As Martha Stewart says, "the best children's gifts involve teaching." These 7 gifts aim to thrill little ones of all ages through imagination, smart design, and good old-fashioned play.

We asked our Facebook fans what their favorite classic holiday book was, and over 2,000 of you responded to our poll. Overwhelmingly, the most beloved holiday book is the classic, The Night Before Christmas. Other top contenders were How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Polar Express. Most of these classics are also available as an E-book, in addition to print.

But there are always new additions to the library of holiday classics.  Our Facebook fans recommend A Dog Named Christmas, a sweet story of a family who rescues a dog from a shelter and names him “Christmas”, and The Biggest Snowman Ever, a snowman building contest that brings friends together for the biggest snowman ever built.

[Related: Best Toys For Every Age]

Here are our top picks of our favorite holiday books beyond the classics, from The Shine producers. For girls we love Madeline’s Christmas. Children can celebrate Christmas Parisian style with the beloved character Madeline, Pepito

We all put a lot of thought into the BIG holiday gifts for the kids, but how do your stocking stuffers match up? Toy expert and President of ToyInsider.com, Laurie Schacht, stopped by “The Shine” to share some fantastic and affordable stocking stuffer ideas that your kids will love just as much as all those other gifts. Plus, she brought two great, traditional stocking stuffer ideas for mom and dad as well. How are your stocking stuffers fairing this season?

For kids ages 3 and up:

Slinky Musical Box Special Edition: the good old fashioned slinky never fails. It’s still a kid favorite after all these years. ($9.99)

RoseArt Scraps: kids will love this reusable arts and crafts project. Your kids can create little creatures made from pom poms, buttons, hooks and more. All different types of creatures are available. Parents will love it because there’s no mess and no clean up, just fun. ($9.99)

Power Rangers Deluxe Megazord-Samurai Gigazord: as Laurie says “it’s

3 Pieces of Advice to Grandparents (That They Didn't Ask For)I love my parents and in-laws, but when they're around, I revert back to my teenage self. I feel like they're breathing down my neck and getting in my personal space. I get moody about stuff. I get touchy about things. I drink.

There are two ways to fix this: I could mature and accept them as the flawed people that we all are. Or they could act like normal human beings. I'm opting for the latter.

To help them, I've come up with a list of three very simple things to focus on. It should be blown up to 140-point type, printed out and snail mailed to every grandparent in America, since none of them seem to know what email is. (Another thing they're doing wrong.)

1. MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL
You expected us to be useful around the house when we lived under your roof. Now it's your turn. This means you shouldn't move half your belongings into our guest closet and exclaim, "Oh, it's so nice to be on vacation here!"

This is not a vacation. Besides, vacation from what? You're retired, remember?

By The Editors of Parenting.com
We are absolutely heartbroken to have to be sharing these tips today.

But in the aftermath of the horrific Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting this morning, images of terrified children and adults will be ubiquitous in every form of media for days to come. Parents might be dealing with sad and scared kids, children who will ask about what happened in Newtown, whether it can happen to them. Then there is the unanswerable: "how could this happen?"

If you are struggling with the right thing to say, these tips from Dr. Paul Coleman, may help provide some solace. Coleman is a psychologist and author of How to Say It to Your Child When Bad Things Happen and has extensive experience specializing in anxiety disorders and marriage and family concerns. We are only too sad to be sharing his advice today - and are counting the minutes until we can race home to hug our own kids.

Be a soothing example. If you are personally traumatized in any way by

By the editors of Common Sense Media

We're all reeling over news of the devastating elementary school shooting. In the wake of this tragedy, here are a few ways to provide comfort to your kids and help them feel safe.

Help put the news in perspective

Shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, end-of-the-world predictions -- even local news reports of missing kids and area shootings -- all of this can be upsetting news even for adults, much less kids. In our 24/7 news world, it's become nearly impossible to shield kids from distressing current events.

Today, kids get news from everywhere. This constant stream of information shows up in sharable videos, posts, blogs, feeds, and alerts. And since much of this content comes from sites that are designed for adult audiences, what your kids see, hear, or read might not always be age appropriate. Making things even more challenging is the fact that many kids are getting this information directly on their phones and laptops.

What do you say when your kids ask you if Santa is real? (Photo: Thinkstock)When I was 7 years old, I was a True Believer in Santa Claus. One of my closest friends wasn't, though, and when he insisted that the Jolly Old Elf was a lie, I was shaken -- so much so that, when my parents reassured me that my friend was wrong, I didn't quite believe them.

Related: Kids-with-Santa Photos Gone Wrong

On Christmas Eve, we were invited to a party at that friend's house. I stuck close to my dad for the entire day (and bossed my younger brother into following my mom around the house), and we made sure that there was absolutely nothing under the tree when we left for the party. Once at my friend's house, I continued to shadow my parents, to see whether they left the party for any reason. They didn't.

Yet when we came home late that night, the presents were there. And my faith was restored. It wasn't until years later my dad confessed that, when he "ran back inside because he forgot the bottle of wine," he had frantically thrown gifts under the tree and returned to the car