SEASON’S READINGS : Paperback Writers, Paperback Painters

December once again found Santa searching the bookstores for paperbacks to leave people on his “nice” list: The elves had moved the toy factories south after NAFTA (North Arctic Free Trade Accord) passed, which made it hard for him to collect enough presents in time.

One of the first volumes that caught his eye was JACOB LAWRENCE: The Migration Series edited by Elizabeth Hutton Turner (Rappahannock Press/Phillips Collection: $25; 172 pp., paperback original) . All 60 paintings in the series are reproduced for the first time since the noted African American artist completed them in 1941. The boldly colored canvases depict the movement of thousands of African American families from the rural South to the urban North during the early 20th Century. Lawrence’s more recent work may be seen in JACOB LAWRENCE: Thirty Years of Prints (1963-1993) edited by Peter Nesbett (University of Washington Press: $14.95; 64 pp., paperback original). Most of the lithographs and screen prints portray events in black history, including the 22-print suite “The Legend of John Brown” (1977) and eight prints on the life of the Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture.

Many of the “emigrants” Lawrence painted moved to Harlem, where some more talented and fortunate individuals found work in the jazz clubs that flourished during the ‘20s and ‘30s. THE COTTON CLUB by Jim Haskins (Hippocrene Books: $14.95; 170 pp.) chronicles the celebrated nightclub. The archival photographs show off some of the most celebrated musicians in the history of jazz performing: Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, Bill Robinson.

Another standout among the season’s art books is WHISTLER: Prosaic Views, Poetic Visions: Works on Paper from the University of Michigan Museum of Art by Carole McNamara & John Siewert (Thames & Hudson/University of Michigan Museum of Art: $29.95; 220 pp., paperback original). These subtle, atmospheric etchings and lithographs reveal the artist’s ability to find beauty in the most mundane subjects: Whistler imbues a decrepit London bridge with the eloquent grace of a Hiroshige print.

Paintings, drawings and architectural designs from the art nouveau and Secessionist schools that followed Whistler are featured in ART IN VIENNA 1898-1918: Klimt, Kokoschka, Schiele and Their Contemporaries by Peter Vergo (Phaidon/Chronicle: $24.95; 256 pp.). The opulent exoticism of Gustave Klimt and Jan Toroop contrasts sharply with the darker, Angst-ridden visions of Kokoschka and Schiele. A more thorough survey of Schiele’s intense opus can be found in EGON SCHIELE by Simon Wilson (Phaidon/Chronicle: $14.95; 80 pp.). His stark nudes may fall outside traditional holiday imagery, but any art fan would appreciate this intriguing book.

Several volumes straddle the lines that separate fine art, popular art and kitsch. THE ART OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN: Mural With Blue Brush Stroke by Calvin Tomkins (Arcade: $19.95; 128 pp.) follows the creation of Lichtenstein’s five-story-high mural in the lobby of the Equitable Life Assurance Society building in Manhattan, from the first sketches to the installation of the finished work. Even more playful works fill WILLIAM WEGMAN: Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Videotapes edited by Marvin Kunz (Abrams: $24.95; 224 pp.). Wegman’s most successful creations are the absurd photographs of Man Ray and his other long-suffering dogs in improbable poses and costumes.

FASHION ILLUSTRATION TODAY by Nicholas Drake (Thames & Hudson: $24.95; 176 pp.) focuses on the work of some the most original contemporary illustrators. Their styles range from the minimal calligraphic sketches of Michel Canetti and the imaginative origami forms of Bertrand le Pautrement to the gimmicky collages of Zoltan and the raunchy drawings of T. Perez, which would look more at home in a porno magazine.

Tobin Fraley offers an affectionate look at a popular American amusement in THE GREAT AMERICAN CAROUSEL: A Century of Master Craftsmanship (Chronicle: $18.95; 132 pp., paperback original). The hand-carved horses display an elegant grace that transcends the shabby settings in which they often appear. Jane and Michael Stern pay tribute to the popular image of cowboys in WAY OUT WEST (HarperPerennial: $18; 400 pp.). The West depicted in movies, comic books and TV shows has little to do with the real men and women who rode the range, but these photographs of hilariously tasteless products, performers and monuments would make a great gift for anyone who’s slept in cowboy print pajamas or sent jackalope postcards to friends.

The dramatic depictions of rare animals and plants in WITNESS: Endangered Species of North America by Susan Middleton & David Liittschwager (Chronicle: $29.95; 256 pp., paperback original) make it the most beautiful nature book of the year. Two well-matched smaller volumes offer more thorough looks at New World predators: WILD CATS: Lynx, Bobcats, Mountain Lions by Candace Savage (Sierra Club Books: $20; 144 pp.) and WILD DOGS: The Wolves, Coyotes and Foxes of North America by Erwin A. Bauer, photographs by Erwin & Peggy Bauer (Chronicle: $16.95; 120 pp., paperback original). The color photographs of animals in action will please any nature-lover on the gift list.

Even more poignant are the words and images in ENDANGERED PEOPLES by Art Davidson (Sierra Club Books: $20; 176 pp.). From the Yup’ik in North America to the Aborigines of Australia, these ethnic groups are seeing their traditional ways of life eradicated by habitat destruction, pollution, desertification, overpopulation, assimilation and murder. (An estimated 200,000 indigenous people are killed each year.) An Aboriginal woman summarized the tone of this eloquent plea for respect and survival when she told a group of concerned Australians, “If you’ve come here to save us, then go home. But if you’ve come to struggle with us on our common problems, then let’s go to work.”

All these diverse people and animals inhabit just one of the places depicted in Nigel Henbest’s stunning THE PLANETS: Portraits of New Worlds (Penguin: $17.95; 208 pp.). Photographs from recent space missions, some of them computer-enhanced, offer clear visions of the worlds in our solar system. The majesty of Jupiter’s swirling atmosphere, the harshly scarred beauty of Venus and Mars and the eloquence of Saturn’s rings all pale before the pictures of the small but achingly lovely planet we call home.

Gary Larson’s recent announcement that he plans to quit drawing “The Far Side” at the end of the year only increases the appeal of his latest collection, THE CURSE OF MADAME (Andrews & McMeel: $8.95; 109 pp., paperback original). Another sure-to-please gift choice is the large-format HOMICIDAL PSYCHO JUNGLE CAT by Bill Watterson (Andrews & McMeel: $12.95; 175 pp., paperback original) , the latest adventures of Calvin and Hobbes. And Matt Groening launches his deliciously barbed observations on parenting, relationships and life in BINKY’S GUIDE TO LOVE (HarperPerennial: $16; 128 pp.).

On his way out, Santa paused to slide a stack of “Nicole Brown Simpson” books into a convenient shredder before giving his traditional holiday apostrophe, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Read!”