“Warriors” is the saga of four clans of cats, living in the wild, adhering to what they call (mew?) “the warrior code.” The cats hunt prey, patrol their territory, mentor their apprentices, take care of their elders and try to keep the fragile peace amongst the four clans. There are many skirmishes with rival clans and outside threats (dogs, badgers, foxes), as well as intrigue and drama within the clan.

Into the mix comes a nearby housecat (sneeringly referred to as a “kittypet”) named Rusty, who was caught hunting mice in Thunder Clan territory and then is invited to join the clan. Rusty becomes Firepaw (his apprentice name), and later Fireheart (his warrior name).

When I noticed my sister and brother-in-law (aka Mr. and Mrs. Incredible) reading the Warriors books too, I was really intrigued. So I read the first one, “Into the Wild” where Rusty becomes Firepaw and tries to live up to the clan’s expectation while being thwarted by a power-hungry cat nemesis named Tigerclaw.

I ended up reading all six books in the series. I just had to know what was going to happen to our hero and his clan. I can read one in less than two hours. They are all 200+ pages long, but the typesetting is very big and open. Dash, who is 8, had no problem finishing one after the other.

Then I read the second series, “Warriors: The New Prophecy”, where the next generation of apprentices play the starring role. Another six books with an interesting environmental underpinning. There’s a third series, and the only thing preventing me from reading it is that I feel a little embarassed about reading 18 books meant for young kids.

Best way to explain the story: it’s Harry Potter with cats! Four clans with special powers, into which a young male comes who must prove himself and save everyone from an evil genius cat bent on total domination. Sound familiar? Firepaw even has two best friends who help him get in and out of numerous scrapes and rule-breaking adventures. Check out the lineup:

Fireheart: Harry
Graystripe, his loyal friend: Ron
Cinderpelt, his female friend, very smart: Hermione
Bluestar, clan leader: Dumbledore/McGonagall
Tigerclaw: Voldemort
Thunder Clan: Gryffindor
Shadow Clan: Slytherin
Kittypet: Muggle

The books are an easier read than the Harry Potter series, shorter and less complicated. They are a bit graphic when it comes to killing and eating prey; the phrase “juicy vole” comes up a lot, and if you love bunny rabbits, well, you might not like some of the scenes. There are a lot of fierce battles, and cats actually die. (I even cried at the end of one of the books…)

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 8 and up; obviously, some adults can even get hooked

Duration of activity:I can read one book in less than two hours; maybe double that for kids?

Cost: $6.99 per paperback, but you might as well buy the whole set, which is $24.41 at Amazon. They also had them at the library here.

Child/aunt fun ratio: 55/45. Kids will enjoy them a little more because they won’t overanalyze them and they don’t have the embarassment factor of reading a kids book.

I talked about how you can use DiscLabel to make fantastic packaging for your nieces’ and nephews’ favorite music, and how the iPhone is the ultimate aunt tool.

I brought along The Preschool Money Manager Kit from The Tessy & Tab Reading Club. Megan’s kids are trying it out the magazine now.

You can check out the podcast on iTunes or at the TWiT website.

I decided to get everyone’s presents at Powell’s Books, our local book mecca. I did a surgical strike, going in on Tuesday morning and only giving myself 35 minutes on the parking meter.

Here’s how I did:

Jack-Jack: Bob: And 6 More Christmas Stories by Sandra Boynton

Jack-Jack just turned 3 in November, and I bought him a couple of books that he really liked. One was another book by Sandra Boynton, The Going-To-Bed Book. The “Bob” book seemed like a good one because a) Jack-Jack has an Uncle Bob and a Grandpa Bob, and he might even be about to “read” the title; and b) this board book has cute tabs down the side for each of the 7 stories, and I think that’s just fun.

Dash: Peanuts Treasury

I have fond memories of the hours I spent reading the Peanuts Treasury. Dash has gotten to be a very good reader. (His vocabulary has grown as well: he uses the word “precisely” all the time now, which cracks me up.) The language of “Peanuts” is sophisticated, which is good exposure for a young reader. Kids will not get all the nuances of the humor (I remember wondering what the heck is a “Van Gogh” and why does Snoopy have one in his doghouse) but there is plenty that they will relate to.

Violet: Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

I got Violet the first book in the series, “Peter and the Starcatchers”. It’s a very imaginative prequel to Peter Pan. The book is beautifully designed as well–nice compact trim size, gorgeous jacket, great illustrations. I met Ridley Pearson a couple years ago at the Portland Wordstock event (it was my volunteer job to shuttle him from/to the airport) and he really impressed me. He gave a reading and he was mobbed with young readers.

I’m also getting 10 crisp $1 bills for both Violet and Dash so they can put them in their new 3-part Moonjar banks, part of the Preschool Money Manager from The Tessy & Tab Reading Club. Now that they have the banks, it makes it kind of fun to give them money to divide up between the Spend, Save and Share sections of the bank. I think the recommended percentage is 70/20/10. So they should be able to figure out the math on $10.

Charlotte: Alphabet Rubber Stamps from Cavallini & Co.

Charlotte’s almost 12, and lives with her parents (my best friends from college) in Seattle. She is artistic and likes words, being an avid reader and a talented writer. I found a cool, kinda retro rubber stamp set with all the letters of the alphabet by Cavallini & Co. I would have fun playing with that, and I think she would too. They have some other cool-looking stamp sets (Paris! Butterflies!) but no e-commerce on their website, which seems bizarre in this day and age. Glad I found them at Powell’s.

I also bought a cookbook for my sister and brother-in-law: Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. They have been having organic vegetables delivered weekly by Pioneer Organics, and so they are always on the lookout for new vegetable recipes.

Today I realized that I still needed to have some little gifts for Emily and Anne. Emily’s in Portland right now, on college break, and we are driving up to Seattle together (of course, I will be doing all the driving), and her sister Anne is coming up from Corvallis, where she lives with her dad, to ride with us. I’ll drop them off at their mom’s house, outside of Seattle.

I headed to one of my favorite stores in the neighborhood, New Renaissance Bookshop. Besides books and DVDs on a wide range of spiritual practices, they have a lot of nice gifts: teas, essential oils, crystals, candles, chimes, etc. I found Matcha (Green Tea) Natural Eye & Face Masks which looked like it would be fun for the girls. I usually avoid giving people “things” that will take up space and need to be dusted, stored and eventually decluttered. I like the idea of this product, which they can enjoy and use up. It comes from a company called Muddy H20, located in nearby Vancouver, Washington.

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As I mentioned, I’ll be heading up to Seattle for the Christmas holiday, and spending Christmas Eve with Charlotte and her parents, after spending a night with Emily and Anne and their mom. My sister Peg and her family are headed back east to spend time with her in-laws. I hope you are getting to spend time with the kids in your lives this holiday — and that they don’t drive you too crazy.

Or vice versa.

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December 26 | Update

It’s the day after Christmas, so I thought I should follow up with a report on how the gifts were received.

Jack-Jack unwrapped his book and exclaimed “Bob the Reindeer!” We all stared at him, open-mouthed: had he actually learned how to read that at age 3? Then Peg figured it out: “Do they have that book at your school?” Apparently they do. Which surprises me, because his previous Montessori school did not approve of books with animals that wear clothes and talk.

Dash and Violet were a little underwhelmed with their books. At least Dash didn’t say “That’s not a very cool present,” which he did say when I brought him an Empire State Building pencil sharpener from NYC. (At which point, Uncle Bob told him the entire story of King Kong to convince him that the Empire State Building really is cool.)

Dash and Violet were thrilled with the ten $1 bills though.

Charlotte did like her stamp set. I guess I will have to get my own…

Anne and Emily really liked the green tea mud masks. But mainly they were just grateful that I was able to fit their many big suitcases into my VW Beetle for the trip to their mom’s. I guess that’s one of the things you learn as you get more experience traveling: just because you CAN fit something into your suitcase(s) doesn’t mean you SHOULD pack it.

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club was born. Together with our good friend and illustrator Rosie, we put out two issues per month with titles like “Bedtime”, “Airplane Trip”, “At the Zoo” and other fascinating topics for 3-year-olds.

I left the company a couple years ago to pursue a great opportunity with a small but growing Mac software company. So I cannot take an iota of credit for the latest brainstorm: The Preschool Money Manager.

This kit has everything that you’d need to get your preschooler ready to deal with money. It comes with an adorable bank from a company called Moonjar, which has three parts: Save, Share and Spend. Chores charts and allowance calculations are included. It also comes with two adorable issues of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club: “Spend, Share & Save” and “Yard Sale”.

This would make a great present for preschool kids. It’s only $19.95. (Remember: wealthy nieces and nephews will come in handy when you’re a little old lady…)

A subscription to the magazine is also a great gift. It’s $48 for 24 issues (1 year), and each issue comes addressed to the child with a note “Happy Reading From Aunt Jean” (or whatever your name happens to be). If you use the coupon code AUNT2FREE, you’ll get two free issues added to the subscription.