We live in the era of the children's book.
Not only are more and more writers staking out the children's market as their major interest, but numerous celebrities are writing children's books, i.e., Jamie Lee Curtis, John Lithgow and Shaquille O'Neal.It is getting dangerously close to a dime-a-dozen mentality, and the art included in the books is often of the cartoon variety.
O'Neal's, for example, is a tall book with splashy illustrations by Shane Evans, "Shaq and the Beanstalk" (Scholastic, $15.95). It is aimed at children ages 6-9. The other tales are "Little Red Riding Shaq," "Shaq and the Three Bears," "Shaq's New Clothes," "Shaq and the Three Billy Goats Gruff" and "Home Sweet Home."
The first story is the best but the entire book is too cute by half. It has too many "cute" basketball references, told in Shaq's own words (allegedly): "Man, I felt like I was running a fast break with the Lakers! When I ran into one room, I saw the weirdest thing. It was a hen, sitting in a nest. Underneath her was a pile of golden . . . basketballs."
I read it aloud to two of my grandchildren, who looked listless after the first page. Sensing I was losing them, I stepped up my reading speed, but I had completely lost them before the end of the first story.
The problem? Like Shaq, the book is way too long, and it contains Shaq-like phrases and sarcasm only adults can appreciate.
Of course, just as you think you have the market figured out, along come some substantial titles with historical backgrounds and messages, impressive illustrations and well-crafted writing. Milton Meltzer, a veteran of more than 100 books for young people, who has written previous historical works on Lincoln, Slavery, Thoreau and Andrew Carnegie, has a new book titled, "Witches and Witch-Hunts: A History of Persecution (Blue Sky Press, $16.95.)
Meltzer's books would seem to appeal most readily to junior high students. They should appreciate his sound narrative about witch hunts around the world, from 15th century France to Salem, Mass., in 1692. He also treats the witch hunts of Adolf Hitler and those of Joseph McCarthy, frightening social and political onslaughts fed by superstition and hysteria. Meltzer also takes an engrossing look at the common practice of discrimination, prejudice and murder as practiced in the name of the betterment of society.
Another powerful little volume is "The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, California, 1942," written by Barry Denenberg (Scholastic, $10.95). It is the often heartbreaking first-person account of a 12-year-old prisoner of one of America's Japanese internment camps. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, anti-Japanese sentiment drove President Franklin Roosevelt and his advisers not only to declare war on Japan, but to consign 110,000 men, women and children of Japanese descent to several camps in the United States.
The book is part of the prize-winning "Dear America" series launched in 1996 and praised by various library and school groups who have found the works of historical fiction lively and realistic. Denenberg has written three other books in the series -- "The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson," "The Dairy of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl" and "The Journal of William Thomas Emerson, A Revolutionary War Patriot."
Margery Cuyler felt inspired to write a book based on her own 300-year-old house in Princeton, N.J., and the legend of the Hessian soldier who haunted it. Geared to elementary-age children, "The Battlefield Ghost" (Scholastic, $15.95) combines creepy chills and exhilarating adventure with the American Revolution. According to legend, John and Lisa's old house is haunted by the ghost of a revolutionary soldier killed in the bloody Battle of Princeton. One night, John and Lisa come face to face with the ghost who pleads for help in solving an agonizing problem -- he longs for his horse, which died before him some 200 years ago. The fascinating question is how John and Lisa can help the ghost be reunited with the ghost of his horse.
A simpler, but beautifully illustrated book for young grade-school children is Kate Waters' "Mary Geddy's Day: A Colonial Girl in Williamsburg" (Scholastic, $16.95). With the use of beautifully colored photographs, Waters tells the story of young Mary, who is caught up in the excitement of revolutionary Virginia in 1776 but who still must complete her chores while worrying if her best friend will have to move back to England. This is a nicely done book that effectively shows how children's lives were changed by impending war and separation from friends.
Finally, Ruby Bridges' "Through My Eyes" (Scholastic, $16.95) is the heart-rending autobiographical account of the first African-American to integrate a white school in New Orleans. Edited by Margo Lundell, it is a compilation of excerpts from articles and interviews that cleverly tell the story of a tiny 6-year-old black child who, with the help of federal marshals, walked into an elementary school on Nov. 14, 1960. Today, Ruby Bridges works as a lecturer, telling her story to children and adults alike. She still lives in New Orleans. The black-and-white historical photos aptly illustrate this story of a pioneer of civil rights in her own words.
Most of these are important, well-written and provocative books sure to enhance the education of the children and youngsters who read them.