Picture books make picture-perfect gifts

It was an uncharacteristically controversial season for picture books. First, The New York Times declared the entire genre in decline and threw hypercompetitive parents into a tizzy by suggesting that smart tots are abandoning picture books in favor of doing their own reading in chapter books. (If you must relive this latest low point in American culture, do an online search for "New York Times" and "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children," but be sure to read the comments before clearing your picture-book shelf.) Then the leader of the free world stated in an illustrated book for children his preference for certain historical figures over others as models for his young daughters.

"Of Thee I Sing" by President Barack Obama (Knopf, $17.99, ages 3 and up) is everything you want in a picture book: ideas to talk about with kids of various ages, couched in colorful language and brought to vivid life in illustrations that tell a story of their own. As if writing a letter to his children, the author asks: "Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?" He follows with a series of questions - "Have I told you that you are smart/creative/brave/ strong?" - and uses the lives of famous Americans to describe those qualities of character: "A woman named Helen Keller fought her way through long, silent darkness. Though she could not see or hear, she taught us to look at and listen to each other."

Two little girls - clearly the president's daughters, Sasha and Malia - romp through Loren Long's pictures, attending Albert Einstein's moment of insight, the crack of Jackie Robinson's bat, a Billie Holiday song. As they move through the book, the girls collect a group of companions, who appear together, shoulder to shoulder on the last spread, a class photo of the ideally integrated America. You can agree with or dispute Obama's list of heroes - Fox News took particular exception to his inclusion of Sioux leader Sitting Bull, stirring up a mercifully short-lived controversy - but it's not every president who takes the time to talk to children, as he has done in two addresses to students, let alone to write for them.

A book to give to hipster friends of any age, "13 Words" (HarperCollins, $16.99) brings together the considerable talents of Lemony Snicket, author of the "Series of Unfortunate Events," and Maira Kalman, picture-book artist extraordinaire and co-cartoonist of the famous New Yorker cover, New Yorkistan. Using the structure of introducing 13 words - simple ones like "baby" (word No. 11) as well as complicated ones like "haberdashery" (word No. 9) - the book tells its story of a dog (word No. 4) trying to cheer up his friend, the bird (word No. 1). And it tells it with panache (word No. 12). It seems quite like a Maira Kalman book up until the last line, a characteristically Snickety zinger.

"The Tree House" by Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolman (Lemniscaat/Boyd Mills Press, $17.95, for ages 3 and up) is a gorgeous picture book to peruse during quality lap time or to give to any artistic acquaintance, adult or child. In this entirely wordless story, two bears discover a tree house that becomes a ship of adventure, a cozy nook and a haven for passing friends. With glorious skies as shifting background, the illustrations capture the richness of a day of play from dawn to dusk.

In "Art & Max" by David Wiesner (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.99, ages 4-8), a lizard who takes himself very seriously as an artist is about to execute a formal, heroic portrait. Even before the overly enthusiastic Max bursts onto the scene ("I can paint, too, Arthur!"), it's clear that Art with a capital A is going to come in for some ribbing. In fact, Art - the lizard as well as the commodity that Sotheby's deals in - will be deconstructed before our eyes. "Art & Max" is one of those rare children's books that lends itself simultaneously to literal and figurative reading.

Around the holidays, it's always a good idea to have one gift on hand for when you visit a household where there are children whose ages you don't know. "Guido's Great Coloring and Drawing Book" by Guido van Genechten (Clavis Publishing, $14.95, ages 5-12) fills that niche for us this year. An oversize coloring book with high-quality drawing paper, the volume offers the beginnings of sketches with such prompts as: "Freddy is in the lead. Draw all the other runners behind him."

For rambunctious boys ages 3-7, you can't do better this year than "Shark vs. Train" by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Little, Brown; $16.99). In a raucous game of one-upmanship, the book asks, "Who will win?" in an escalating series of contests between the super-powerful shark and the ever-popular train. Who wins at roasting marshmallows? Train - shark's too wet! Who'd attract more kids as a carnival ride? You're kidding, right? Even boys stuck in the pirate stage will get this.

In holiday books, Rachel Isadora's "12 Days of Christmas" (Putnam, $16.99, ages 3-6) sets the words of the traditional song in an African context. In "La Noche Buena" by Antonio Sacre, illustrated by Angela Dominguez (Abrams, $16.95, ages 4-8), a girl goes to Miami to celebrate Christmas with her father's Cuban family in a story full of beautifully observed cultural details. And baseball legend Jackie Robinson's daughter recalls a charming Christmas-Hanukkah misunderstanding from her childhood in "Jackie's Gift" by Sharon Robinson, illustrated by E.B Lewis (Viking, $16.99, ages 3-7).