I could go on and on about how much I love books — reading them, shelving them, smelling them, quoting them, remembering them, sharing them. I could wax nostalgic — who? me? — about the abandoned little board books at the bottom of our bookshelf, that have been taken over by Harry and Hermione and Tumtum and Nutmeg. I could do all that, but really, wouldn’t you rather hear about the loads of wonderful children’s books from 2011 that make perfect gifts? Those special tomes that send young minds off to another world of water horses, New Orleans Jazz and magical tollbooths? Indeed. Let’s do that.

This list owes much to the goodness that is New Jersey’s independent bookstores, with their impeccable taste and steadfast devotion.

The holidays are a wonderful time. We pick out trees, give and get thoughtful gifts and watch the magic in our children’s eyes as we live the season through them. But let’s be real – the holidays are also extremely exhausting. There are some days, as I remember I have to give yet another gift to our dry cleaner, preschool teacher or person on my husband’s family’s Secret Santa list that I just want to fast forward to boring old January. But there’s hope! I recently decided to toss my “I don’t have time/energy/talent/patience to make desserts” rule out the window (never mind the fact that I’m a terrible baker) and get in the kitchen with my toddler and actually... wait for it… MAKE some of our gifts this year!

These days, it seems like so many gifts require batteries. Even classics like a hobbyhorse need AAs so it can make galloping and neighing noises.

A few weeks ago, when my three-year-old daughter complained that her toy fire engine was no longer making the siren sound, instead of replacing the batteries I suggested she make the noise herself. She did it and loved it of course. It made me realize how much I longed to step away from all of the electronic toys with the flashing lights and sounds, and let my daughter play with kid-powered toys. Not only do they encourage her to use her imagination, they're also more eco-friendly. No leaky batteries to throw away.

Here are 10 great non-battery-powered toys for young children. All of them are good for kids 3 and up. We've included links to amazon for purchase, but you can also pick most of these up at local toy stores.

If there's one thing Disney knows how to produce, it's euphoria; put euphoria on ice, and you've got the ideal set-up for holiday entertainment. Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3, here we come!

As I write this, my two rescue dogs lazily glance at me from their respective pillows on my living room couch. “Stanley” is a mix of at least four different breeds (mostly Schnauzer is our best guess) and “Henry” is a Chihuahua/Maltese hybrid of some sort and to list his shortcomings would take a whole separate article – let’s just say he’s bitten everyone from a FedEx worker to our wedding photographer and no matter how many times we brush his teeth, his breath is so bad I often have to banish him to the end of our king-sized bed. But here’s the thing: my two mutts are the most loveable and quirky animals I’ve ever met and you can see the gratitude in their eyes. My husband and I are well aware that if we hadn’t adopted them, they wouldn’t be here today. And now that my daughter is two, I am so happy that our furry family members (and their adoption stories) will help to teach her about charity, compassion and all those other wonderful character qualities.

This season, the theme of our Holiday Gift Guide is shopping local. And no gift is more local than a memorable NYC experience.

Last year, we shared 10 ideas for experience gifts for New York City kids, like enjoying high tea or going rock climbing at Brooklyn Boulders. These are our favorite kinds of presents: They don't need to be wrapped, they don't take up any precious space in our small apartments and they create special family memories.

The possibilities for experience gifts in NYC are endless, and span all interests and budgets. You can buy tickets and stuff them in stockings, or get creative and make your own coupon good for your child to "cash in" for one of these fun outings.

In theory, Christmas break in my house will begin with my three children sleeping late, thoughtfully allowing me time to enjoy my coffee.  A peaceful 90 minutes of reading would follow, after which my husband would return from the office (I know, it’s only 11am, but this is my fantasy, after all…) and I would take a leisurely run.  Heaven.

In reality, my children will awaken at 6:30am on the first day of vacation (that’s right – an hour earlier than I drag them out of their beds on school days - ) and the arguing will commence at 6:31.  By 6:35 I will be throwing back my third cup of fully caffeinated coffee wondering how on earth we’ll make it to New Year's and the blessed return of school days.   The only hope for peace in my house?  Getting out of my house.  We need some school break activities!  A few events we will be checking out: