Meant as a reference and guide to critical evaluation of the way issues are treated in children's books, each of the nine chapters in this book can be used independently. Each chapter contains a discussion of an issue, a section that relates how particular books handle that issue, at least two suggestions for activities that teachers can use to develop the discussion, several activities for young readers, an annotated reference list of sources relating the issue to children and books, and an annotated bibliography of children's books relevant to the issue. The nine topics covered in the chapters are: siblings, divorce, death and old age, war, sex, blacks, Native Americans, females, and the use of children's books in a reading program. Appendixes include a list of publishers' addresses, selected children's book awards, and other references about children's literature. (CC)