After what seems like an eternity, the end of the school year is upon us. Whether your kids are walking across the stage for the final time, or they’re heading into summer with their eyes on the next stage of their educational journey, here’s a few things they’ll love.

Transformer Journals by Moleskine

I might be biased (ed. note might) but these are the greatest licensed journals Moleskine has ever produced. Both the Autobot-themed Optimus Prime and Decepticon-themed Megatron journal have gorgeous cover art inspired by the G1 instruction manuals. Pop off the appropriately red or purple elastic closure and you’ll be met with comic art from the original Marvel comics gracing the interior and back covers. The Megatron journal has art from the rise of Unicron while Optimus Prime’s is about the Matrix of Leadership. And don’t toss the paperband! There’s more G1-inspired artwork lining that as well. The stickers hidden in the back pocket are fun too, made to look like they’re a plastic sprue of additional parts.

The journal itself is the usual Moleskine quality, with thick, ivory-colored paper and a lay-flat spine. If your grad doesn’t have one yet, they need one. Taking physical notes is one of those things that you never quite stop doing, and having a gorgeous journal like this to keep them in makes all the difference. They’re $25 each at Moleksine.com.

LifeProof Squamish XL

No matter what their next destination is, the new grad is going to need a good backpack to hold all their stuff. That $9.99 Walmart special with the busted strap isn’t going to make it through the next 24 hours, much less backpacking through Europe, hitting the high school halls next year, or trekking across college campuses. Luckily, LifeProof has expanded from making only rugged, waterproof (and dirtproof and dropproof and snowproof) cases and now has a line of seriously impressive backpacks.

The Squamish XL is the biggest of the bunch and has room for 32L of gear (including a few liters of water in the hydration pouch). It’s a bit hard to visualize exactly how much stuff that is, so LifeProof made a handy video:

In addition to some serious carrying capacity, the Squamish XL is made with water repellent Cordura fabric, has a bottom pocket for extra storage, and can fit a 15″ laptop in the back pocket. No matter what your grads are doing or where they’re going, this pack will keep everything they need safe and dry. Pick one up at LifeProof for $179.

Books for Outdoor Adventures

Yeah, I’m gonna be that guy who recommends a book as a graduation present. If you’ve got younger kids, there might not be an actual graduation ceremony between 3rd and 4th grade, for example, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve something to mark the occasion and celebrate another school year’s worth of hard work.

With that in mind, welcome summer with a book (or two or three) that encourages them to get outside, get dirty, explore, and have a ton of unplugged fun. And let’s be honest: summer days can sometimes be long and boring, so you’ll also be happy to have these books on hand to keep the little ones occupied.

Super-Duper Summery Doodle Book (by Ryan Sias, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is a great way to while away an afternoon or two. Kids are prompted with drawing tips, doodle prompts, and story starters to rev up their imaginations. Likewise, The Kids Awesome Activity Book (by Mike Lowery, Workman) is filled with doodle prompts, puzzles, mazes, and more. (And if you’re a fan of Lowery’s Doodle Adventures books, like we are, then you’ll find a lot to love here.)

Doodle Journeys (by Dawn DeVries Sokol, Amulet) is a perfect book to throw in the backpack on those weekend trips or take along on summer vacation. It’s a compact journal filled with daily doodle drills that help you soak up your travels and dream about where you can go next.

Finally, 50 Things to Do Before You’re 11 3/4 (Nosy Crow) is another great companion for all of your summer adventures. Kids are presented with all manner of realistic “must-dos,” such as roll down a really big hill, make a trail with sticks, explore inside a tree, go bird watching, and catch a fish without a net. Each page presents the thing to do, gives some tips, and allows for interaction through doodles and notes. (Jamie Greene)

Google Pixelbook

Now that school is over and they might be leaving the house entirely, you’re going to want to give them the gift of technological independence. At least in my house, laptop ownership is complicated. My son wants me to stay off his laptop, but he rarely backs up his files and never runs system updates. It’s basically inviting disaster as soon as he’s on his own and I’m not there to play IT fairy anymore.

That’s why the best system you can gift is a Google Chromebook. And out of those, Google Pixelbook is the best of the best. It’s a convertible laptop that can switch to a tablet (and every configuration in-between). With 10 hours of battery life and quiet, backlit keys, it’s perfect for cranking out last-minute term papers while your roommate sleeps.

Since it runs Chrome, there’s no maintenance to worry about. Google regularly and automatically updates the operating system in the background. And as far as losing work goes, you don’t have to worry about that either – everything is stored in the Google cloud, so it’s available on all of your connected devices.

As far as compatibility goes – the Google Suite of productivity products are completely compatible with Office (and you can always log in to Office 360 if you really need Microsoft’s software). And, honestly, where G Suite used to be playing catch up to the House that Gates Built, I think the opposite is now true. I do nearly all my content creation in Google Docs and see no reason to switch to another platform. It’s more than robust enough for everything I do.

I’ve used a lot of Chromebooks and Google got it right with their in-house flagship model. It’s a joy to type on, easy to operate, and is faster than it needs to be. Being able to convert it to a tablet means I can enjoy comics, games, and streaming videos on it without having to haul around another device.

You can grab one at the Google Store for $999.