For Parents In Search of Kids' Books

NEED help navigating through the bookstore or library? Eden Ross Lipson's revised and updated The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children (Times Books, $15, paper) is just the ticket.Lipson, children's book editor of the New York Times, calls this a book "for the converted for those who already understand the value of reading to children and of connecting them with good books. She gets right down to business, presenting nearly 2,000 titles classified according to type (picture books, story books, early and middle reading books, young adult books). Nutshell summaries are accompanied by information such as whether the book is available in hardcover, paperback, or both, awards garnered, and so on. With its user-friendly design and thorough indexing (by title, author, illustrator, age, and subject), it's easy to see why this book has quickly established itself as a classic reference tool.