Gift guide | 25 inspiring gift ideas for teens who love reading, writing, or poetry
Kim Kautzer
Whether you’re shopping for the holidays, a special birthday, or “just because,” our newest gift guide offers something for everyone on your list.
The gift guide is loaded with brand-new inspiring gift ideas for teens who love reading or writing—but most of these goodies are great for adults too! You’ll find games, wearable accessories, writing tools, and lots of just-for-fun recommendations, including several unusual suggestions that will let each special recipient know just how much you care.
[Updated 11/2019. Links to Amazon are affiliate links]
15 Gift Ideas for Writers, Poets, or Word Lovers
{1-3} Games and Puzzles
1. DixitLooking for anengaging way to develop creative thinking? Try Dixit, where players convince one another that their story card tells the story best! Each beautifully illustrated card opens the door to creative thoughts and inventive storytelling. Incorporating strategy, guesswork, and gorgeous art, this award-winning game is fun for all ages (8 and up)!
2. Paint Chip Poetry: A Game of Color and WordplayHere’s a colorful and creative game to inspire your favorite poet. Players arrange paint chips to create spontaneous poems out of the intriguing color names. The results can be serious, quirky, or downright hilarious!
3. QuiddlerIn this exciting, addicting game, players try to arrange all the cards in their hand into one or more words. Award-winning Quiddler is family-friendly fun for both word nerds and newbies ages 10 and up, making it perfect for the teens on your list.
Double their fun by throwing in this Quiddler Short Word Dictionary to help them learn lots of new—and most importantly, short—words.
{4-7} Fun Stuff
4. Darth Vader Thumb Drive Star Wars fans will love keeping their writing assignments and school projects handy on this cool Mimobot thumb drive. Remove the cover to reveal Vader’s face! Is Yoda or C-3PO more up your teen’s alley? These (and others) are available too!
5. Writer’s Block T-Shirt Who suffers from a bad case of writer’s block? Surprise them with this humorous typographic tee! After all, writer’s block happens “when your imaginary friends won’t talk to you”! You’ll find it in sizes for men, women, and youth.
6. Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens Visual teens will love this set of 14 vibrant colored gel pens. They glide smoothly, last a long time, and make writing and self-editing so much more fun! They’re also available in a 10-pack.
7. 6-in-1 Tool Pen Are you scratching your head over what to get your teenage son or other gadget-loving guy? This multi-use ballpoint pen also includes a flat-head screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver, ruler, level, and touch-screen stylus.
8. The Poet Edition It’s a magnetic muse in a box! With over 300 words perfectly suited for creating lush and evocative lines of poetry, this kit will ignite the imagination and usher the writer into unexplored poetic realms!
{8-9} Magnetic Poetry Kits
9. The Food Lover’s Poetry Kit Perfect for a hungry teen, this tasty kit includes 200 words to inspire succulent, scrumptious lines of poetry!
{10-15} Journals, Books, and Software
10. Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration Teens can explore their hopes, dreams, and innermost thoughts through the pages of this absolutely gorgeous book filled with whimsical art, inspirational quotes, and thought-provoking questions.
11. Harry Potter Journal This handsome journal with nice, thick lined pages will make a perfect gift for Harry Potter fans. Choose your teen’s favorite Hogwarts House: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. It even comes in a mysterious Tom Riddle edition!
12. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction Part whimsical, part practical, Wonderbook is the perfect guide for both novice and advanced writers. It’s filled with beautiful drawings, maps, and exercises, and the text is easy for teens to understand as they learn to plan and write their own fantasy stories.
13. How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps If your teen wants to write a fantasy novel, it’s critical to understand the setting. This book walks them through the process of planning and drawing a map of their fantasy worldthat features land masses, bodies of water, forests, and more.
14. Blank Comic Book for TeensDo you know a teen who would love making their own cartoons and comics? This compact 200-page book is filled with pre-formatted comic book pages and blank templates to keep teen and tween artists and comic lovers creating for hours.
15. Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel Does your teen already have a novel in the works? Editing a first draft can feel hard, discouraging, and isolating. But using this guide, your budding novelist will feel encouraged, empowered, and capable—as if they had a writing coach sitting alongside!
10 Gift Ideas for Readers and Literature Lovers
{16-20} Around the House
16. Superhero Bookends Look up in the sky! It’s bird! It’s a plane! It’s … bookends? What a fun and unique gift for your teen. These sturdy metal bookends will make a statement on your bookworm’s desk as they support a stack of textbooks or favorite novels!
17. A Book A Day Keeps the People Away Mug The book-loving introvert on your gift list will totally relate to this saying! Grab one of these generously sized 15-oz mugs for teens and young adults who always have a book in hand!
18. Novel Tea TinsA cup of fragrant tea goes perfectly with your bookworm’s favorite read! These literary-themed tins resemble great books, with witty titles like Pekoe Pan, Puer Rabbit, and Matcha Do About Nothing. Each contains a specially blended tea flavored to match the theme of a classic novel. Pinkies up!
19. “Just One More Chapter” Pillow COVER Have you ever told your teen “Lights out!” only to have her beg for “just one more chapter”? If so, this soft pillow cover with its whimsical message will be a welcome gift! A matching, washable pillow insert is also available.
20. The Ludicrous Library Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge your teen with this humorous M.C. Escher-inspired puzzle by Ravensburger, which features impossible staircases, strange worlds, and an abundance of bizarre and curious creatures.
{21-23} Around the Neck … or Wrist!
21. Miniature Book Necklace This sweet little book on a chain will charm the bookworm on your list! The tiny pendant is made of real leather, stitched with linen thread, and wrapped with a leather cord. The pages contain sheets of real paper. How fun is that?
22. Stamped Bracelet Know a young lady who’s “emotionally attached to fictional characters”? If so, snatch up one of these stamped bracelets and watch her face light up!
23. Typewriter ScarfOut of Print Clothing has the best gifts for literary buffs and writers! Whether your favorite girl is a bookaholic or simply appreciates nostalgia, this lightweight scarf is just her “type.”
{24-25} Audio Goodness
24. Audible Audio books are a great answer to teen boredom! When you give an Audible membership giftsubscription, they can listen to their favorite books—or discover new ones—anywhere, any time. Engage them in a good “read” while on long journeys or use audio books to educate, entertain, or inspire at home. And guess what? Even if you cancel the membership, they can keep the audio books forever!
25. Wireless Headphones Your teen will need a quality set of headphones to listen to his audio books. This bestselling wireless headset comes in fun colors of lime green, electric blue, or red—and also in black. It’s Bluetooth enabled and foldable for compact portability. Looking for a noise-cancelling set? Try these headphones instead.
More Gift-Giving Ideas!
Whether you’re on the hunt for gift ideas for teens who love reading or writing, or you have younger or older word-lovers on your list, you’ll find even more great ideas below!
