Give these great children’s books this year

My kids loved Holly Hobbie’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” because it was full of holiday excitement and hushed wonder and plucky pink pigs. I loved it because it was a surprisingly soulful meditation on the push and pull of serious long-term friendship — I need you to be here with me; I need you to go where you need to go — given to my children by one of my oldest and dearest friends. And we all loved it because, well, it’s just a great book: handsome, heartfelt and full of gentle, satisfying surprises.

If you’d rather give a hot-off-the-presses title, this year offers a bumper crop of holiday books, as well as some that are not explicitly seasonal but seem tailor-made for successful gift-giving.

“Mix It Up!” by Herve Tullet (Handprint, ages 3-6)

Don’t let the age range fool you; my 11-year-old loved this super-simple yet surprisingly sophisticated invitation to mix and smoosh bright splotches of paint. Full disclosure: I, too, enjoyed “making” colors mix and morph by turning the pages. The only danger — not a problem if you’re not a member of the immediate family — is that the little ones will immediately want to take out their paint sets and experiment for themselves.

“The Last Christmas Tree” by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Pascal Campion (Dial, ages 3-6)

This tale of a forgotten tree starts slowly, with only the orchid flush of shadows on the snow to indicate we’re in for something special. We are, both in the deceptively simple text and the exciting and illuminating art. No one wants this little Christmas tree with big holiday spirit: not the early-bird crowds at the tree lot, not the late-comers who snicker rudely. The tree stands alone in the snow, until, in a series of standout final panels, it discovers its true purpose.

“The Animals’ Santa” by Jan Brett (Putnam, ages 3-5)

The fluffy white snow bunny at the heart of our tale is as real as your favorite stuffed animal and as handsome as your favorite stuffed animal was when you first got him. He’s also a classic Santa skeptic, who refuses to believe, even as one delightful woodland creature after another provides solid evidence. Brett takes us on a lively journey deep into the heart of the forest, and, with the fall of night, we get a satisfying climax: all ink-blue, snow-white and Santa-red.

“Blizzard” by John Rocco (Disney-Hyperion, ages 4-8)

Rocco captures the thrill of a snowstorm in all its crisp detail and subtle blue shadows. Children on the younger side of the age range will appreciate the hot-chocolate coziness, and bigger kids will enjoy the inspired adventure our hero undertakes after five days without snow plows or groceries. Our hero improvises some snowshoes, hitches up a sled and, with the help of a dog who belongs in the shaggy sheepdog hall of fame, sets off on a journey at once useful and magical.

“Simon and the Bear:

A Hanukkah Tale” by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Matthew Trueman (Disney-Hyperion, ages 5-8)

Make no mistake, this book is deeply embedded in the Russian-Jewish immigrant experience, full of headscarves and latkes and thrice-mended jackets. Think “Fiddler on the Roof” — with an extra-large polar bear. Shipwrecked on his way to America, our hero, Simon, finds himself stranded on a craggy iceberg with the bear and a menorah. Striking art and pitch-perfect text make this holiday miracle story a winner.

“Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla” by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion, ages 5-8)

Take a Newbery award-winning writer, an accomplished illustrator and the true story of Ivan, a gorilla imprisoned in a shopping mall for years, and you have a book few grade-schoolers will be able to resist. The older kids already have Applegate’s beloved novel based on the same events, but now the younger ones can get in on the action with a book that captures an animal’s tragedy and triumph.

“Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914” by John Hendrix (Abrams Books for Young Readers, ages 9-12)

Hendrix strikes just the right note in this beautiful book with a grown-up, graphic-novel feel. Based on an extraordinary historic moment when German and British troops stopped fighting World War I to celebrate Christmas Eve, it’s full of indignation at the futility of the war and hope for what the world’s young people might create if left to their own devices. Young readers will be echoing Karl, the German soldier, who asks, “Why can’t we just go home — and have peace?”

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2015 (National Geographic Children’s Books, ages 8-12)

These bright, entertaining annual books crammed with history, geography, science, culture and games are a big hit with the grade-school crowd. Intriguing miniessays, such as “Secrets of the Spirit Bear,” compete with quotable animal facts (“A sloth would take a month to travel a single mile”) and groovy graphics. Tweens will appreciate the wow factor — and the many facts perfect for stumping parents and friends.