If holiday gift-shopping is still on your to-do list, may we suggest...books! Browse Fanfare 2022, our annual annotated "best books" list for kids and young adults. Favorites in my house include picture books A Spoonful of Frogs ("a chef’s-kiss of comic timing") and, for World Cup come-down, Madani’s Best Game ("a beautiful book about family, love, friendship, immigrant life—and of course the beautiful game"). 

Holiday High Notes features picture books about Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, First Night, Harvest Festivals, and more; for Kwanzaa, find The People Remember (2021) and visit hornbookguide.com for more suggestions on these and other holidays and observances. Also hot off the presses is our January/February starred books list, with twenty-one additional recommendations for all ages. 

I'm a re-reader and looking forward to curling up with these, among others, from my holiday-break TBRR pile: 

Our friends at the Boston Globe Foundation run the Globe Santa program; find out more, including how to donate, volunteer, and request assistance. And as always: remember to support your indie bookstores and libraries -- and to be kind to the people who work there.