Happy 2010! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season as much as I did. I got a few cool “word nerd” gifts for the holidays this year, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you. This probably would have been more helpful before the holidays, but maybe they can inspire some future gift ideas for your favorite word nerds (or just entertain you for a few minutes).
Poetry for Your Table
This desk toy lets you create “poems” by using blocks printed with various words. Check out one of my very first tabletop poems above – and yes, I know it’s not very good. There’s a reason I’m not a poet.
Pictorial Webster’s
The entries in this dictionary are all drawings, which gives it a great old school feeling. Plus it’s just fun to look at, and it’s educational. Did you know bacon comes from this part of the pig? I didn’t.
Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country
This compilation of kids’ letters to President Obama was compiled by McSweeney’s literary journal and 826 Valencia, a San Francisco nonprofit that teaches literacy skills to children. There are some fantastic quotes throughout this little book. Here’s a sample from Catherine, age 6: “If I were president, I would tell people to not talk too much. It wastes time.” We’ll be partnering with 826 Valencia throughout the year to volunteer and sponsor some local events – more on this later.
New Anthology of Modern Poetry
My brother-in-law received this, not me, but I had to include it because I thought it was so cool. This is a 1938 edition that originally belonged to his step-grandmother, and it’s full of her handwritten notes and check marks beside all the poems she read.
Did you get any fun word-nerdy gifts this holiday season that you’d like to share? Leave us a comment below. Here’s to a brilliant 2010!
@lizkelly
One Comment
Gotta love the word-nerd gifts!
The first two – Poetry for Your Table and Pictorial Webster’s – are available on uncommongoods.com, one of my favorite sites for unique gifts.