Gift Ideas + Moonbow's First Storytime & Pop-Up

Join me for a festive morning of stories, shopping & hot cocoa.

Children’s Book Gift Guide in the San Francisco Chronicle

This past Sunday (11/26), my first written piece for the San Francisco Chronicle was published! I wrote about 10 books that I think would make great gifts for kids. They’re mostly picture books, but I also included a few slim chapter books and one graphic novel. In the introduction to the piece, I wrote that books as gifts are notoriously hard to get right. Kids, like adults, have unique interests and tastes; there is no guarantee that they’ll like a book. The best strategy is to ask them what they want, but if you can’t or want it to be a surprise, the second best option is to look for kids’ books that you—the adult—think are great. There is a caveat here: try to read the book through the eyes of a child. Is the story speaking from an adult’s agenda, or is it telling the truth as experienced by a child? Recognizing this will help your chances. This is why picture books are great; you can read them in a few minutes. For longer books, having someone—a librarian, an independent bookseller, or me—that you can rely on for recommendations is another helpful resource for gifting books.

You can read my selections on The SF Chronicle’s website.

Moonbow in the San Francisco Chronicle Datebook

When it comes to buying books, I recommend shopping at your local independent bookstore.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Hicklebee’s — San Jose, CA

• East Bay Booksellers — Oakland, CA

• Green Apple Books — San Francisco, CA

• Books Are Magic — Brooklyn, NY

• Blue Willow Bookshop — Houston, TX

• Linden Tree Books — Los Altos, CA

• Nooks — Lancaster, PA

• Shelf Editions — UK 

Moonbow’s first-ever storytime + pop-up!

I’m hosting a storytime and pop-up at my friend Angela Tafoya’s amazing new secondhand kids’ clothing store, Noomoon, in San Francisco on Saturday, December 9. If you live in the Bay Area, bring your kiddos for a festive morning of stories, shopping, and hot cocoa (provided by Lady Falcon Coffee Club). I’d love to meet you!

I’ll be selling a limited selection of used children’s picture books that I love. It’s an honor to sell them at Noomoon, whose mission is to reduce waste and foster a supportive community in San Francisco. Angela has created such a special space and carries covetable kids’ brands like Kenzo, Stella Kids, Bonpoint, The Animals Observatory, Oeuf NYC, and Misha & Puff. Come find the perfect holiday outfit and pair it with a Moonbow-approved book.

Here’s a preview of some of the books that will be for sale at the pop-up:

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make a zine or new merch for the event (hopefully soon!), but I did print new flyers. Each book will come with one tucked inside. The artwork is by my talented friend and children’s book author-illustrator Helen Hancocks.

There will also be Moonbow coloring pages for kids! Can’t make it? Download them to print at home.

Earlier this year, Helen and I hosted a virtual picture book club. You can watch it here: 

Watch the Moonbow x Shelf Editions Picture Book Club

I also asked Helen to share five children’s books that shaped her.

Helen Hancocks Wants to Eat Cake While Painting Cakes With Maira Kalman

In case you missed it, I wrote about the best children’s books of the year:

The Best Children's Books of 2023

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I’ll be back soon with two more newsletters before I take a little holiday break. As always, thank you for being here. I really appreciate you.

Moonbow comes out twice a month—and you can help keep it coming by becoming a paid subscriber, forwarding this newsletter to a friend, “restacking” articles, leaving a comment, or simply clicking the “like” button.

Thank you!
Taylor