It’s a fact that authors spend a good amount of time around books. So, how exactly do they pick the most memorable ones—the best books they have given and received as gifts? We asked some of our favorite authors how they determine whom to gift what book, as well as the books they themselves count among the best gifts that they have received. ![]()
“Mine, of course! When a new book comes out, my contract calls for me to get fifteen or twenty free copies. I give them to my mother, my sister, my friends, my nieces, nephews, teachers, librarians, plumbers, painters, and other guys who do work on my house. Sometimes I give them to strangers who are particularly nice to me.” —Dan Gutman
“Not mine! James Thurber’s The Thirteen Clocks. If we are talking about mine, then depending upon the age of recipient: Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Briar Rose. My son Jason’s coffee table book about Kiawah Island is the best book I’ve received as a gift.” —Jane Yolen
“I love giving STC Craft books, of course. It makes me so happy when we create something that becomes meaningful to others. A People and Their Quilts is the best book I’ve received as a gift. My husband gave me this book many years ago and it inspired me to learn about women and their cultures through their textiles. It also inspired the first book I wrote, Knitting in America (which is now called AmericaKnits in paperback).” —Melanie Falick
“The best book I received was Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which was given to me by an aunt at exactly the right point in my teenage years for my romantic young self to appreciate it.” —Lois Duncan
“My favorite‘gift’-book authors: Peggy Rathmann for the younger set: Good Night, Gorilla; Officer Buckle and Gloria; and 10 Minutes till Bedtime are some of my favorites of all time, mostly because if you look close, the characters and animals all live in the same town. For my grown-up pals, I often choose Keri Smith books. Her interactive journals like Wreck This Journal and The Pocket Scavenger are THE BEST for giving someone a little creative inspiration. And her website rocks, too: www.kerismith.com. The best book I received as a gift was: any blank journal that invites me to write my own stuff.” —Laura Dower![]()
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is my all-time favorite Christmas book. It’s so funny and beautiful. If you haven’t read it, drop everything and read it now. The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry van Dyke, was my father’s favorite. He was superintendent of Sunday schools when I grew up, and he told this story to the junior high students every year. It’s a very emotional story and we had lumps in our throats when he finished.” —Caroline B. Cooney
“My favorite book accompanies me on all my adventures—it’s Michael Crichton’s Travels. The best book I’ve received as a gift would have to be The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle—it made me want to discover dinosaurs!” —Andy Briggs
“Mine, of course! When a new book comes out, my contract calls for me to get fifteen or twenty free copies. I give them to my mother, my sister, my friends, my nieces, nephews, teachers, librarians, plumbers, painters, and other guys who do work on my house. Sometimes I give them to strangers who are particularly nice to me.” —Dan Gutman
“Not mine! James Thurber’s The Thirteen Clocks. If we are talking about mine, then depending upon the age of recipient: Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Briar Rose. My son Jason’s coffee table book about Kiawah Island is the best book I’ve received as a gift.” —Jane Yolen
“I love giving STC Craft books, of course. It makes me so happy when we create something that becomes meaningful to others. A People and Their Quilts is the best book I’ve received as a gift. My husband gave me this book many years ago and it inspired me to learn about women and their cultures through their textiles. It also inspired the first book I wrote, Knitting in America (which is now called AmericaKnits in paperback).” —Melanie Falick
“The best book I received was Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which was given to me by an aunt at exactly the right point in my teenage years for my romantic young self to appreciate it.” —Lois Duncan
“My favorite‘gift’-book authors: Peggy Rathmann for the younger set: Good Night, Gorilla; Officer Buckle and Gloria; and 10 Minutes till Bedtime are some of my favorites of all time, mostly because if you look close, the characters and animals all live in the same town. For my grown-up pals, I often choose Keri Smith books. Her interactive journals like Wreck This Journal and The Pocket Scavenger are THE BEST for giving someone a little creative inspiration. And her website rocks, too: www.kerismith.com. The best book I received as a gift was: any blank journal that invites me to write my own stuff.” —Laura Dower
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is my all-time favorite Christmas book. It’s so funny and beautiful. If you haven’t read it, drop everything and read it now. The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry van Dyke, was my father’s favorite. He was superintendent of Sunday schools when I grew up, and he told this story to the junior high students every year. It’s a very emotional story and we had lumps in our throats when he finished.” —Caroline B. Cooney
“My favorite book accompanies me on all my adventures—it’s Michael Crichton’s Travels. The best book I’ve received as a gift would have to be The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle—it made me want to discover dinosaurs!” —Andy Briggs
“My favorite book to give as a gift is The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber, illustrated by Marc Simont. This is pretty much my favorite book ever. The best book I’ve ever received as a gift was from my father, a beautiful boxed edition of The Lord of the Rings at age eleven, which I proceeded to read twenty times.” —Elizabeth Wein
For more holiday cheer and tips on how to give ebooks as gifts, visit www.giftofe.com.