Castles in the Air

If you’re a subscriber to the theory that children need to be suckered into learning, this month’s crop of picture books--intelligent as well as sneaky--will be right on the mark. And if you’re a nonbeliever? Stick around anyway--for the most part, these offerings can be enjoyed as just plain good books.

The Buck Stops Here: The Presidents of the United States, by Alice Provensen (Harper & Row: $17.95; 50 pp.; all ages), is indispensable for “Jeopardy” addicts young and old. “Buck” offers more than its subtitle would indicate: Besides the expected drawings of each President, we get a page full of scenes and symbols from the period, tidbits of information--some important, some less so--and a couplet about the officeholder, the better to remember him and what order he came in. For example:

Eleven, eleven, it’s Polk we see

James K. Polk and destiny .

Go west, go west, be brave, be bold!

The land is free, the hills are gold.

Polk, in top hat and tails and on horseback, gestures westward, as does a white-robed angel holding an American Flag; they point toward a California clogged with clipper ships filled with ‘49ers and a battle scene from the Mexican War.

My favorite entry concerns our last resident of that white-domed house in Washington:

Reagan, forty, reached his goal ,

Acting out his favorite role .

This page shows the former governor of California in front of a movie marquee that features “An All-Star Cast--Ollie--Diversion of Funds to Nicaragua,” Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally K. Ride, Nancy Reagan and the Strategic Defense Initiative. Kiddie history--with an adult bite.

Painless history is also one of the goals of Handel and the Famous Sword Swallower of Halle by Bryna Stevens, illustrated by Ruth Tietjen Councell (Philomel: $14.95; 32 pp.; ages 8 to 12), but it’s a book without much bite. The story of how young George Handel overcame his father’s antipathy to music is not handled very well; neither text nor illustrations are compelling. And the parenthetical historical asides (“Barber-surgeons, not doctors, pulled teeth, mended broken bones, fixed boils and bled people, which was thought back then to cure diseases”) interrupt the story rather than advance it.

Harold the Herald: A Book About Heraldry by Dana Fradon (E. P. Dutton: $14.95; 34 pp.; ages 8 to 12), is filled with historical asides, footnotes and throwaway visual jokes, all of which serve the story well. A look at the life and duties of a medieval herald--scribe, messenger, reporter rolled into one--”Harold” delivers everything you ever wanted to know about heraldry and more.

“Harold’s” illustrations are informative and the jokes well-directed at their target audience: “Groan! A man with a dragon on his shield also has much heartburn!” says one dyspeptic knight. And “I hope someone leaves me a bone in his will,” says a dog witnessing a herald record the wishes of another knight before a battle.

After your young knights have finished “Harold,” steer them toward The Truth About Castles by Gillian Clements (Carolrhoda: $12.95; 40 pp.; ages 7 to 10), an information-packed medieval romp. “Castles” explains just what a castle is, how it is built, how it runs and so on. The chapters are comprehensive (“Building Castles,” “Attacking Castles,” “Defending Castles”) and the illustrations are packed with the tiny details and jokes that budding sandbox architects thrive on: “In all castles, the spiral stairs turned clockwise as they climbed so that an attacking soldier’s sword arm was hampered.” “Call off the attack, I’ve skinned my knuckles!” shouts a brave knight.

But enough history. Let’s go on a trip, maybe A Trip to Mars by Ruth Young, illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler (Philomel: $14.95; 32 pp.; ages 2 to 6). “Mars” is a light tale that instructs the reader on what to bring on the trip and what to expect. Sample: “It doesn’t rain on Mars, so you can leave your space umbrella home. But bring along a space mop . . . Mars has dust storms.” Simple, but effective for its age group.

Continuing their other-world adventures, launch your mini-astronauts on a trip to the stars in The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen (Scholastic Hardcover: $13.95; 40 pp.; ages 6 to 9; the fourth book in the “Magic School Bus” series). Ms. Frizzle’s class plans a visit to the planetarium, but it’s closed when they get there. On the way back to school, the school bus suddenly tilts back and, with a roar of rockets, becomes a spaceship. “Oh, dear,” says Ms. Frizzle, “we seem to be blasting off.” And the adventure is on. What will happen when Ms. Frizzle goes out in an asteroid shower to fix a broken taillight--and her tether line breaks?

A trip of another sort takes place in My Place in Space by Robin and Sally Hirst, illustrated by Roland Harvey with Joe Levine (Orchard: $13.95; 40 pp.; ages 4 to 7). Henry and Rosie Wilson are waiting to get on a bus when the somewhat rude bus driver challenges Henry to state where precisely he lives. Henry proceeds to tell him, skillfully locating his home, starting at 12 Main St. in Gumbridge and winding up out in the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. By the time he’s done, the boor of a bus driver is finished.

Besides its clever premise, “My Place” offers hilarious mini-scenes jammed into its illustrations, all of which are grounded in the little town of Gumbridge’s Main Street.

Now that they know their place in the universe, have your crew of astronauts jettison their booster rockets and settle in for a rather straightforward lesson on How We Learned the Earth Is Round by Patricia Lauber, illustrated by Megan Lloyd (Thomas Y. Crowell: $12.95; 32 pp.; ages 5 to 9). Detailed and linear, “Earth” does a fine job of explaining why things aren’t always as they appear--the Flat Earth Society notwithstanding--and even includes instructions for making devices to illustrate certain principles. A little textbook-y, “Earth” nonetheless manages to impart its information well.