Please help with European gift basket ideas
 

I have a friend who is travelling with her husband and 13 and 11 year-old daughters to Europe this summer. They are starting in Prague and spending some time in Slovenia -- the rest of the trip is up in the air (perhaps move on to Austria or Venice.) Anyway, I thought for the holidays I would get them a family basket of travel goodies.

I've already thought of a journal and an album. Does anyone know of any fun travel books or kids novels that take place in Prague? Any other ideas?

Thanks

Maps, moneybelts, a list of your favorite applicable travel links, travel sizes of things like a first aid kid, a laundry kit, a picnic kit. Luggage tags.

What a great idea.

A terrific children's novel/thriller set in Venice is The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. And your friend's daughters are just the right ages to be reading it (if they haven't already). I haven't come across any children's books set in Prague.

Other suggestions:

travel adaptors for electric equipment

mini sizes of toiletries, shampoo etc in a cool bag

for a summer trip, a little battery operated fan

If I think of anything else, I'll get back to you!

Resealable travel packages of hand wipes.

Light weight but easy to see and use travel alarm.

A glue stick (each) so the girls can stick their own souvenirs in their own journals. (I have one myself, so maybe Mom would like one, too?)

Put together your own "emergency supply kit" for them - the prepacked ones have too many useless items and this way you can customize it for them.

Sorry, no knowledge of kids novels in Prague.

Don't know of any kids' books set in Prague, but anything by Milan Kundera would be great for the adults.

What about CDs of music of composers from that area, like Dvorak and Smetana? I sometimes like to listen to music that reflects the culture of a place I'm going to visit, to get in the mood, or listen to it after I get back, to prolong the vacation feeling and help me feel a continuing link to the place.

Idling away, I googled "children's books" + Prague and this came up (hope it's useful):
http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo...lic/prague.htm

For Prague I don't know but a really great children's book inspired by Venice is "Stravaganza, city of masks" by Mary Hoffman. I really enjoyed reading it myself as well!

On that Google page, there is a picture book by Peter Sis. He is generally a good children's book author/illustrator. I agree with The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke, that was suggested earlier. I have read one book that took place in Prague; it's more for adults and teens. It's called Vienna Prelude, by Bodie Thoene, and it's the first in a series of books. They're all historical fiction, based on the WWII time period. Very interesting. The whole book doesn't take place in Prague, but a chunk of the beginning does, and it would probably be interesting for your friends to read about the Nazis in Prague, if they're interested in that sort of thing. Obviously some of it takes place in Vienna too. If they're going to Salzburg, a copy of The Sound of Music would be neat, since the movie was filmed there. (I loved watching it when we returned and having new appreciation for what I was seeing). There is another children's book I know of called Bloomability, by Sharon Creech, who is a wonderful author. It takes place in Switzerland and Northern Italy (Dolomite region) mostly, but it's so good! One of my favorites (I teach 5th grade reading and last year taught 7th-8th grade; all my 7-8 girls loved this book)! It's about a girl who goes there to live with her aunt and uncle for a year and they run an international school there. She learns a lot about herself and other cultures, and that really everyone is the same inside. So, that may be TMI but hope it helps anyway!

Thank you so much!!I have to print this and take it shopping with me!! What great ideas!

Cheap little disposable camera's for the kids as they love to have their own camera.

The Thief Lord and Stravaganza have already been mentioned; my daughters loved those books (and they're also 11 and 13!). They also like the Horrible History range of books; see if there are any about the area that they will be visiting.

As most adolescents hate to read, I think your friend's children would appreciate a hand-held video game or an X-Box rather than an old book. Maybe you can find a video game with a travel theme, like the Lara Croft series.

Happy Holidays.

Fabulous attitude, Balenciaga. I hope you don't have kids b/c your opinion about "most adolescents" hating to read will certainly be handed down to them and give them an instant excuse. Sorry to jump all over this, but as a reading and writing teacher, I have seen, in powerful ways, that the teacher's love of reading will be irresistably contagious to young adults. When they are given choice of what they read, time to read, and access to great books, you can't stop them. Combine all those with a parent's love of reading, and you have a formula for creating a lifelong reader. Stepping off the soapbox now.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Y. Volavkova, Hana Volavkova

Clara's War by Kathy Kacer

:((

Um, I am also an English teacher. I teach Standard 9 and Honors 12 at a high school in Maryland. My students are only interested in books where the main characters are drug dealers, rapists, and gansters. They can't even prounounce "iambic pentameter," let alone understand its meaning. And they think Dickens is a porno star.

Your soapbox must be in ivory tower.

Hmmm...you make me think of my high school English teachers who forced me to read things I didn't want to, never giving a choice and never communicating any love for reading whatsoever. Thank God I have a mom who loved to read and encouraged me. As for where I teach, it is in a rural and poverty-filled area in Arkansas. I will say, my students are younger and less into the things you listed in your post. However I taught 7th and 8th last year and had an incredible experience with them. The year before, the 8th graders had had a teacher who only gave required reading, and none of them were at all interested at first in books. The transformation that took place was awesome and so rewarding. I won't even try to describe it though because, obviously, I would be wasting my breath with you. Creating lifelong readers is possible, even in the 9th-12th grade, and your attitude that it's not creates the opposite.

I second Sharon Creech's book. She's a great author. My daughter loves her.
I also recommend a travel journal for the girls or one of the adults.

I always travel with several zippered "pencil cases" (like you'd put at the front of a 3-ring binder in elementary school).

These are clear on the front and a variety of colors available on the back. They are a perfect size. I use one (a different color) for each city. On the way over it holds pertinent info like xerox sheets, hotel reservation, emergency phone numbers... then once I'm there I use it to collect business cards, postcards, ticket stubs, etc. You come home with a tidy bundle from each place (perfect for posting on Fodors).

Other handy items for your basket might include luggage tags, cable ties, tiny flashlight, sewing kit, first aid kit, travel clothes line, etc.

Balenciaga, my 13 and 11-year old daughters love to read, and read all the time. And have many friends who read too. Harry Potter, Narnia, anything by Anthony Horrowitz, Tolkien; and none of them about drug dealers. I can't believe that American children are that much different.