The folks at Chronicle Kids sent me a package, and this is what I got:

Squiggles: A Really Giant Drawing and Painting Book
by Taro Gomi (amazon)

Taro Gomi is the author of the legendary classic picture book Everyone Poops. Squiggles is his take on the interactive coloring book. It reminded me a bit of the Anti-Coloring book series, except it seems like it is better designed. There are several themed pages where you can fill in your own drawings of t-shirt designs, what people are eating for dinner, paint what’s in the sea, etc. Some sections of the book are connected in a narrative, and the thick lines and whimsical nature of Gomi’s drawings will encourage a budding artist to get creative with crayons and paint. The book is oversized and printed on thick paper, so it looks like it will stand up to a lot of wear and tear. Since my boys are not yet old enough to hold a crayon, I’m going to stash this book away for the future. It seems like it will be a great rainy day activity.

The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition
by David Borgenicht and Robin Epstein (amazon)

I have a couple of the Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbooks, but I didn’t realize that they’d extended the concept to kids’ books. Topics covered include many of the perils of childhood like riding the school bus, dealing with bullies, spelling tests, and most importantly how to successfully fart in public. This book strikes me as a good pick for the reluctant reader. Short chapters, humor, lists, and illustrations make the book easy to read.

Olive the Other Reindeer Deluxe Edition
by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold (amazon)

Not being one to read many Christmas books, this was my first time reading Olive the Other Reindeer, which was a fairly predictable but amusing story about a dog who helps out Santa. What captured my interest was the jazzy retro quality of Seibold’s illustrations. This 10th anniversary edition has a bunch of advent calendar-like flaps sprinkled throughout the book, a couple scratch-n-sniff pages, and a giant pop-up north pole at the end.