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Lush, beautiful coffee table books aren't only for adults. A number of stunning new volumes will please the younger members of the family and make welcome gifts this holiday season.

HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection 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 room/There was a telephone/And a red balloon/And a picture of/The cow jumping over the moon." Like Brown's classic, each book in this volume has stood the test of time, from the funny peddler and his monkeys in Caps for Sale to Harold and his magical crayon. There are a few lesser-known characters here, but that's all the more reason to love this treasury of 12 stories, all beautifully illustrated and presented in one big (and heavy!) volume. The perfect way to start a library.

Yann Arthus-Bertand and Robert Burleigh have created the breathtaking Earth From Above for Young Readers. Arthus-Bertand is the well-known aerial photographer and author of numerous adult books, including last year's Earth From Above 365 Days. Though readable and interesting text accompanies these double-page 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 it's 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 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 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 country's 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 on Terrorism at Home?" Web sites, a state-by-state visitors' guide to historic places and scrupulous source notes complete this reference book .

The World Almanac for Kids 2003, 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 keep the attention of the most dedicated multi-tasker in your house. Even the table of contents, with subtitles like "Largest, Smallest, Fastest" and "20 Popular Kids Videos of 2001," will draw in fact-finders. While there is certainly enough information 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 might come in handy if your well-informed child ever gets to show his stuff on Jeopardy. And if you keep supplying him or her with good books, it could happen.

I have always been interested in American history, especially the history of women, people of color and other groups remarkably absent from the books I found in my classrooms when I was young. Luckily, I had high school history teachers who found articles and academic books to satisfy my interests, and I attended a college where I could take as many courses in black history as I liked. Today's young readers are much luckier numerous books on minority populations are published every year, and Black History Month is the perfect time to spotlight some of the best titles.

Poet Eloise Greenfield and illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist have teamed up to create the informative How They Got Over: African Americans and the Call of the Sea. A collection of short, easy-to-read biographies of African-Americans who have a connection to the ocean, this volume will serve as a fine introduction to nautical history for young readers. Seven profiles comprise the heart of this slim volume. Readers will find the story of freed slave Paul Cuffe, whose successful shipping and whaling business in Massachusetts allowed him to become an abolitionist. Convinced that the only hope for the descendants of African slaves was to return to Africa, he offered his ships to anyone who wanted to go to Sierra Leone. Greenfield manages to sneak a great deal of history into her vignettes, and she does not shy away from some of the most difficult issues these historical figures faced. This would be a great book to share with a child who loves history and wants to learn more about some little-known African Americans. The large font, simple writing and clear connections to better-known areas of history make this a good choice for the youngest historian.

Gail Buckley's American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm has recently been adapted by Tonya Bolden in a special version aimed at younger readers. Buckley's adult book won the 2002 Robert F. Kennedy Award, and this new edition reflects all the finest qualities of the original. Following the timeline of American history, Buckley and Bolden tell the story of black Americans in the military. Much of the history is vaguely familiar: Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre, Peter Salem and the Battle of Concord, blacks serving as laborers in the Confederate army, the shameful treatment of blacks who fought valiantly in World War II, the rise of Colin Powell in Desert Storm. Though the volume is easy to read, it is also jam-packed with historical details that make it more useful as a reference title than as a book to curl up with. The historic photos, dating as far back as the Civil War, greatly enhance the book for the casual reader (in one photograph, Buckley's mother, Lena Horne, is pictured entertaining the troops in 1943). This is a fine story and an excellent resource for young history buffs.

Bravery, ingenuity, faith and cooperation are the hallmarks of the Yao people in Ann Grifalconi's newest picture book The Village That Vanished. Slavers come to Njemile's village, and because all the men are away, the women and elderly people have no protection. Just when things look bleakest, Njemile thinks of a plan a scheme involving cunning and trickery, incredible courage and faith. Told in the tradition of African storytellers, featuring Grifalconi's gentle prose and Kadir Nelson's rich pencil and watercolor illustrations, the book tells the unforgettable tale of Yao villagers as they dismantle their huts, hide them from the slavers and disappear into the deep forest. Nelson's remarkable illustrations, reminiscent of scratchboard, raise this wonderful story to the level of instant classic.

While there are many fine collections of African folktales available, a new one Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales deserves a place on the shelf next to the picture books of Verna Aardema and Ashley Bryan. Each tale is from a different area of Africa, though most are from the southern part of the continent, Mandela's home. The stories are illustrated by 19 talented artists who work in many media, from watercolor to gouache to acrylics. Each tale reflects the storyteller, so the reader and listener are treated to a wonderfully wide range of styles. I was drawn to Judy Woodborne's illustration of a fat baby surrounded by a cow, a snake, a butterfly, a bird and a chameleon, and just had to read "Mpipidi and the Motlopi Tree," an adoption story like no other! Each narrative is about three pages long, the perfect length for reading right before bed. A treasure.

Sometimes it is difficult to find books about civil rights that can be read comfortably by the youngest reader, but This Is the Dream, written by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander and illustrated by James Ransome, fits the bill. The authors have created a clear and concise poem following a simple rhythm that illuminates the milestones of civil rights history, from Jim Crow to the present. Ransome's understated, powerful collage illustrations bring together iconic images from newspapers with the faces of lesser-known people who bravely put themselves in harm's way to demand change. Ransome does not shy away from including unpleasant pictures of the time, especially the angry looks on the faces of white people. When the time shifts to the present, the colors change to warm blues as we see a water fountain, this time being shared by all: "This is the fountain that stands in the square,/and the unwritten rule is to take turns and share."

Nearly every child has heard of Rosa Parks, the recently deceased heroine of the Montgomery bus boycott. To honor her, poet Nikki Giovanni and artist Bryan Collier have teamed up to create a stunning new volume, Rosa. Moving beyond the familiar mythology of a woman too tired to move out of her seat, Giovanni and Collier tell the whole story of a strong woman with a mind of her own who knew the power of working with others. She sighed as she realized she was tired. Not tired from work but tired of putting white people first. Tired of stepping off sidewalks to let white people pass, tired of eating at separate lunch counters and learning at separate schools. . . . Tired of 'separate,' and definitely tired of 'not equal.' The cover shows the bus driver angrily willing this strong black woman to move and Parks' quiet defiance. The yellow wash of the illustrations reflects the hot Alabama sun as the book marches toward its stunning climax: a fold-out mural showing the proud, tired, resolved people of Montgomery preparing for the hard work to come.

Have you heard of W.W. Law of Savannah, Georgia? Well, I hadn't until I read Jim Haskins' Delivering Justice. Haskins, who died in July, was an award-winning writer who spent his career chronicling the history of African Americans. In his final book, he focuses on W.W. Law, who received little acclaim for his contribution to the civil rights movement. Through his activities with the NAACP, Law started the Savannah Boycott, a nonviolent protest by the black community that lasted for more than a year. With blacks refusing to shop in downtown Savannah, the city's businesses began to fail. Law used his job as a letter carrier to communicate with the white community, and little by little helped the two groups come together. Benny Andrews' oil and collage illustrations bring this important time to life for today's children and their parents.

Daphne Muse's collection of poetry, The Entrance Place of Wonders: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance, illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb, is a celebration of a rich cultural tradition. From Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes to James Weldon Johnson, the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance are all represented here. Though some adults might long for the stronger, more political poems these poets are famous for, young readers will enjoy the child-friendly poems that tread on some of the typical territory of childhood: reading, wishing, eating, singing and playing.

Every school and home library should find space for these fine books, during Black History Month and the whole year 'round.

My children's birthday parties are events I anticipate with equal parts delirium and dread. With younger crowds, I often start by reading a book out loud. At my twin daughters' recent 5-year-old bash, for example, 11 of their friends raced into our family room on a late spring day that featured bone-chilling wind and snow flurries. In other words, a potentially hazardous situation: lots of energy combined with no outdoor games every mother's nightmare. Thankfully, the entire crowd sat with rapt attention for two picture books. What happened afterwards is another story. In any case, here are some excellent choices for your next fiesta.

To get everyone in the mood, start with Rocko and Spanky Go to a Party, a lively new book and the first in a series of adventures featuring twin sock monkeys. The duo was conceived by a team of two sisters living in the Boston area, Kara and Jenna LaReau, the first of whom happens to be an award-winning children's book editor. Their simple story combines excitement and tension as Rocko and Spanky receive an invitation to a party and worry over the right gift to bring, what to wear and whether they've got the right time and place. Indeed they do, as the party turns out to be a surprise for them! The artwork is both retro and visually tactile, featuring a hodgepodge of materials that include digital photography, acrylics, crayons, "one pair of Red Heel socks," sequins, glitter, maracas and googly eyes. Rocko and Spanky are definitely cool cats, even though they're monkeys.

If you know a birthday princess, she's bound to fall in love with The Princess's Secret Letters about an exchange between a girl named Lucy and the real princess, Isabella, she invites to her party. As they write each other, we learn all sorts of royal secrets. For instance, Princess Isabella actually likes pizza much better than the official menu of cucumber sandwiches, and she prefers gifts of in-line skates to silver candlesticks and teapots. Of course, what the princess loves most of all are secret visits, and she makes a surprise one to little Lucy's party, swinging her around the room in her arms once she arrives. This book also comes with a special pack of notes and envelopes, so little princesses can write their own secret messages. This pretty, pink book, written by Hilary Robinson and illustrated by Mandy Stanley, is packed with girl-appeal.

Rebecca Emberley's new Piñata! will definitely be a standard feature of parties at our house. It's excellent on many levels, starting with its bilingual Spanish-English text. Using mixed-media collage throughout, Emberly begins with a short one-page history of the tradition, explaining that it may have actually started in China. With a bright red background on every page, the colorful piñata and objects that fill it stand out in high relief. An assortment of these items adorns each page, such as whistles, yo-yos, jewelry, toy bugs, confetti and candy. At the end, readers can guess the names of these objects, then make their own piñata just like the one in the book.

Finally, Chloë's Birthday . . . and Me by Giselle Potter is a refreshingly different birthday tale, not all sweetness and song. It's a riveting story of sibling rivalry, based on the author's own childhood, which was spent in Europe with her puppeteer parents. As Giselle narrates the story, she and her family are in France and it's her little sister's birthday, which makes Giselle absolutely green. Giselle and her mom go gift shopping, finding a perfume called "Chloë." Every single detail of the day is focused on her sister, so when they family goes to the beach to celebrate, Giselle is so miffed that she buries the perfume in the sand. The gift is lost for a while, but eventually turns up. In the end, even Giselle learns to enjoy the day. The tale is real without being one bit preachy. Potter's funky art, often featured in The New Yorker, is in an almost primitive style in pastel shades, and the book also includes a birthday card inside with Giselle on the cover.

Take it from me try some books at your next birthday party, and you'll have a group of excited but calm revelers on hand.

Alice Cary writes from Groton, Massachusetts.