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There is no way to categorize all ten year-old girls for gift giving purposes. Between your budding cosmetologist, veterinarian or editor of a large publishing house, there are countless personality types. I offer unique lists for several types of girls.

The Bookworm
Your bookworm wants an unlimited charge account to Barnes and Noble. If this is unfeasible, take her to the library a lot, and find a librarian who will help find neat books (Box-car children, Nancy Drew, the Dollhouse Murders and others). Since she loves books, she probably loves pens, paper and all things related to writing. Blank books, post-it notes, pens (find out what type she likes-my all-time favorite is my purple bic roundstic), unusually shaped paperclips, and an OfficeMax gift card are musts. Personally, I think a chic briefcase or tote is in order as well, as one who is addicted to paper must have a way to carry it with her at all times.

The Girly-Girl
Girly girls love glamor-clothes, makeup and jewelry. Check out Plato's Closet, a consignment store chain for teens and pre-teens. They sell a range of the latest gently used denim, shoes, purses, jewelry and fake handbags. The best thing about this store is that when she tires of her outfit three days later, you can take her trade it in and get new stuff. If you are willing to go with makeup (I am not the expert on this because I never wore makeup and still don't) get a Bare Minerals starter kit. These are the least toxic cosmetics available, and a starter kit will not cost you an arm and a leg. Lastly, your girly-girl is undoubtedly inwardly longing for a gift in a little blue box tied with a white bow. No matter what the current trend, gifts from Tiffany and Co. never go out of style. Choose carefully, as you will pay ten times as much for this gift as you would for a knock-off, but it will be worth it. Tiffanys has a beautiful line of sterling silver initial pendants. Buy the letter of her first name and she will wear it forever.

The Nature-Girl
Your nature girl is busier making mudpies than she is learning how to do her hair. She has probably taken every tool out of the garage to "prune" your shrubs, rescue an animal or build a tree fort. Get your nature girl her own set of tools related to her passion (gardening, woodworking, etc.) Start looking early for summer camps, because nature girls love camp-canoing, hiking, cooking over the fire, and hunting for interesting rocks-summer camp is an awesome gift. For your nature girl to be authentic, she needs a Nalgene water bottle in her favorite color, a mini-maglite, a teeny swiss army knife, and a whistle. You can't get into too much trouble with those, but they will make a respectable outdooring kit for any imagination-driven pre-teen.

If your girl is a hybrid of all three, here is the perfect gift: OfficeMax gift card in a Tiffany's bag with necklace and an Eddie Bauer "Survival kit" in a water bottle. Put it all in a Vera Bradley bag, and she will love you forever.

Learn more about this author, Katherine Elzer-Peters.
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