Courtesy of Putomayo Kids

Indulge the bookish traveler with these picks.

Holiday Gift Guide: For the Traveling Bookworms

No matter how much the Kindle or the Nook has invaded our lives, there’s nothing like curling up with a great book, whether you’re on a plane or at a Parisian café (hey, a girl can dream). Luckily, there are plenty of old-school travel-related books to keep your favorite jetsetter’s attention for hours—no “off” button needed.

I’d start off with extending that Parisian fantasy with “Impressionists & Post-Impressionists: The Ultimate Guide to Artists, Paintings and Places in Paris and Normandy.” The book is divided first by artists (Monet, Manet and van Gogh are obvious choices) and then selections of museum and walking tours. What I love are the striking full-page photos of these artists’ works, historic timelines and glimpse into the artist’s lives, as opposed to the monotonous tone sometimes present in guidebooks. Yet, just like a real guide would, the book offers little known tidbits—news to my ears: Cezanne had a secret son.  ($15.40 available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnobles.com)

Got a little one on the list? Indulge their wanderlust with cultural kid-friendly coloring books and stickers. The Europe sticker collection from Putomayo Kids is filled with a “glossary” of European landmarks (Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Big Ben, for example) and also some popular instrumental pieces used in Europe such as the tambourine or mandolin. The sticker book opens up to a landscape for kids to decorate with 120+ stickers—ideal for long airplane rides or cooped up in a car. The accompanying Latin America Coloring Book (key image) is an oversized book more suitable for kids ages 5-7 with examples of Latin words and even a bi-lingual introduction, so kids can see the difference between English and Spanish. The scenes of a family traveling throughout the country are cleverly disguised as educational using bi-lingual “captions,” as kids color in the photos. Help them explore the world, with books from Africa, Latin America and Europe. (Coloring books, $9.95; Sticker collections, $11.95; available here: www.putumayokids.com.)

Finally, please the budding photographer on your list with a copy of LIFE’s travel book, “The World’s Must-See Destinations: Heaven on Earth.” I spent hours poring over the 145-page oversized book, with breathtaking photos of far off destinations such as the Taj Mahal (photo, right, by Larry Burrows), Barbados, Angkor Wat, the Great Barrier Reef and Mount Kilmanjaro. Every continent is explored, with an introductory paragraph for each and every destination. It’s the ideal conversation starter on places you’ve been, or places you want to go. Especially gorgeous are the island photos in the chill of winter. ($29.95, available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnobles.com)