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Show nririfiiwriiiiin jgygsgi aatiw CHILDREN'S BOOKS Gift ideas for the budding bibliophile BECKWITH beautiful coffee table books aren't only for adults. A number of stunning new will please the younger members of the family and make welcome gifts Lush, holiday season. HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection (HarperCollins, $24.99, 464 pages, ISBN 0060080949) covers a lot of territory and will make the perfect gift for a new baby or a child who is just entering the world of books. Most adult readers will sigh and smile as they turn the pages and renew old friendships. The magical first words of Goodnight Moon, published in 1947, still sound fresh and spare and alive: In the great green roomThere was a telephoneAnd a red a picture ofThe cow jumping over the moon. I ike Browns classic, each book in this volume has stood the test of tune, from the funny peddler and his monkeys in Caps for Sale to n characlarold and his magical crayou. There are a few ters here, but thats all the more reason to love this treasury of 2 stories, all beautifully illustrated and presented in one big (and heavy'!) volume. The perfect way to start a library. d and Robert Burleigh have created the breathtaking Earth Yann From Above for Young Readers (Abrams, $12.95, 77 pages, n is the aerISBN 0810934868). ial photographer and author of numerous adult books, including last years Earth From Above 365 Days. Though readable and interesting text accompanies these doublepage spreads, the photos are the elements that will truly captivate young readers. Each photo demands close inspection: Is that a human dancing on a block of ice? (Nope its an exuberant penguin.) Are those really ghostly camels? (Or shadows?) Each continent is represented in these brilliant pictures, which reflect the awesome diversity of life on earth. The Making of America (National Geographic, $29.95, 224 pages, ISBN 0792269446) is a history book for elementary readers and a fine reference book for every family. From the first chapter, the author, Robert D. Johnston, Ph.D., does not BY LYNN lesser-know- Arthus-Bertan- Arthus-Bertan- d mince words about Columbus role in American history. It was Christopher Columbus who set in motion the most dramatic and devastating assaults on Native American life and culture," he says. This straightforward telling of the story of our countrys birth and development is just one of the reasons this beautifully designed and illustrated book should find a spot in the library of every family and school. The chapters are sensibly short, and each page has informative paintings, pictures, photographs or maps to draw the reader into the story and allow browsing by the casual reader. Biographical profiles and questions for debate punctuate each of the eight chapters, giving a framework for the interpretation of history. Even the last chapter, which brings us to events that are shaping our history right now, asks the difficult question, How Should America Combat the War visitors guide to hison Terrorism at Home? Web sites, a toric places and scrupulous source notes complete this reference book . The World Almanac for Kids 2003 (World Almanac Books, $1 1.95, 336 pages, ISBN 0886878780), edited by Kevin Seabrooke, is just the sort of book my children loved and dragged out during games of Trivial Pursuit. What child can resist looking up his birthday in an almanac to find out who shares it? The colorful, busy pages will attract and irv your keep the attention of the most dedicated multi-taskhouse. Even the table of contents, with subtitles like Largest, Smallest, Fastest and 20 Popular Kids Videos of 200 , will draw While there is certainly enough information in in these pages to help with almost any school assignment, most kids will stick this under their pillow to sneak a forbidden peek late in the evening. In the morning, your little scientist will be able to tell you all about puffer fish and their toxins and the number of Chihuahuas registered with the American Kennel Club. All this child ever gets to might come in handy if your show his stuff on Jeopardy. And if you keep supplying him or her with good books, it could happen, state-by-sta- 1 s. What's in a name? BY DEAN SCHNEIDER "Each of us has a story and it starts with a name. But who would ever name a kid Dillon Dillon? And whats his story? Kate Banks, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for her picture book, The Sight Worker, has written a Once upon a time novel called Dillon Dillon that represents all that is wonderful about the best children's literature: a rich, philosophical narrative with layers and layers of meaning, told in spare, poetic prose. Themes include family, growing up, leav ing home, death and the meaning of life. On vacation on Lake Waban, in New Hampshire, t Dillon receives a new red for his 10th birthday with Dillon Dillon painted in bold ivory letters on the stern. The holiday seems an appropriate time to pop the question he has always wondered about: Why did you name me Dillon Dillon? His parents response sends Dillon on a quest to understand the story behind his name, a quest involving siblings, loons and a journey to an enchanted island. Dillon and his little sister Daisy are Hopers," looking for the magic and wonder in life. Maybe dragons do exist, maybe the sunshine on the sw'ing docs smell yellow, and maybe there is a land where musical notes continue playing after we no longer can hear them. And maybe there are enchanted or, at least, enchanting islands. Dillon finds out when he rows to an island and experiences life as a bird. He witnesses and participates in the routines of a pair of loons as they prepare a nest in his left sneaker and hatch a baby loon right before his life that, curiously, a eves. For a while, Dillon feels a part of the loon family, family parallels his own. Dillons older brother Didier is a realist. When he finds two dead loons, illegally shot, he says, Thats life. Dillon feels the sadness and wonder of death, but figures Didier is right: Life ended with death. It did not matter that no one knew when or life is full of why. Over the course of the book, Dillon comes to understand that wonder, mystery and magic, as well as change, sadness and death. novel great for reading a ou at Dillon Dillon is an unusually rich intermediate home or in school. Dillon takes a will never forget, and readers will never he journey forget Dillon, Dean Schneider is a middle school English teacher in Nashville. row-boa- day-to-d- With stunning, digitally restored artwork and an introduction by Mary Pope Osborne, this gorgeously illustrated collection unavailable for decades recaptures the magic of an age long ago and far away. A Gift of Epic Proportions for Readers of Any Age, i DECEMBER 2002 BOOKPAGE 25 |