It’s an exciting new year and here are some great books to help with personal improvement and goals that are good for all ages. I’m also including winter picture books that are good for ages 4 and up, except for the last book that is geared for ages 9 and up.

I’m always looking for books that inspire and motivate youngsters. Do What Is Right: 52 Fun Motivators for LDS Families, by Douglas J. and Laurie H. Wilcox, is an easy guide in helping your family enjoy, look forward to, learn from, and participate in, activities in the home. This exceptional book involves all aspects of family life as it incorporates and propels Christ-like behavior as children become embroiled in helping, or actively engaged with participating. Each activity is easy to disseminate and alter as needed.  There are also inventive ways to get your kids to talk about what they learned in church, getting them excited for scripture study and even spending quality time with each member of the family. Here is a book that’s perfect to begin the New Year right!

52 More Weeks of Family Night: Scripture Study Edition, by Diane Kirkpatrick, is geared for families of young children and it effectively teaches concepts so little ones can grasp, understand and exemplify the qualities of righteousness.  Each lesson includes suggested songs from the hymnal and children’s songbook. Some of the concepts taught include charity, forgiveness and reverence. There’s even a CD-ROM found at the back of the book that helps implement lessons taught through fun and easy activities.

Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes and Promises to Myself, by Eileen & Jerry  Spinelli, incorporates daily quotes from exemplary authors of children’s books, paragraphs of advice and ending with a promise of “Today I Will…” The quote for April 17th is “Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a ribin when he shows off…” , from “The Secret Garden”. The promise is: “Today I will be my own best self.” I love the way the Spinelli’s have wonderfully integrated children’s books into motivating lifestyles.

Scholastic always publishes books that highlight events from the previous year. Scholastic Book of World Records 2010, Scholastic 2020 Almanac for Kids: Facts, Figures, & Stats, and Scholastic Year in Sports 2010 are all books that are interesting, fun to read and definitely kid-friendly.  All three books are packed with photos, colorful pages, graphs and easy to disseminate information on every page.

Now for winter books – here’s a pop-up book that all ages will surely enjoy. Snow Bugs, by one of my favorite paper engineers – David A. Carter – is a smallish sized book celebrating the many aspects of winter that includes ice skating, sledding and snowboarding.

Here are four books about polar bears and each book will surely enlighten youngsters with knowledge about the North Pole area. Where do Polar Bears Live?, by Sarah L. Thomson, and illustrated by Jason Chin, is part of the highly successful “Let’s-Read-And-Find Science” series and teaches in an easy format about the top of the world and this giant bear and how it survives the coldest climate on earth.  My Little Polar Bear, by Claudia Rueda, is a large picture book with an embossed jacket that emits the sparkles of snow. The story behind a small cub as he embarks outside and survives the harsh elements is about mother and child and the bond between both.  Adventures of Riley: Polar Bear Puzzle, by Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz, will shed more light on this area of the earth than most other picture books. If you haven’t checked out any of these “Adventures of Riley”, you’re missing out.  The Last Polar Bear, by award winners Jean Craighead George and  Wendell Minor, showcases full-page spreads of the Northern region as Tigluk and his grandmother help to save a polar bear cub who has lost his mother. From beginning to end, you sense the great expanse and chill of this great land mass.

Don’t Be Afraid, Little Pip, by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, takes Pip the penguin through his attempts to learn how to fly. He’s too scared to learn how to swim and would rather flap his small wings.

The Mitten, retold by Jim Aylesworth, and wonderfully illustrated by Barbara McClintock, is an old traditional Ukranian tale about a boy who ventures out into the forest only to lose his precious mitten his grandmother had knitted.  A squirrel finds the mitten and crawls inside, but then more animals crawl inside, each time larger than the last animal. This clever story has persevered through time.

Snow! Snow! Snow!, by Lee Harper, is a simple story that showcases the exhilaration of sledding. The paintings fill each page and add to the exuberance of speeding down the hill.

Chaucer’s First Winter, by Stephen Krensky, and illustrated by Henry Cole, has the little bear not wanting to hibernate during winter when snow is so much fun to play in.

This last book is geared for ages 9 and above. Wolves of the Beyond, by Kathryn Lasky, is about a small pup who is raised by a bear and overcomes many difficulties, perseveres and accomplishes much in life.  This is the first in a much anticipated series.