Our favourite books under the Christmas tree

TIP FROM NIK NIETHAMMER:

Do you have children? You love them more than anything, they are the most beautiful and best thing ever - and yet you think it's great when they are away? Then I have a very funny book for you that you won't be able to put down before you've read it. Big Indian word of honour! «Eltern haften an ihren Kindern» is a hymn to the chaotic magic that children bring into the lives of us adults («Who am I? What can you eat? Who made the earth?»). The author is the German cabaret artist and father of three, Martin Zingsheim. A great observer and virtuoso word acrobat, he gets to the bottom of many important topics from a child's perspective: from language and religion to pizza and package holidays. Zingsheim also has a warning for his readers: «This book is not a reference book. Not that it is poorly researched. It's not researched at all. And it's not a guidebook. So please don't copy anything.»

TIPS FROM EVELIN HARTMANN:

What's it like when you're 13 years old, live in a moderately exciting small town and your parents are too preoccupied with themselves to realise what's going on inside you? Jason knows what that's like. He is the hero of British author David Mitchell's fourth novel. «The Thirteenth Month» tells the story of 13-year-old Jason Taylor, who writes down what he experiences and what moves him - his attempts to interest girls in himself, to win the approval of his classmates, to cope with his stammer or the passion for writing that develops from his speech impediment. David Mitchell's novel describes thirteen months in the black hole between childhood and adolescence. A wonderful insight into the emotional world of a 13-year-old.

This book is recommended for parents who love New York and have not been there for a while - or want to go again soon - with young children. The little bear can't sleep. But as all the other animals are asleep in the forest, he sets off through a beautiful winter landscape to the city that never sleeps. Which one is that? Exactly: New York. Here he seeks peace and quiet on a bench on Broadway, between the many parked taxis in Times Square and in the Natural History Museum. But he finds no peace anywhere. That's obvious. Nevertheless, the little bear loves the city that never sleeps, just like my daughter loves this picture book.

TIPS FROM BIANCA FRITZ:

Where do feelings come from? Can you wait for them like for a train? Do they go together with logic? Can you feel the same feeling as someone else? On every page of this book there is a question to think about feelings. To feelosophise, as the author herself calls it. That in itself is beautiful and inspiring. But the book's design makes it a gem: the questions are not just written, but illustrated with their letters. They flutter away as butterfly wings, for example. This is so lovingly and amusingly done that you want to pick up this book again and again like a picture book. And you will always get stuck on one of the questions. Let this book surprise you with the philosophical flights of fancy that children can achieve if you ask them and don't give them a fixed answer.

Souraya comes from Syria. She goes to school there and plays with her best friend and her doll. Until she is suddenly told to pack up quickly. Because her family is fleeing the war. In this picture book, Rashid Abed tells the story of a refugee girl with great attention to detail and sensitivity, lovingly and almost cheerfully illustrated by Sandro Fiorilli. The story is intended to help parents and teachers of 8 to 11-year-old children to discuss war and flight in an age-appropriate way. A teacher and a refugee helped with the design. The proceeds will go to Strickwärme - a Basel-based aid organisation that regularly carries out humanitarian missions and educational projects. The book should be ordered directly from the aid organisation before 19 December for delivery at Christmas.

15 stories show very different situations in which people feel alienated: at work, in their family, with a donor heart in their chest, with a new sexual orientation... and of course: on the run. The book, for which Franz Hohler and Patrick Tschan, among others, have contributed stories, is intended to awaken our empathy for all those who feel like strangers. Some of the stories are very cheerful, others are thought-provoking. The proceeds go directly to international aid projects for refugee children. The best-known Swiss book blogger Manuela Hofstaetter wrote about being a stranger: «...and isn't it the case that it only takes curiosity to overcome the fear of strangers? Curiosity and a courageous heart can change a lot. Read and be amazed! »
Note: I (Bianca Fritz, Head of Online Editing) published this book myself and, together with countless helpers, put a year of time and love into the details. I would be delighted if it found its way under your Christmas tree and could inspire you, your friends and your family. You can order the paperback from your local bookshop by 17 December at the latest. The e-book will also be available on 24 December as a last-minute gift for download or as a voucher.

And my last book tip is also a philosophical one: Christmas is the time to calm down and reflect on your own actions. And what better book to do that with than this year's winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade? Carolin Emcke looks where it hurts: she reminds us of scenes in which minorities have been ignored, marginalised, hurt and even killed. And all for seemingly no reason. She asks herself, more with curiosity than judgement: where does this hatred come from? Carolin Emcke finds explanations and questions them again. She shows how complex and multi-layered reality is. And yet you never have the feeling that you are reading a complicated book. As a reader, you always feel caught out and ask yourself: Do I have these thought patterns too? What do I base my judgements about other people on? This is a book to read very slowly, to skim a lot and retain even more.

TIPS FROM IRENA RISTIC:

It is undoubtedly a book for people who love dogs or want to understand their four-legged companions better. The «dog whisperer» Maja Nowak tells fascinating and bizarre stories about encounters between dogs and their humans: from the old couple whose large and strong lead dog absolutely refuses to take part in their lives to the villa owners who dress their aggressive poodle in blue baby bibs. In her book, the dog trainer also tells anecdotes from her everyday life as a dog trainer: how can you help a dog that is addicted to balls or a dog that lives under the bed out of sheer fear? Maja Nowak introduces the reader to the world of dogs step by step in a sensitive and vivid way. And so, after reading this book, one cannot help but ask oneself with a slight doubt: How much human does a dog really need?

Catalonia in the late twenties of the last century: a villa with a sea view, a newly married couple from Barcelona who celebrate carefree parties with their bohemian friends, and a mysterious neighbour whose sudden appearance casts a shadow over the summer idyll. The plot spans six summers and is told from the gardener's point of view. He devotes himself devotedly to the garden and observes the estate and its colourful and bourgeois goings-on with the same care, which he describes in his own unique language. It is a poetic book, written by the grande dame of Catalan literature: Mercè Rodoreda (1908-1983). The writer went into exile during the Civil War before returning to Catalonia in the 1970s. Rodoreda hints at the dramatic entanglements in quiet scenes and dialogues. A tragic story, which incidentally was written in 1967 and was only published in German in 2014, and which gradually unfolds like a flower as you read.

TIPS FROM LIVIA WINTERBERG:

Things are going haywire in 14-year-old Audrey's family: Her mother is desperately trying to get Audrey's brother Frank away from his computer games with inventive measures, her father deliberately stays in the background and Audrey's four-year-old brother thinks everything is great fun. Audrey herself hides behind her dark sunglasses, which she practically never takes off. She never leaves the house, nor does she speak to anyone outside the family. Sophie Kinsella manages to combine the very serious subject of depression with a lot of irony and humour in this young adult novel.

A list with a hundred names on it that at first glance have nothing in common. That's all young journalist Kitty Logan has to work her way up from the low point of her career. A fairytale story about how not everything is always as it seems and that the special things are often hidden. The perfect read for the festive season!

TIPS FROM CLAUDIA LANDOLT:

The child wants to paint his room with raspberry jam. Or he insists on having a picnic even though it's pouring with rain outside. Frieder is the child's name and he lives with his grandma, who does almost everything for him - and occasionally scolds him (because he doesn't do what he should). Author Gudrun Mebs wrote this lovely old-school book many years ago, in 1984, and the stories, which are wonderful for reading aloud, have lost none of their topicality. «Oma!», schreit der Frieder is a great storybook with three volumes, nicely divided so that each chapter makes a great bedtime story. There is a little crying, a little thinking and a lot of laughter. By the way, they do have a picnic, even in the pouring rain - in the tram shelter opposite Frieder and Grandma's flat.

An English woman is currently being idolised at my house. She goes by the name of Miss Braithwhistle, is a teacher and is characterised by an oversized handbag from which she conjures up all sorts of things. Always with her: a pot of English tea. The lady is the new substitute teacher of the impossible class 4A (A for nightmare). The chaotic group is the ultimate teacher terror, having just successfully banished their previous class teacher Taube from the school to the mental hospital. Logically, the kids (nerd Hugo, bully Aki, glutton Max) arm themselves against their new teacher, whom they call Miss Bratwiesel. They test her patience from morning to night - until the children realise at some point that they don't actually want to get rid of her, but want to keep her at all costs. This is because the teacher, who has a stoic equanimity, is not only characterised by original learning methods and a great deal of British humour, but also has secret powers...

Gaming is of course also a big topic in my home. Now I've found an alternative that makes all discussions obsolete: the book on the world-famous and currently much sought-after original game «Assassins Creed». The first volume «Last Descendants» has just been published and more are planned (yay!). The story takes place in New York, 1863, there is war in the southern states and conscription, and only the rich can buy their way out. In the middle of it all: 15-year-old Owen, who actually comes from modern times and suddenly finds himself in the midst of chaos. Lots of fantasy, exciting and very well written for the target group - and for me also educationally valuable, because suddenly the game that «all, yes really all my colleagues, mum, except me, mumaaaa!» have (sic!) no longer makes any childish demands. For the time being.
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