  
| 
| ||||||||||||||
The book on giftsThe best for your coffee table and your kidsBy Porter Anderson and Todd Leopold (CNN) -- "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island," a wise man once said. "And best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life." Who was that wise man? None other than Walt Disney, a man who made his millions in a different field. But ol' Walt knew what he was talking about. There are few items as enriching as a book. You can invest in literature, of course; there are countless classics on the shelf. Or you can immerse yourself in trivia. The Mental Floss magazine folks recently released its "Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits." Get it to go with copies of Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg's "Why Do Men Have Nipples?" and J. Stephen Lang's "The Big Book of American Trivia," and then try your hand at Trivial Pursuit, Scene It? or the Mental Floss board game. Indeed, books can even be games, of sorts: "Would You Rather: Love and Sex" by Justin Heimberg and David Gomberg makes you decide between two strange options (and yes, there is a "Would You Rather" game). It is a continuation of a type of book that includes other "Would You Rathers," "If," "How Far Will You Go?" and "The Book of Fabulous Questions." And then there are books about games -- and sports -- such as "Great Golf," a collection of instructional golf essays edited by Danny Peary and Allen F. Richardson; and "Sports Illustrated: The Football Book," a heavyweight book of photos and essays from the magazine. (Sports Illustrated, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.) In the real worldBut during the holiday season, two types of books come to the fore: children's books and coffee-table books. The latter are self-explanatory: oversized gorgeous layouts on heavy paper with subjects including celebrities, cars and food. (Click here for a selection of coffee-table books.) Children's books, however, are an ever-changing form, dealing with everything from fantasy to reality. The sassy-girl genre and that Potter guy are still very much with us, but real-world themes also are getting a lot of attention. "Ironically, two trends in young people's literature this year were sex and religion. Not structured religion, not converting someone to a religion, but spirituality -- a reassurance that something's out there," says agent Ginger Clark at New York's Curtis Brown Ltd. She adds, "There's a tendency to see this kind of work sell amid disasters." Clark says the books usually appeal to readers the industry classifies as teen (ages 14 and up) and young adult (12 and older). And books for these audiences that have to do with sexual issues, Clark says, are often cautionary. She notes that the books are "more along the lines of not-very-positive-virginity-losing experiences." Depictions of sexual scenes, she says, "aren't super graphic, but they don't go off-screen." In a time of AIDS, teen pregnancy, divorce and calamity, reading for many kids can be a source of warning and solace. And -- one hopes -- a source of treasure, too. (Click here for a selection of children's books.) 
|
| ||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
