Surprise Books in a Box

A Surprise Box of Books may be one of our favorite things to put together for you at The Story Shop. As booksellers, we love to recommend books; there is little like the joy of putting beloved titles into reader’s hands. A Surprise Box of Books is book recommendations par excellence.

  • Choose the amount you wish to spend: $50, $75, $100, or $150

  • In the notes section at the check out submission page: Tell us the age range of the child(ren) who are receiving the box

  • Tell us what they like to read: themes, specific titles they’ve enjoyed, genres, etc.

  • We will pull and send titles similar to those you’ve listed that we are sure the recipients will love

A Surprise Box of Books is:

  • a one time purchase (though you can certainly set up a subscription if you would like)

  • an easy gift, we do most of the work!

  • a great surprise which equals tons of fun

Below are examples of a surprise box of books based around the theme of adventure! These examples are separated by age range: picture book, middle grade, and young adult. But you may mix and match if you want to send one box to friends, siblings, or cousins who are different ages!

Books for Your Summer Shelf

Whether you’re looking for bookshelf beautification or a story to read while lying in the sun, these books are perfect for your summer shelf!

 

Beautiful Classics

This gorgeous Penguin edition of The Secret Garden. The sunny yellow and bright turquoise practically begs to be read on a float in your swimming pool or a bench in your garden.

 
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….and their edition of The Adventures of Robin Hood. Just looking at this cover makes me feel like I’m building a fort in the woods! (Er, I mean, that my kids are? Yeah, that.)

 
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…AND their edition of The Wind in the Willows. The cover itself will cool you off on a hot day. This whole series is full of bright, colorful classics, and we just can’t get over how beautiful they are!

 
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One more Penguin edition for you, this time from their clothbound series: Alice in Wonderland. The crisp white and vibrant flamingos remind us of lemonade stands and lawn games!

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Picture Books

(Hover over the covers for the summary!)

Run Wild by David Covell

"Hey, you! Sky's blue!" a girl shouts as she runs by the window of a boy bent over his digital device. Intrigued, the boy runs out after her, leaving his shoes (and phone) behind, and into a world of sunshine, dewey grass, and warm sand. Filled with…

"Hey, you! Sky's blue!" a girl shouts as she runs by the window of a boy bent over his digital device. Intrigued, the boy runs out after her, leaving his shoes (and phone) behind, and into a world of sunshine, dewey grass, and warm sand. Filled with the pleasures of being alive in the natural world, Run Wild is an exquisite and kid-friendly reminder of how wonderful life can be beyond doors and screens.

 

Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson

 
When Carmela wakes up on her birthday, her wish has already come true–she’s finally old enough to join her big brother as he does the family errands. Together, they travel through their neighborhood, past the crowded bus stop, the fenced-off repair …

When Carmela wakes up on her birthday, her wish has already come true–she’s finally old enough to join her big brother as he does the family errands. Together, they travel through their neighborhood, past the crowded bus stop, the fenced-off repair shop, and the panadería, until they arrive at the Laundromat, where Carmela finds a lone dandelion growing in the pavement. But before she can blow its white fluff away, her brother tells her she has to make a wish. If only she can think of just the right wish to make . . .

 
 

Ocean Meets Sky by the Fan Brothers

It’s a good day for sailing. Finn lives by the sea and the sea lives by him. Every time he looks out his window it’s a constant reminder of the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfi…

It’s a good day for sailing.

Finn lives by the sea and the sea lives by him. Every time he looks out his window it’s a constant reminder of the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfish soar and birds and castles float.

Finn’s grandfather is gone now but Finn knows the perfect way to honor him. He’ll build his own ship and sail out to find this magical place himself!

And when he arrives, maybe, just maybe, he’ll find something he didn’t know he was looking for.

 

Middle Readers

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

 
Five years.That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation.It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when…

Five years.

That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation.

It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.

Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished—the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box—she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it.

Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys...

Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her “once upon a time” into a “happily ever after.”

 
 

Summer of a Thousand Pies by Margaret Dilloway

When Cady Bennett is sent to live with the aunt she didn’t even know she had in the quaint mountain town of Julian, she isn’t sure what to expect. Cady isn’t used to stability, after growing up homeless in San Diego with her dad.Now she’s staying in…

When Cady Bennett is sent to live with the aunt she didn’t even know she had in the quaint mountain town of Julian, she isn’t sure what to expect. Cady isn’t used to stability, after growing up homeless in San Diego with her dad.

Now she’s staying in her mother’s old room, exploring the countryside filled with apple orchards and pie shops, making friends, and working in Aunt Shell’s own pie shop—and soon, Cady starts to feel like she belongs.

Then she finds out that Aunt Shell’s shop is failing. Saving the business and protecting the first place she’s ever really felt safe will take everything she's learned and the help of all her new friends. But are there some things even the perfect pie just can’t fix?

 

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie

Guinevere St. Clair is going to be a lawyer. She was the fastest girl in New York City. She knows everything there is to know about the brain. And now that she’s living in Crow, Iowa, she wants to ride into her first day of school on a cow named Wil…

Guinevere St. Clair is going to be a lawyer. She was the fastest girl in New York City. She knows everything there is to know about the brain. And now that she’s living in Crow, Iowa, she wants to ride into her first day of school on a cow named Willowdale Princess Deon Dawn.

But Gwyn isn’t in Crow, Iowa, just for royal cows. Her family has moved there, where her parents grew up, in the hopes of jogging her mother Vienna’s memory. Vienna has been suffering from memory loss since Gwyn was four. She can no longer remember anything past the age of thirteen, not even that she has two young daughters. Gwyn’s father is obsessed with finding out everything he can to help his wife, but Gwyn’s focused on problems that seem a little more within her reach. Like proving that the very strange Gaysie Cutter who lives next door is behind the disappearance of her only friend, Wilbur Truesdale.

Gwyn is sure she can crack the case, but when she does she finds that not all of her investigations lead her to the places she would have expected. In fact they might just lead her to learn about the mother she’s been doing her best to forget.

 

Young Adult

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women ju…

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

 

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

 
Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood b…

Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on.

With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a thrilling magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one — and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret. Now she must unravel her family's past, take down the killer in the present, and save the future of shadowshaping for generations to come.

 
 

The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross

Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron. Growing up in Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her. While some are born with a talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics,…

Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron. Growing up in Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her. While some are born with a talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she chose knowledge. However, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true: she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, she reluctantly accepts. But there is much more to his story, for there is a dangerous plot to overthrow the king of Maevana—the rival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the throne.

 

Chalice by Robin McKinley

As the newly appointed Chalice, Mirasol is the most important member of the Master’s Circle. It is her duty to bind the Circle, the land and its people together with their new Master. But the new Master of Willowlands is a Priest of Fire, only drawn…

As the newly appointed Chalice, Mirasol is the most important member of the Master’s Circle. It is her duty to bind the Circle, the land and its people together with their new Master. But the new Master of Willowlands is a Priest of Fire, only drawn back into the human world by the sudden death of his brother. No one knows if it is even possible for him to live amongst his people. Mirasol wants the Master to have his chance, but her only training is as a beekeeper. How can she help settle their demesne during these troubled times and bind it to a Priest of Fire, the touch of whose hand can burn human flesh to the bone?

 

We hope you find something new to love in our summer recommendations. And as always, happy reading!

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How Children's Literature Makes Us Better Americans

Sometimes we feel as though we can match a person to a book at first glance. But people are endlessly surprising, especially in the books that they read. (Check anyone’s Goodreads.) I imagine this is true everywhere, but it feels especially true as a children’s bookseller in small-town America. 

 
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KidLit and Americans

I want to talk about the importance of children’s literature in America today, and to give you some recommendations for books I think make us all better Americans.

In a way, the element of surprise I experience daily as a bookseller feels like a microcosm of the American experience: someone somewhere is always surprising you, in part because of the diversity inherent in our national makeup.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence, then, that this experience is especially vivid in a children’s bookstore. 

In so many ways, children’s literature is vital to us as citizens. Learning to read and love books at a young age encourages a hunger for knowledge in a climate that is often hostile to such things.

Children’s literature also teaches and fosters empathy, which is a necessary skill if we want to fill our country with kind and thoughtful citizens who are concerned, as Americans have always claimed to be, with the good of the people.

When a child reaches for a book, it is these things they are reaching for - empathy, knowledge, and thoughtfulness. 

Children’s literature, perhaps most of all, is a place where voices that have historically been silenced, overlooked, or forgotten find their way into the light. This is not because children’s literature is less sophisticated than adult literature, but just the opposite.

Children’s books provide a unique and sophisticated storytelling medium that is often lacking in grown-up books. Here, stories can be brought to life in playful ways via interactive books, or in multiple ways via illustrations and picture book design. Authors can convey different parts of their story they couldn’t in other forms of media.

Maybe the most important part of children’s literature as a unique storytelling medium is that it brings stories to those who would rarely hear them otherwise - at least, not for many years. As adults, we often take for granted our exposure to different people and places without realizing that children don’t often have access to these experiences. They can, however, get a good start through books.

Recommended Reading

In a time where isolation and fear are constantly present in the American consciousness, the mixture of stories and young minds is a recipe for hope. Children’s literature can show us how to resist these hard things, and in turn, how to be better Americans. 

Here are a few books that do just that, all available in The Story Shop’s online store.

Click the titles for a link to order.

Picture Books

Beginning Readers & Middle Grade

Young Adult

  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

  • Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

    Note: Fly by Night is based on 18th century England, but it’s smart and thoughtful and the ideas are quite fitting.

Classics

  • To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

    Note: These are not, by any stretch of the imagination, the only American classics that fit this list. However, I do want to make a case for including both of these titles and not just To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus’s characterization in Go Set a Watchman, especially when contrasted with Scout’s, is a crucial reminder of our tendency to idealize parts of our history. In Watchman, Lee casts American history in a revealing light rather than black-and-white shadow, and this context is, I think, an important companion to To Kill a Mockingbird, which is one of my very favorites.

I hope this list inspires you this Independence Day. Happy Fourth, and as always, happy reading!

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