Children's Books: Kennedy's Camelot For Kids

Parents who want their offspring to understand why their eyes well up on Nov. 22--the 40th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's death--can turn to some compelling new kids' books. This year the independent booksellers' list of the top 10 JFK books of all time included two 2003 children's titles: "High Hopes: A Photobiography of John F. Kennedy" (National Geographic) and "Jack: The Early Years of John F. Kennedy" (Dutton). They appear on the list alongside adult heavy hitters such as Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys" and David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest." "I really wanted to get home to children how the Kennedy assassination was our generation's September 11," says "High Hopes" author Deborah Heiligman.

The kids' books are historically accurate (no cherry trees) but G-rated, without photos of the gory shooting or references to womanizing. They also highlight issues today's kids can relate to, such as how JFK dealt with parental pressure, illness and sibling rivalry. (He was the second of nine children.) JFK was "a sick kid in a healthy family, a kid who always stood in his brother's shadow, the mischievous little joker, the kid who was not supposed to be president," says "Jack" author Ilene Cooper. Not only will kids enjoy these offerings, but there's a bonus for adults: they are much quicker to wade through than Arthur Schlesinger's 1,087-page "A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House," which also made the list.