So, Jake and Nate got an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas, and Missy goes ahead and orders up the Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs since, well, there’s three boys in this house who completely LOVE dinosaurs.

The book is, to put it plainly, bad ass.

There’s like six or seven main pages, each with a HUGE pop up in the middle. The Diplodicus is honestly like 18 inches wide, the T-Rex pops straight out of the page at you, and the Archyopterix is quite possibly the coolest thing I’ve seen in my life.

Even better, each page has three or four mini-pop up books, each cooler than the last. My favorite here is the one on the last page featuring an erupting volcano that has smoke and lava shooting out of it. Like as you unfold it, a plume rises from the center. Have I said bad ass?

Photos to follow. But even better, zip on down to your favorite bookseller and pick up a bit of commodity art. Less than $20. Which is going to totally guilt me into sending a donation to some Thai children’s fund, where the book is made.

It’s that cool.

I was surprised again at the quality and amount of good music that came our way last year. Also surprised at how much alternative music made its way into the mainstream (i.e., Death Cab for Cutie), helped in large part by The O.C. My list: