good book to give as a gift to a five year old boy?

[hollybloom24]

Hi,

What is a good book to give as a gift to a five year old boy?

TIA!

[hbridge]

An animal encyclopedia or dinosaur encyclopedia. I usually pair it with plastic animals or dinosaurs...

Another great idea is a good kids atlas...

[kedss]

Depends what level reader he is- you could do Animalia which is sort've an advanced I Spy Book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animalia_%28book%29
or if you know what he is into, a book on robots or dinosaurs or whatever sport he's into?
or a series of books that his parents can read to him?

[KrisM]

That depends on a lot. My DS likes the Where's Waldo books and series chapter books (read to him, not by him). But, we have a lot of those already, so it'd be hard for someone to guess.

[fivi2]

An animal encyclopedia or dinosaur encyclopedia. I usually pair it with plastic animals or dinosaurs...

Another great idea is a good kids atlas...

Similar to this, my girls got a pair of inexpensive binoculars with a little birdwatching book (and an urban wildlife book) for their 4th bday. I tohught it was a great idea. (I also like pp's suggestions)

[Claki]

A Shel Silverstein collection?

[hollybloom24]

fun ideas!

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

These are some great ideas! I have a 5 year old and was stumped when I read the question, but wow, these are right on - he has a dinosaur encyclopedia that is one of his most treasured possesions and he has loved the Animalia book when we've checked it out from the library.

He also likes Magic Treehouse & Magic Schoolbus books. You'd have to ask the parents, though, to see which ones he might already have.

[jacksmomtobe]

My DS loves the Magic Schoolbus series of books. He got a set of 12 for Christmas and we are still reading them each night at bedtime. They are funny and educational so I don't mind reading them over and over again. My Ds found Magic Treehouse books too scary though some of his friends do love them.

[jenmcadams]

Even though a lot of 5 year olds have mastered their ABCs, I often give Superhero ABCs along with a custom cape & mask from superflykidz.com. Even among the advanced readers in my DD's K class, the boys seemed to go nuts for that book.

[hillview]

Magic treehouse!
/hillary

[Corie]

I got this book for my nephew.

"Oh Yuck, The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty"
http://www.amazon.com/Oh-Yuck-Encyclopedia-Everything-Nasty/dp/0761107711/ref=pd_sim_b_1

[zoestargrove]

My son was 5 when he really took a liking to Mo Willem's Piggie and Elephant series. If only you could hear how hard he and his brother laughed when we read these books!

[SnuggleBuggles]

The Night Pirates was given to ds when he turned 5 and it has been well loved:
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Pirates-Book-CD/dp/1405230436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264526624&sr=8-1

My ds was totally not into anything animal or nature related so if you aren't sure if the recipient is into them you might want to get a fiction book instead.

Beth

[ThreeofUs]

Andrew Henry's Meadow
Fly Guy books
Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Our DS1 loves all of these books.

[Hippoharbor]

We have three of these and my almost-5yr old DS loves to have these read to him.

[Jen841]

Don't laugh--- Paula Dean cookbooks. The kids ones my kids (4 and 6) LOVE! When they are bored they come to me with the cookbook and want to make something. I would never have guessed it would be loved so much.

Magic Treehouse and A to Z Mysteries are loved by my 2.

Sports Illustrated Kids (no swimsuit issue) is a love of my 6 year old.

Superhero ABCs was a great idea! Along those same lines, the Chicken Socks Superhero Starter Kit includes a cape and you can buy with 40% off coupons at Michaels, AC Moore and/or JoAnne Fabric.

My son wants Toad and Frog books.

I Spy books are fun too. He got a I Spy Christmas Oversized Activity Pad and loves it!

A supply of Easy Readers is fun too. They start reading some at 5, some stories/characters they know are fun for them. We have a Cars Level 1 book. He was so proud when he could read it. I have had my fun pick Level 1's for his friends at B&N, he loved doing it.

Into sports? There are books for teams. We have a Cubs, Steeler and Phillies books that are prized. The other love are the city books, although they are a bit younger than 5, Goodnight Philadelphia and Goodnight Chicago are loved by the kids. When we visit the cities they want to find another site in the book.

Hope this helps!