It's holiday season, but that doesn't have to mean waiting in long lines for big sales to buy the hottest toy or newest game system. Whether you're a parent, relative, teacher, librarian or just a friend to a young person, consider a book that you can enjoy together.
PRESCHOOL
'I Like Your Chutzpah And Other Yiddish Words You'll Like'
Written and illustrated by Suzy Ultman
“I Like Your Chutzpah and Other Yiddish Words You’ll Like," written and illustrated by Suzy Ultman
Sweet, funny and infinitely readable, this board book contains 12 Yiddish words and their meanings, each accompanied by a simple, colorful illustration that will inspire fun reading voices. Recommended ages: 1 to 3. $9.99, RISE x Penguin Workshop
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'The 13 Days of Swiftness: A Christmas Celebration'
Written by Tiffany Garland, illustrated by Brooke O'Neill
"The 13 Days of Swiftness: A Christmas Celebration," written by Tiffany Garland, illustrated by Brooke O’Neill
For the littlest Swifties, a play on the classic Christmas song — except instead of 12 days there are 13. Each page has bright illustrations and lots of Easter eggs for the fandom. Recommended ages: 3 and up. $10.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
EARLY ELMENTARY
'Into the Uncut Grass'
Written by Trevor Noah, illustrated by Sabina Hahn
"Into the Uncut Grass" by Trevor Noah and illustrated by Sabina Hahn
Trevor Noah tells a story of a boy and his teddy bear who venture into the uncut grass, picking up bits of wisdom along the way. Long and quotable, with humor and gentle watercolor illustrations. Per the intro, "it's a picture book, but it's not a children's book. Rather, it is a book for kids to share with parents and for parents to share with kids." All ages. $26, One World
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'Proper Badger Would Never'
Written by Lauren Glattly, illustrated by Rob Sayegh
"Proper Badger Would Never" by Lauren Glattly and illustrated by Rob Sayegh
Badger was determined to be a perfectly proper guest at his first party, but his instincts may have gotten the better of him. Shred the gift wrapping paper? Never. Dig into the cake before it's served? Of course not. A colorful, texture-rich picture book that leans into joyful chaos. Recommended ages: 4 to 8. $18.99, Flamingo Books
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'Attack of the Scones'
Written by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney
"Attack of the Scones: Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast" by Josh Funk and illustrated by Brendan Kearney
In the sixth installment of the series, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast take on an alien invasion with the help of their fridge friends. Told in rhyming couplets with whimsical, expressive full-page illustrations. Recommended ages: 5 to 8. $8.99 paperback, $18.99 hardcover; Union Square Kids
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'Bog Myrtle'
Written and illustrated by Sid Sharp
"Bog Myrtle" by Sid Sharp
One sister loves the forest and its splendors; the other is more interested in money. Sharp uses literary devices from irony to alliteration to puns, taking on topics like worker rights and environmental sustainability. "This graphic novel is perfect for the quirky, goofy child in your life who loves deadpan humor and 'The Skull' by Jon Klassen," says Sarah Bradley, lead bookseller at Powell's Books. Recommended ages: 6 to 11. $22.99, Annick Press
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'My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast'
Written by Zoje Stage and illustrated by J.E. Larson
"My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast" by Zoje Stage and pictures by J. E. Larson
Stage's book reimagines the monster under the bed as something far cuter and weirder. One day while cleaning her room, Pru finds a shy little creature called an UnderSlumberBumbleBeast. Includes crosshatch drawings and a glossary of the trickier vocabulary. Recommended ages: 7 to 10. $15.99, Bad Hand Books
LATE ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE
'Otto Normal's Monsterton: The Disappearance of White Pine Beach'
Written by Danielle McKechnie, illustrated by Simon Estrada
"Otto Normal's Monsterton: The Disappearance of White Pine Beach"
Otto moves with his mom from his normal California town to Monsterton, where they're the only humans among zombies, ghosts and sirens. Otto soon finds himself on a quick-paced adventure. With chunks of text broken up by beautiful digital color illustrations, blurring the line between chapter book and graphic novel, this glossy volume feels special to hold. Recommended ages: 8 to 12. $22.99, Simon & Schuster
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'The Wild Robot'
Written and illustrated by Peter Brown
"The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
Roz the robot is the sole survivor of a shipment gone overboard and has to adapt to the wild. She becomes the de facto mother of Brightbill the gosling, and the forest animals that shunned her otherness begin to form a community around her. Short chapters are punctuated by black-and-white illustrations. The trilogy saw a theatrical adaptation this year, and a special edition of the first volume features full-color inserts from the movie. Recommended ages: 8 to 12. $8.99 single paperback, $54 box set, Hatchette Book Group
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'The Young Green Witch's Guide to Plant Magic'
Written by Robin Rose Bennett, illustrated by Rachel Grant
"The Young Green Witch’s Guide to Plant Magic: Rituals and Recipes from Nature" by Robin Rose Bennett and illustrated by Rachel Grant
This herbalist's chapter book with watercolor illustrations imparts how to use different plants, along with lessons of appreciation and self-acceptance and breathing meditations. There are also recipes for handy concoctions kids can make with minimal adult supervision, such as oatmeal scrub, lavender honey and dandelion pesto. Recommended ages: 8 to 12. $16.99, Running Press Kids
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'The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science'
Written by Kate McKinnon, illustrated by Alfredo Cáceres
"The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science" by Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon of "Saturday Night Live" and "Barbie" fame tells the story of three adopted sisters who, having zero interest in perfecting the 85 ways to properly sit on a velvet fainting couch, find themselves expelled from etiquette school. Their new, extremely uncouth school puts them at the heart of a mystery in which the town is at stake. With fun fonts and the occasional illustration, the novel is a wildly imaginative celebration of strangeness with humor a la Lemony Snicket. Recommended ages: 8 to 12. $17.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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'Plain Jane and the Mermaid'
Written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol
"Plain Jane and the Mermaid" by Vera Brosgol
The recently orphaned Jane has a week to get married and get her dowry before she'll be kicked to the streets. Handsome Peter might have accepted Jane's proposal if he hadn't been kidnapped by a mermaid. This full-color graphic novel challenges gender roles and beauty standards through an underwater adventure full of snark and hilarious characters, rivaling Jeff Smith's "Bone." Recommended ages: 10 to 14. $14.99, First Second
YOUNG ADULT
'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder'
A trilogy by Holly Jackson
"A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" by Holly Jackson
Pip investigates a murder that she thinks another student was wrongly accused of. It's an ambitious project for a high school capstone, but Pip's an ambitious student. A TV adaptation of this true-crime-style story was produced by the BBC and released on Netflix over the summer. . Recommended ages: 14 and up. $14.99 single paperback, $47.97 box set, Ember
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'The Calculation of You and Me'
By Serena Kaylor
“The Calculation of You and Me" by Serena Kaylor
Marlowe has great grades and a loving family, two best friends who understand her and all her autistic quirks, and a romantic boyfriend — until he breaks up with her, sending her perfectly categorized world into a tailspin. This sweet, funny, page-turning novel celebrates romance as an act and a genre. Recommended ages: 13 and up. $14 paperback, $24 hardcover, Wednesday Books
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'Lunar New Year Love Story'
Written by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
"Lunar New Year Love Story" by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham
Valentina has one year to prove she doesn't share her family's fate of all romances ending in misery. If she doesn't find lasting love by then, she will give her heart to Saint Valentine and be forever protected from heartbreak. The graphic novel celebrates Asian culture alongside the ups and downs of love. Recommended ages: 14 and up. $17.99 paperback, $25.99 hardcover, First Second
More consumers hope to cut out self-gifting this year. They may be making a mistake.
More consumers hope to cut out self-gifting this year. They may be making a mistake.
Updated
Americans are heading into the first holiday season in years where buying less may be the first thing on their minds. And this year, gift lists may exclude one important person: you.
Stacker dug into Deloitte's 2024 holiday retail survey to explore the psychology behind Americans' reluctance to self-gift this year.
In the modern era, holiday gifting includes a practice that may seem rooted in consumerism—giving ourselves gifts. However, "self-gifting," psychologists say, carries its own importance. It's one consumers intend to cut back on or eliminate entirely this holiday shopping season, according to Deloitte's 2024 holiday retail survey of over 4,000 U.S. consumers.
We've all done it. With hard-to-resist Black Friday deals and hypertargeted advertising, it can be difficult to resist shopping for yourself when doing so for others. Meanwhile, the cost of goods and services has risen faster than usual every year since 2021, when post-COVID-19 pandemic inflation took root in the U.S. economy and altered how we consume.
Even so, Americans expect to spend more on gifts this holiday than in the previous five years. Deloitte found that the average person anticipates spending $1,778 this year, a 19% increase from 2019, when the average expected spend was $1,496. Baked into that figure are consumers' expectations of higher prices this season, according to Deloitte.
In response, some Americans are signaling they may do less for themselves. About 1 in 3 consumers intend to self-gift this year, down from almost half of all consumers last year, Deloitte found. At least 2 in 5 (43%) won't spend on themselves at all, up from 25% last year.
Today, the appeal of giving gifts around winter holidays is nearly universal. The holidays have long been an occasion to show our love for others in the exchange of gifts. Though giving gifts may have emerged from the biblical story of the three wise men, Christmas celebrations were among the first to lean into a commercialized version of the winter holidays. Other religious traditions like the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah have evolved to include gifting as a part of its observance over the winter holiday. Even workplace culture has adopted gifting as a way to foster connections and lift moods with traditions like Secret Santa.
This holiday season, though, our modern treat-yourself-culture could be on pause for many Americans.
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More Americans prepared to remove themselves from holiday gift lists
Updated
Dr. Steve Westberg, a professor of marketing and consumer psychology at the University of Southern California, suggests that the uptick in surveyed adults who say they hope to scale back self-gifting this year may be due to consumer pessimism and financial concern.
Faced with more limited options during the pandemic years, Americans bestowed themselves with material goods—some out of practical necessity, others not. Over the 2020 and 2021 holiday seasons, Americans hunkered down at home to avoid catching or spreading the latest COVID-19 variant. They bought lots of furniture, electronics, and other items in lieu of spending on travel, outings, and live events.
In 2022 and 2023, consumers embarked on so-called "revenge travel" to catch up on international and domestic trips. They attended the live music and sporting events they had missed out on.
Today, there are signs that all of that spending is beginning to cause stress for the typical American consumer as prices remain painfully high. Americans' total amount of credit card debt is at an all-time high, and default rates for vehicle loans and credit cards are rising. In almost every major poll leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the economy and inflation were consistently the top issues driving voters to the polls.
However, as consumers pull back, there's evidence that self-gifting can positively impact personal well-being. Jacqueline Rifkin, an assistant marketing and management communications professor at Cornell University, describes the practice as a way to self-regulate emotions.
Self-gifting can express positive emotions in a way we may recognize as a celebration.
"You just got a promotion, or you won some big award, you're feeling good, and you want to extend or amplify those good feelings. You can use self-gifting to achieve that," Rifkin told Stacker.
Self-gifting can also be a way to deal with negative emotions. Rifkin published research in the Journal of Consumer Research on self-gifting, which revealed that people were least likely to gift things to themselves when under stress or feeling constrained—even though self-gifting can help us regulate during stressful moments.
"If you're going through a rough time … you can use self-gifting to pick yourself back up. One of the colloquial ways we think about this is 'retail therapy,'" Rifkin said.
Can self-gifting and retail therapy veer into wasteful self-indulgence? Potentially, according to Westberg, who says the reasons we self-gift are similar to those that drive compulsive shopping habits. The act generates a positive emotional response. There's an important distinction, however, that experts draw between the two.
Westberg and Rifkin agree that self-gifting stands out from other forms of shopping in that it incorporates intentionality. "You could define self-gifting as being a little more thoughtful in your choice," Westberg explained.
Consumer advocates suggest that shoppers looking to cut back on spending create guardrails to help them shop more intentionally. Removing credit card information from our web browser's autofill function or delaying the impulse to "buy now" and creating a wish list instead can elongate the purchase process. Putting space between the initial urge to buy and the purchase can be revealing, too: It clarifies what's really meaningful and worthy enough to justify buying.
For others, like Westberg, shopping satisfaction is derived from researching items to self-gift in the future. Westberg's initial inclination when it comes to self-gifting, like many of us, is to reward himself with some kind of "big ticket" item.
"On the other hand, I don't know that I'll ever actually do that because once I have it, the anticipation aspect is going to go away," Westberg said. "So while I do think about self-gifting myself a car … I get a lot of enjoyment [from] doing the research. … [It's] the thoughtfulness that I can put into it rather than having the physical thing."
According to Rifkin, our reluctance to give ourselves gifts isn't always born of financial constraints but also a belief that giving ourselves something won't actually make us feel better, even though it can. She advises consumers to remember that gifts can take on different forms this holiday season, and many of them don't cost a thing.
"It's this intentional behavior that we engage in. It's something you do, you do it on purpose, and you do it for yourself," Rifkin said. "Could it be going for a walk around the block? Absolutely. Could it be dusting off a book that you hadn't read in a while and spending an hour reading it? Yes."
Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Kristen Wegrzyn.
