A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin' wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life - A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects - create~inspire~share.
Story time is always a favorite in this Neurotic Disney home. NDK (Neurotic Disney Kid) is old enough to read, but not too old to still be read to! Books are wonderful on so many levels. We keep them everywhere – even in the car! Disney Books are a great way to keep Disney at home. Disney Book Group was kind enough to send these books for NDK approval – be sure to look for the NDK Review after the description of each book!
I have always believed that a book is the gift that keeps on giving! In our house, we have a fun tradition of handing out New Years’ presents at midnight. Now stick with me for a minute before you think I have completely lost my mind. For New Year’s, I usually find everyone in our family a book as a gift. I feel that the best way to start off the new year is by handing everyone a great book! Here are just a few of my favorite NEW holiday themed books from Disney Publishing that would make any neurotic Disney child or adult happy to receive, no matter when!
Stay tuned for more themed Holiday Book gift giving guides this week – Star Wars, Marvel, & more!
See our other reviews on gifts for babies, beginning readers, teens and great holiday books!
Picture Book Gifts for the Family
The Happiest Book Ever- Written and Illustrated by Bob Shea
- Price: $16.99 USD/$17.99 CAN
What could be happier than a book with a dancing cake, a candy parade, and a hug monster? A book with all those things (and more) plus YOU! Your happy, happy thoughts will make this book super happy happy!
But something seems off. Could it be that frowny frog? Perhaps we could shake some sense into him, or slap a Post-it over his face. No? Well then, maybe its time for that frog to SCRAM! Hooray! He’s gone! Time for a happy dance! Wait, what’s wrong? Now NO ONE seems happy! Let’s see if we can’t do something to truly make this the happiest book ever.
In his most interactive book yet, Bob Shea proves that happiness is more than just a piece of chocolate cake. (Though that comes pretty close!)
- Hotel Bruce
- Written and Illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins
- Price: $17.99 USD/$18.99 CAN
When Bruce gets home from a southern migration trip with his goslings, he is tired. He is grumpy. And he is definitely not in the mood to share his home with the trio of mice who have turned his den into a hotel.
There’s a possum pillow fight wreaking havoc in one room, a fox luring guests into a stew in the kitchen, and a snuggly crew of critters hogging the bed. Bruce growls and grumbles and tries to throw them all out, but the entrepreneurial mice just can’t take a hint. Bruce is in a little over his head, especially once the goslings join the staff. Will this grumpy bear ever get his quiet, peaceful den back to himself?
- Nanette’s Baguette
- Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems
- Price: $17.99 USD/$18.99 CAN
Mo Willems’ hilarious new picture book, Nanette’s Baguette, follows our plucky heroine on her first big solo trip to the bakery. But . . . will Nanette get the baguette from baker Juliette? Or will Nanette soon be beset with regret?
Set in a meticulously handcrafted-paper-modeled French village, the uniquely vibrant laugh-out-loud world of Nanette’s Baguette may be Mo’s best creation yet. Get set to krack into an irresistible tale you won’t soon forget!
- Papillon:Â The Very Fluffy Kitty
- Written and Illustrated by A. N. Kang
- Price: $16.99 USD/$17.99 CAN
Papillon is a very fluffy kitty. So fluffy that he’s lighter than air! His owner tries to weigh him down, but Papillon just wants to fly.
One particularly sunny day, he floats right out the window! Exploring the wide world is exhilarating, but it’s also a little scary. Will his new friend, a bird, be able to help him find his way home?
Whimsical art and airy text come together seamlessly in this delightful debut by A. N. Kang.
Gifts for Fans of TV
- The Chew Approved: The Most Popular Recipes from The Chew Viewers
- By The Chew
- Price: $16.99 USD/CAN
Chew Tank is a popular segment on The Chew, ABC’s hit show hosted by Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz, and Michael Symon. In Chew Tank, viewers submit their own recipes and compete for a chance to cook with one of the hosts. We have gathered many of these recipes in this fifth companion cookbook to the hit daytime show. Just as they do everyday on the hit ABC daytime show, Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz, and Michael Symon will provide you with tips and tricks that make cooking for your family and friends more fun and manageable than you ever thought possible.
- Gravity Falls: Journal 3
- By Alex Hirsch and Rob Renzetti, Illustrated by Andy Gonsalves and Stephanie Ramirez
- Price: $19.99 USD/CAN
Journal 3 brims with every page ever seen on the show plus all-new pages with monsters and secrets, notes from Dipper and Mabel, and the Author’s full story. Fans of Gravity Falls will simply love this 288-page full-color jacketed hardcover version of Journal 3! Plus the book jacket doubles as an exclusive poster!
The NDK Review:
Journal 3 from Gravity Falls is a book I really, really like. It’s a book I have been reading it constantly! This book is the “coveted journal” of the author, Standford Pines, sharing all sorts of secrets and never-seen secrets of the show. If you are a Gravity Falls fan, you need this book. If you are not a fan of the show, and you like ‘confusing, delightful and horrifying thing’Â you need this book.
I really enjoy that this book looks like a journal – it is not a story book. You really feel like you are reading a journal. The pictures look like they are from the show. Each page is different, so you never know what you are going to see when you turn the page. You will learn about funny, obnoxious mystical creatures, like the barf fairies! Those were actually funny!
This book is great for kids my age. Get ready for weirdness!
- Shark Tank Secrets to Success: How to Propel Your Business from the Tank to the Bank
- By Michael Parrish DuDell
- Price: $14.99 USD/16.50 CAN
Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business (Book 1) was all about the high-level process of starting a venture: how to assess an idea, how to start a business, how to grow a company. The natural extension would be for the next book to be all about the practice, or rather, the application of that process. From practical business tips to unforgettable anecdotes and experiences, Shark Tank Secrets to Success provides readers with a playbook custom designed by some of Shark Tank’s most successful entrepreneurs. It’s the perfect guide for ambitious businessmen and women who want to start and grow a thriving company. In the second book, we zoom in and provide readers with a real-life look at the daily challenges an entrepreneur tackles in order to run a successful company. More than just concepts, this book takes readers through the evolution of what it means to actually be an entrepreneur–from the pages to the pavement. And what better way to do that than through lens of Shark Tank?
