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Thursday, 29 November 2018

Making your Christmas Book Shopping List? Checking it twice? How about a brilliant book from Pan Macmillan or Egmont Publishing with something for everyone!

Posted by ReadItDaddy at November 29, 2018 Labels: , ,
We make no apologies for being well and truly into the christmas spirit. It tends to kick off early at ReadItDaddy Towers and we're already eyeing up the Christmas Decorations, readying ourselves for the festive season.

Book wise we've seen SO MANY brilliant christmas books that we're devoting our entire run-up to Christmas to them, but before that let's take a look at a gorgeous selection of books from Pan Macmillan and Egmont Publishing, each and every one of which would make a perfect gift for the book lover in your family.

First there's the utterly adorable "Grandpa Christmas" by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field. A master storyteller, an illustrator who charms us to bits with his glorious illustrations, it's like the best christmas present ever! "Grandpa Christmas" tells the story of Little Mia who, along with her family, love to read their Christmas Letter from Grandpa every year.

Grandpa's letter urges everyone to think about how we can look after our beautiful world, and treasure all the wonderful things in it. At a time of year when it's so easy to take things for granted, this poignant christmas message is a truly wonderful piece of work from two immensely talented superstars in kidlit. Put it at the top of your picture book buying list this christmas!

"Grandpa Christmas" by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field is out now, published by Egmont. 

Fortnite? What's that? Pff, we still prefer the delights of Mojang's Minecraft, and Egmont have all your survival needs covered in the stupendous "Minecraft Survival Collection" - a bumper selection of Minecraft books to keep you busy worldbuilding (and surviving) over the yuletide season.

With exclusive tips from the developers at Mojang, the Minecraft Survival Collection might just save your life! The Guide to Exploration will teach you how to thrive in the Overworld. The Guide to the Nether and the End will teach you how to survive in each of these dangerous dimensions. The Guide to Enchantments and Potions will teach you how to enchant your equipment and brew useful potions. The Guide to Farming will teach you how to be self-sufficient in everything from food to hostile mob drops (plus, if you're like us, who can resist building a huge farm full of cute animals and their babies

It's absolutely essential stuff for Minecraft fanatics. "Minecraft: The Survival Collection" is also out now, published by Egmont. 

Those crazy Mr Men and Little Misses have a whole heap of festive fun for you in a huge selection of brilliant new books from Roger and Adam Hargreaves. 

Starting off with the classic "Mr Men: The Christmas Tree" by Roger Hargreaves. 

Mr. Forgetful is not at all good at remembering things, so it is hardly surprising that this Christmas he has forgotten to buy a tree.

Christmas with no tree! Where will Father Christmas leave the presents?!

And so begins a very funny and forgetful tale of Christmas trees, presents, snow and a plump, jolly man who might just be able to save the day. 

But that's not all...there's also a huge range of titles including "Mr Men Meet Father Christmas", "Mr Men and the Twelve Days of Christmas",  "Mr Men The Night Before Christmas", "Mr Men: A Christmas Pantomime", "Mr Men Meet Father Christmas", "Mr Men: A White Christmas", "Mr Men Christmas Party Story" and our real favourite "Mr Men: All Aboard for Christmas" (I think we've got them all, phew!) all filled with these charming and timeless characters that I loved to bits as a kid, and now my daughter loves just as much too. 

"Mr Men Christmas Books" by Roger and Adam Hargreaves are out now, published by Egmont. 

We suspect that Llamas might have actually taken over from Unicorns as everyone's favourite animal for 2018. In fact Llamas are just about everywhere (which is fine by my daughter, as she absolutely ADORES them). 

The Llamas in "Where's the Llama? A Search and Find Adventure" are a little bit better at hiding in plain sight though, it's another fantastic spotter book for observant kids who have far better eyesight than me. 

Find the hidden Llama in every busy and super-detailed scene, with fun illustrations on just about every holiday subject you can think of (yes, including a gorgeous Christmassy Winter Wonderland!)

You'll need your wits about you for this one, and no cheating by looking at the answers, OK? 

Totally funny, totally absorbing, totally one for your Xmas shopping list!

"Where's the Llama? A Search and Find Adventure" is out now, published by Egmont. 

Last but not least, a trilogy of books for those of you who like to spend your yuletide period in a galaxy far, far away...

Kicking off with the biggie, the absolute zenith of amazing information on the Star Wars Universe. It's the updated edition of "The Star Wars Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z" which is a mammoth and beautifully presented hardback encyclopaedia covering just about every aspect of the Star Wars Universe (yep, even the extended universe) that you could possibly think of (yes it even tells you what a parsec is, I think!)

Dive into a sumptuous and luxurious hardback book that is absolutely essential for all Star Wars Fans, sorting out your Banthas from your BB-8s, your AT-ATs from your Anakin Skywalkers. Each spread is packed with tons and tons of characters, spaceships, planets, robots, monsters and the whole kit and caboodle from Lucasarts / Lucasfilms (and of course Disney too). 

Luxuriously presented in a gorgeous foil cover (that's no moon!) this is a superb collection of info on our fave movie series. 

"Star Wars Geektionary: The Galaxy from A-Z" is out now, published by Egmont. 

If (like us) you want a bit more detail on the weird and wonderful creatures in the Star Wars Universe - and you're an older geek who remembers those absolutely amazing Letraset rub-down Star Wars transfers (which I really wish I hadn't wasted by rubbing down onto our old fridge) then you're really going to love the "Star Wars Alien Archive: A guide to the species of the Galaxy" which has that same brilliant art style as those old transfers, but a ton more detail on some of the stranger inhabitants in the Star Wars universe. 

From cuddly ewoks (who might just invite you to dinner - with you being the dinner regardless of whether you're a charming scoundrel or not) to hard-working Banthas, to terrifying denizens of the Mos Eisley Cantina, to some truly villainous bounty hunters. They're all in here, in a fantastic 'lost journal' of a book that reads like an incredible spotter's guide to the galaxy's lifeforms. 

Again presented in glorious hardback with full colour illustrations, this is utterly brilliant stuff. 

"Star Wars Alien Archive: A Guide to the Species of the Galaxy" is out now, published by Egmont. 

Last but not least, one that's absolutely perfect for map fans like us...

"Star Wars Galactic Atlas: Maps & Star Charts & Battle Scenes and Timelines" will help you find your way across the busy galaxy, as you home in on the desert wastes of Tatooine or perhaps end up on the giant ice cube planet of Hoth. 

How about the steamy jungle swamps of Dagobah where a certain wizened old Jedi Master spent his last days? 

Or the civilised centres of Naboo and Alderaan, with wild cityscapes giving way to lush green grasslands. 

It's all in this book, beautifully detailed and presented in full colour with tons and tons of information to compliment the super-detailed and wonderfully rendered maps. 

Find out just how long it'll take you to do the kessel run in your favourite piece of space junk. 

"Star Wars Galactic Atlas" is out now, published by Egmont. 

Whichever book you choose we're sure you're going to have plenty of fun and lots to read over the festive season! Enjoy!

(All books very kindly supplied for our roundup by Macmillan / Egmont).