Book challenges can be a lot of fun. They provide motivation to keep you reading, introduce you to new books, and let you share your selections with a group of like-minded readers. Currently there’s a great one going on at The Books for Walls Project called the Cuddle Up and Read Challenge. How can you not like the idea of cuddling up to read? Especially in February. (See more challenges here: www.booksforwallsproject.org/2010/04/challenges-how-you-dear-reader-can.)

There are lots of other great resources to check out at The Books for Walls Project site, so you can stay a minute to explore while you’re there. I particularly like the page listing favorite libraries. And I like the whimsical tone of the whole site. I’ll post my favorites for this challenge there, bu I’m also listing them here.

Books to Cuddle Up and Read

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Books to Read Aloud While Cuddled Up

I’m fond of reading books out loud that will make you laugh. Here are some of my favorites:

• A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
• Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
• Boy by Roald Dahl
• The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
• Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

Favorite Place to Cuddle Up and Read

I like to sit on the couch with a goose-down blanket on my lap and a cup of tea nearby.

New Moon Girls has just released its list for the Second Annual Girls Choice Book Awards. The books on this list were all chosen by girls as some of their favorites. There are newer titles as well as older ones, in categories of fiction, nonfiction, fantasy and myster.

So see the list and learn more about New Moon Girls, click here.

Daughters, which is affiliated with New Moon Girls, also offers some excellent articles this month on parent-daughter relationships, including one I wrote about how mother-daughter book clubs promote bonding between moms and daughters. It’s called Book Club Bonding: Fun for All Ages!

There’s also an article by SuEllen Hamkins and Renée Schultz about the Mother-Daughter Project.

Dan Chapman talks about how dads can support each other and be involved in their daughters’ lives, in Doing a Good Job Better.

Also Donna Renner and Amy Lynch give ideas for what you can do if your daughter doesn’t communicate with you the way she used to in an article titled, If She is Silent.

Both New Moon Girls and Daughters provide excellent resources to parents of girls of all ages as well as for girls themselves. Check out Daughters and sign up for free enews at Daughters.com. Subscribe to New Moon Girls and help keep this media outlet supporting girls going strong. New Moon.com.

Books are some of my favorite things to wrap and give as presents. Here are a few of my picks from 2011, as well as suggestions for who would appreciate unwrapping them.

For Ages 9 to 12 and Up

• Quest of the Warrior Sheep by Christine and Christopher Russell-for the family that likes to laugh out loud while reading together
• With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo-for someone who believes in championing lost causes and lost people
• Trauma Queen by Barbara Dee-for preteens who believe their moms embarrass them
• The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami-for readers who like to travel
• Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney-for readers who love to pull for the underdog
• Dewey the Library Cat by Vicki Myron-for animal lovers
• OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy-for anyone who loves a good debate and a look at religious beliefs
• Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little-for those who love a little mystery

For Teens

• The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman-for anyone who likes to read about navigating high school relationships
• The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg-for readers who love historical fiction coupled with a few women’s rights issues
• Spinning Out by David Stahler, Jr.-for anyone who’s ever wondered how to help a friend who needs it
• Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick-for someone who champions misfits
• Unforgettable by Loretta Ellsworth-for those who don’t want to hide their special abilities
• Doggirl by Robin Brande-for theater geeks, dog lovers and those looking to come out of their shell
• Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan-for anyone looking for a good dose of the 1960s, the war in Vietnam, a little poetry, and ideas of how world events affected teens then
• Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor-for artists and those who believe family extends beyond the people you’re related to

For Adults

• Letters from Home by Kristina McMorris-for anyone who loves historical fiction about the home front during World War II
• 15 Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids by Rebecca P. Cohen-for parents looking for ways to be more active with their kids
• Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course on Getting His Kid Into College by Andrew Ferguson-for parents who have children in high school
• Boomerang Kids: A Revealing Look at Why So Many of Our Kids Are Failing on Their Own, and How Parents Can Help by Carl Pickhardt-for parents whose kids are leaving the nest
• The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn-for anyone who feels less than confident in the kitchen, as well as those who need a boost to their cooking routines
• In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Redemption by Wilbert Rideau-for someone interested in the criminal justice system and one man’s journey through it
• The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks and Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach by Christina Katz—for writers who want to get more from their writing lives

If you’re looking for non-book ideas to give to people who love to read, check out my Gift Ideas for Book Lovers from last December.

Last week, I offered up a few tips on how to get a family reading group going. Today, I’m recommending a few titles in three age brackets that are good books to read out loud in your family. November is National Family Literacy month, which is a good time to think about adding more reading time into your family time. To help get you started, I’m giving away a signed copy of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs each Friday of the month. See this previous post to enter by leaving a comment.

Here are the titles I recommend. Many of them are classics that children will be exposed to for the first time, and some of them are new. In addition to telling a good story, most of these books are also laugh-out-loud funny.

Ages 2 to 4

At this age, children love to have the same books read to them over and over. They often memorize the words in picture books , which lets them “read” pages themselves. Here are a few new books mixed in with a few classics that you won’t mind reading and enjoying often.

• More Bears! By Kenn Nesbitt and Troy Cummings
• If I Could Keep You Little by Marianne Richmond
• My Name Is Not Isabella and My Name is Not Alexander by Jennifer Fosberry and Mike Litwin
• Go, Dog. Go! By P. D. Eastman
• Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
• Before You Were Born by Jennifer Davis and Laura Cornell
• Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
• If you Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Ages 5 to 8

At this age kids can understand a lot more than they can read on their own. They like stories about friendship and family.

• The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
• The BFG by Roald Dahl
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
• Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Ages 9 to 12

Reading with your kids when they are this age is particularly rewarding. They may be spending less time with you and more time with their friends, so reading together is a good way to connect on a regular basis.

• A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
• Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
• Boy by Roald Dahl
• Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
• Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
• The Quest of the Warrior Sheep by Christine and Christopher Russell

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The Cybils award winners have been announced, and I’m surprised to see that I haven’t read one book on the list. I read a lot for reviewing on this website and for my book clubs, and it’s always exciting to learn about titles I’m not familiar with.

Cybils stands for Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards. The judges all blog about books regularly, and for this competition they take on a whole bunch of books looking for literary merit plus kid appeal.

To see the whole list of winners, visit the Cybils website.

So many great mother-daughter book club reads debuted this year. Here are just a few you may want to check out. Click on the title for a link to my review.

For middle-grade readers and their moms (ages nine to 13)

The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Nissa’s Place by A. LaFaye

The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Rocky Road by Rose Kent

This Is Me From Now On by Barbara Dee

Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes

The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy

For high school readers and their moms (ages 14 and up)

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen

And for all you moms who are in book clubs with your adults friends too, here are a few titles you may be interested in reading:

Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo by Vanessa Woods

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence by Lauren Kessler

Book Bundlz website is a great place for book clubs to check out for all kinds of information. Here’s an article I wrote for them about 12 Great Books for Mother-Daughter Book Clubs. There are four categories of readers so look for the one matching your group.

Today is Earth Day, and to help celebrate I’m offering up a list of books with an earth-friendly story for mother-daughter book clubs and other readers.

Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French—Julian is staying with his aunt and uncle in San Francisco when he discovers a plan to cut down a redwood forest. He teams up with Robin, Danny and Ariel to help save the trees. Ages 9 to 12.

Fern Verdant and the Silver Rose by Diana Leszczynski—Fern discovers she has a special gift that allows her to speak to plants. She must use her newfound ability to help her mother, who is being held by an evil man who wants to manipulate this gift to his own purposes. Ages 9 to 12.

The Hermit Thrush Sings by Susan Butler—Leora lives in the future after a meteor crashing to Earth changed life as we know it. People are forbidden to leave the village, told by their leaders that Birmbas will kill them. When Leora frees a baby Birmba trapped in her basement, she embarks on a journey to set it free and discovers the truth about her world. Ages 9 to 12.

Girlwood by Claire Dean—Searching for her runaway sister, Polly finds a magical place in the woods she calls Girlwood. When a local developer wants to raze the trees and put up housing in this spot, Polly feels she must save it to also save her sister. Ages 13 and up.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen—Roy is a new kid at a new middle school with new bullies when he sees a boy running outside his bus one day. His curiosity about the boy leads him to make new friends and help save an endangered species. Ages 10 to 13.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor—Paul is legally blind and overshadowed by his football-hero brother. When his family moves to Tangerine County, Florida, Paul rejects his upscale school for one with a poor reputation so he can play soccer. As he discovers more about the accident that blinded him, he turns his town and his family upside down. Ages 10 to 13.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett—Mary is an orphan left mostly to fend for herself in her uncle’s castle. When she discovers her crippled cousin, Colin, she finds a way to bring life back to a hidden garden and the family that has taken her in. Ages 9 to 13.

Torched by April Henry—Ellie finds herself infiltrating a radical Earth-rights group for the FBI so her parents can get leniency on a marijuana charge. As she gets closer to members of the group, she becomes conflicted over supporting the group and its goals or turning them in. Ages 14 and up.

As part of my WOW! blog tour, I’ve written a post called Ten Book Club Favorites for Ramblings of a Texas Housewife. All of the books on the list have been favorites of one of my groups over the years, and they’re divided into age groups, starting with books recommended for 9 to 10 years olds and going up to books for ages 14+. I’d love to see your comments there about favorites you recommend.

A Mother-Daughter Book Club.com reader just sent in  a list of suggestions for books moms and daughters may enjoy reading togehter. Here’s a note from Ingrid D.:

• Not Without My Daughter, by Betty Mahmoody—This is non-fiction and was written about 20 years ago. About a young American mother who agrees to visit her Iranian-American husband’s family in Teheran, where they become virtual captives. Mahmoody’s husband decided to keep his family in Teheran. At last he agrees to let Betty leave but will not let her take her daughter. Betty was unwilling to have her daughter raised in the environment that oppressed women—she engineers a dramatic and dangerous escape with her six year old daughter. It was made into a movie some years ago (Sally Field). The movie did a pretty good job of sticking to the book but the book was a page turner.
• Jezebel’s Daughter, by Wilkie Collins—I saw that someone mentioned The Moonstone and The Woman in White, Collins classics, but he wrote other books and a lot of them feature very strong women. This one is about the daughter of a poor, disgraced woman and her romance with a prominent man—with the murder, melodrama and intrigue that you always get with a Collins book.
• The Girl With No Shadow, by Joanne Harris—This is a sequel to Harris’ book “Chocolat” that was made into a movie with Johnny Depp. It is very whimsical, almost a fairy tale, about the magical mother from Chocolat and her two daughters. A little complex and maybe you will want to read Chocolat first. Written about 2 or 3 years ago.
• Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino Bradway—This is a very interesting revision of an early work that Jane Austen wrote when she was very young, 19 or 20. The orginal book was a novel written in letters—this book expands on the work and fleshes out the characters, incorporating a lot of the original material. Actually written by a mother and daughter. (They also have a web site called  janetility.com where they do “Jane Austen reviews” that are LOL funny, especially the ones of the Twilight movies.)