2016 “Beyond the Book” Toy Gift Guide

*This post contains affiliate links and a portion of these books/items were gifted to me in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Books are wonderful portals for children to have new adventures and experiences and make fantastic gifts.  Here we like to celebrate books with “Beyond the Book” experiences such as crafts and activities that help children connect with books on different levels and help engage them more.  Toys can do the same thing in such a wonderful way.  This holiday season I curated a list of 8 pairings of some of my favorite picture books released this year with “Beyond the Book” toys.  When selecting toys to pair with these books I was very thoughtful in my process and strove to choose toys that matched the style and heart of the book as well as ones that would enhance it educationally or make it “come alive” through imaginative play.   I hope you find something here that is perfect for the little bookworms in your life.

1.  “Pancakes!” by Lotta Nieminem is a fabulous board book that is essentially an interactive recipe book for pancakes.  By pulling tabs and spinning wheels children can “pour” sugar and “mix the bowl.  I paired this wonderfully imaginative book with Kid’s Connection Play Food Basket which is a plastic toy shopping basket filled with 100 play food items.  The variety in this basket is wonderful and children will love role-playing with it in multiple ways.  I feel these two make an excellent pairing because the play food extends the imaginative play of pretending to make pancakes in the book to pretending to purchase and prepare other foods as well through the toy.  A great gift for a budding “foodie”.
2. “Destination Space” by Christoph Englert and Tom Clohosy Cole is an oversized nonfiction book about the wonders of space. The illustrations are bold and beautiful with a lot of facts and information packed onto each page that cover topics ranging from space ships to the universe.  I paired it with Hide-a-boo’s Outer Space Rocket Hideout which is a tent cover that fits over a standard sized card table.  These tents are made from quality/durable fabric with fun details.  The front has a flap door and the top displays a space scene for children to do imaginative play with smaller spaceships and toys.  Dual function!  It is absolutely amazing, easy to pack up when your done, and will provide hours and hours of fun.  I think these two make a great pairing because the information in the book will enhance a child’s experience role-playing astronauts in their space ship tent and peak their curiosity.  Definitely a power duo.
3. “The Big Book of Bugs” by Yuval Zommer is another oversized nonfiction book about the world of bugs. It starts with a table of contents for various kinds of insects and each page that follows is bursting with gorgeously detailed and spunky illustrations of bugs. It is quite the show and ends with a useful glossary.  I paired it with the Brio Mini Caterpillar Baby Toy and the Brio Mini Bee Baby Toy.  These little bugs are push along toys that are made from durable wood (I love wood toys!) that is brightly painted and has a modern flare.  They are absolutely adorable and the caterpillar’s head is on a spring so it wobbles as its pushed along.  I think that these make a great pairing because the wooden bugs invite your child to do some imaginative play with two different types of bugs after learning some interesting facts about them.
4. “The Moon Inside” by  Sandra V. Feder and Aimée Sicuro is a lovely book about a little girl who is afraid of the dark.  However, one night her mother takes her outside to explore and the little girl falls in love with all that nighttime has to offer, especially the glowing moon and stars.  I paired this book with the Great Explorations Wonder Stars Super Kit from University Games.  This pack contains 150 plastic glow in the dark stars that are made with a proprietary Glominite formula to help them glow long and strong.  Plus they come with a star chart so you and your child can recreate actual constellations on their ceiling.  I think these two make an excellent pair because it brings glowing stars like the one the girl in the book falls in love with right into your child’s room.  And just as she got over her fear of the dark by falling in love with the stars, these stars may just bring your child comfort at bedtime as well.
5. “Everyone Loves Cupcake” by Kelly DiPucchio and Eric Wight is a delightful story about a cupcake who tries so hard to please everyone else that she isn’t happy herself.  One day she decides that enough is enough and claims her independence by deciding to be true to herself.  I paired it with Stephen Joseph’s Wooden Sweet Set that includes a cake stand, 3 cupcakes, 3 petite fours, toppings for the cakes, frosting knife and cake server.  This set is totally adorable and the tops of the cakes can be mixed and matched as well as the toppings.  It seriously doesn’t get much cuter.  I think these two make a great pair because, hello, cupcakes!  Honestly though, who doesn’t want to do some imaginative play with cupcakes and sweets after reading a book all about cupcakes?!  Perfection.
6. “Hooray For Today” by Brian Won is the story about little owl who wants to play with all her friends.  The only problem is that she is awake when at night when they are asleep and she wants to sleep in her tree when they are awake.  However, her friends and her find a way to make it work.  I paired this book with the game Hoot Owl Hoot! from Peacable Kingdon.  This is a cooperative board game of multiple players that even very young children can play and enjoy. It helps your child with colors and matching as well as teamwork skills because it is a cooperative game.  I think it works well with this book because the purpose of the game is to help the owls fly back to their nests to sleep.  Children can even pretend that one is the owl from the story headed back to bed.
7. “Dear Bunny” by Katie Cotton and Blanca Gomez is essentially a love letter from a little girl to her favorite stuffed bunny.  It is short, sweet, beautifully illustrated and precious.  I paired it with Jelly Cat’s Large Bashful Beige Bunny.  These bunnies are incredibly soft and their floppy arms and legs render them utterly huggable.  I think these two make a fantastic pairing because like the child in the book, your child can have a beloved stuffed bunny as well.  Who knows, the love letter in the story may become your child’s.
8. “What Do Grown-Ups Do All Day” by Virginie Morgand is yet another oversized nonfiction book. The book is set-up in that it introduces a scene/setting (anywhere from a hospital to gym) with a large spread illustration bursting with details. Then the next page shows pictures of the people that can typically be found in that setting and what they do there. I paired it with the 40 Piece Wooden City Block Set from Best Pysanky.  This set is a nice quality wooden city with bright paint.  In the forty pieces it includes vehicles with purpose such as a fire truck and police car, city buildings such as a hospital and train station, road signs such as a crosswalk sign and bus stop, and several “grown ups” in work uniforms.  These two make a great pairing because the city set focuses on different occupations in the city such as the ones reffered to in the book.  It makes the perfect spring-board for children to do some imaginative play about “grown ups” being busy in the city doing whatever it is that “grown ups” do.