riddleburger
Reality Leak by Joni Sensel


(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)