MUSIC
BOOKS
Choosing books for children
United Press International
A list of criteria to help people select books for children has been
compiled by the Child Study Children’s Book Committee.
The committee at Bank Street College of Education uses the
same standards in selecting about 600 books a year for its annual
catalog, which is considered an authority in its field.
They are:
—Integrity and honesty: does the author take the young reader
seriously, whether in fiction, humor, poetry or informational books,
neither talking down to children nor over their heads?
— Emotional impact and mental health: if happenings or characters
represent situations close to the child’s own life, whether in fiction
or fantasy, might this be valuable — or perhaps destructive — at
certain ages? Are the author’s resolutions of emotional or ethical
problems positive or negative as they present values for a child
growing up into the adult world? Are there also reassuring aspects
looking toward positive solutions?
—Authenticity: is time and place correctly represented, whether as
background in fiction or in historical stories and biography? Pres
enting unsavory truths about people or events must depend on the
age to which the book is addressed, and the objectivity of the
author’s approach.
—Credibility: are plot and characterization believable, whether in
fiction, science fiction or fantasy?
—Reader interest and appeal: however beautiful the book may look
to adults, will the subject matter and style catch and hold the inter
est of readers of the age for which the book is suitable?
—Presentation of minority groups: does the presentation of minor
ity people, problems or lifestyle avoid stereotypes and contribute to
the reader’s broader understanding and empathy?
—Presentation of sexuality: where sexual problems appear in fic
tion, is the level of presentation geared to the young reader’s matur
ity and understanding? Or is it likely to stimulate feelings with which
they are not ready to cope? The question of readiness applies also
to non-fiction informational books about sex and behavior.
—Informational non-fiction: are facts and scientific problems and
solutions presented accurately and clearly, geared to the com
prehension and interest of the reader? Are scientific facts clearly
differentiated from conjecture and projection?
—How-to books: are instructions, illustrations, and diagrams clear
and easily followed at the age for which the book would be useful?
Where processes require adult help, is that specified? If any of the
processes or materials are hazardous for children, are there warn
ings and safety suggestions? If the title says “For Beginners,” is it
really?
REVIEW
Rites & Passage, by Minor
White. (Aperture, $25)
Until his death two years ago
Minor White was one of the rank
ing gurus of photography, ranking
with Ansel Adams in the post Ed
ward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz
era. This book is a tribute from his
friends and students.
The book’s photographs testify
to the quality of the man’s photog
raphy. The fullsome text, includ
ing a biographical essay by
James Baker Hall, sketch the
man almost as well as the dust
jacket picture.
Said Ansel Adams: ‘‘Minor
White is one of the greatest of
photographers. I do not make this
statement lightly. The sheer
beauty of the medium of photog
raphy is tuned to the exact mean
ing and feeling of the visualized
image.” Indeed they are.
The picture may tend toward
the artsy but also, and very well
done, the craftsy. White was a
master. Finicky about it all, as
good teachers must be, these
photographers offer a target in
near perfection of the technical
side of the camera.
The text plunges into a
psychological but circumspect
study of White. A troubled man,
White matched his photography
to his lifestyle. The text is not
really necessary to appreciate
the photography but, unlike most
photo book texts, it does some
explaining, painful as it is.
This book, for the photography
alone, deserves a place on the
shelves among the tomes of the
great American image makers.
-Richard H. Grow aid (UP!)
Bestsellers
FICTION
1. War and Remembrance —
Herman Wouk
2. Chesapeake — James A.
Michener
3. Overload — Arthur Hailey
4. The Stories of John
Cheever — John Cheever
5. Second Generation —
Howard Fast
6. Evergreen — Belva Plain
7. Fools Die — Mario Puzo
8. The Coup — John Updike
9. Dress Gray — Lucian K.
Truscott IV
10. The Sixth Commandment
— Lawrence Sanders
NONFICTION
1. Lauren Bacall: By Myself —
Lauren Bacall
2. Mommie Dearest — Christ
ina Crawford
3. A Distant Mirror — Barbara
Tuchman
4. American Caesar —
William Manchester
5. The Complete Scars dale
Medical Diet — Herman R.
Tarnower and Samm Sinclair
Baker
6. If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries,
What Am I Doing in the Pits —
Erma Bombeck
7. In Search of History —
Theodore White
8. Linda Goodman’s Love
Signs — Linda Goodman
9. The Complete Book of
Running — James Fixx
10. Jackie Oh! — Kitty Kelley
Dr. Hook back on charts after
long dry spell in the U.S.
TOP TEN ALBUMS
1. Blues Brothers — Brief
case Full of Blues
2. Rod Stewart — Blondes
Have More Fun
3. Billy Joel — 52nd Street
4. Neil Diamond — You Don’t
Bring Me Flowers
5. Barbra Streisand —
Greatest Hits, Vol. II
6. Chic — C’est Chic
7. Earth, Wind & Fire — The
Best of Earth, Wind & Fire
8. Barry Manilow — Greatest
Hits
9. Foreigner — Double Vision
10. Village People — Cruisin’
By Bruce Meyer
United Press International
It wasn’t so very long ago that
the band Dr. Hook, as someone
put it once, had been down so
long it looked like up.
A serio-comic rock band
whose biggest hits tended to be
tongue-in-cheek ballads, Dr.
Hook (then called Dr. Hook and
the Medicine Show) made a rea
sonably large splash when they
first appeared on the national
scene nearly a decade ago. They
even made the cover of Rolling
Stone magazine, although that
came with the help of a bit of mus
ical coercion in the form of their
second hit single, a very funny
tune called “The Cover Of The
Rolling Stone.”
Just about then — a half dozen
years ago — the bottom dropped
out. The band was caught in a
musical industry paradox, unable
to pay their high on-the-road ex
penses at home during a musical
dry spell with no U.S. hits but
scoring hit after hit on foreign
singles charts. They went bank
rupt in America while they were
virtual superstars in Scan-
danavia, Australia and other dis
tant lands.
Buffett coming to Austin
Jimmy Buffett and his special guests, the Amazing Rhythm Aces,
are coming to the UT Special Events Center February 27 at 8 p.m.
Buffett is one of pop music’s most amiable performers, and at 32
years old is the captain of his own ship, both literally and figura
tively. He sails his 48-foot clipper through the Florida Keys and the
Caribbean, and this carefree, sunshine-filled existence provides
inspiration for most of his music. From the soothing lyrics of
“Havana Daydreamin’ ” to the comical realities of “Margaritaville,”
Buffett’s view of life shines through.
On stage he is his own performer. His “good time” attitude and
wit strike the listener fully. He combines music with life, and has a
good time doing it. After 10 albums his audience has grown enough
to make his last two, “Change in Latitudes — Changes in Attitudes”
and “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” platinum records.
His guests, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, are six musicians based
in Memphis who can perform country, pop and rock ’n’ roll with
equal skill.
Tickets are $7.50, $6,50 and $5,50, and may be obtained by
calling 512-447-6060 and charging them to a VISA of Mastercharge
card.
Jimmy Buffett
“It was a very weird situation,”
says Dennis Locorhere, a New
Jersey native whose soft, gravelly
voice is heard on most of Hook's
singles and who — on stage and
off — is one of the world’s fun
niest people. “There we were,
doing great in all these other
countries and dying here. But you
know, this band is a real family.
We stuck together right through
the whole bankruptcy thing and
then just started all over again.”
Locorriere and Hook’s col
eader, a one-eyed Southerner
named Ray Sawyer whose black
eye patch and crumpled straw hat
establish the band’s screwball
visual image, are proud of the fact
that there have been so few per
sonnel changes in the seven-man
group over the years.
"The line-up is pretty much the
same today as it was when we
started,” says Sawyer. “We’ve
really stuck together and it’s pre
tty much worked out. At least
we’ve got enough money to keep
playing.”
Better than that, Dr. Hook have
a hit single, “Sharing The Night
Together,” high on the charts —
the U.S. charts — and their latest
album, “Pleasure and Pain” is
coming along nicely.
As with previous Hook LP’s,
“Pleasure and Pain” is a mixture
of gentle and often melancholy
ballads and rock ‘n’ roll done with
a light touch that belies the
band’s hard-rocking approach on
stage. Any Hook fan who has
never seen Locorriere and
Sawyer in person is in for a mild
surprise; their recent albums
have provided few clues to the
madcap nature of their show.
Writer-humorist-cartoonist
Shel Silverstein, as always,
provides Hook with some of the
new album’s best material, par
ticularly a beautiful lovelost ballad
called “Sweetest of All” that could
become the LP’s next hit single.
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