Books for kids get more complex this Christmas

Children's books make great Christmas presents – always have and always will. But if you scan the headlines this year, you'll notice that the subject of kids and books has become a bit more complex.

For one thing, there's the whole question of e-books. Is your child ready for electronic books?

Apparently many children are. The Los Angeles Times has a piece today suggesting that "the children's book market is especially ripe for the wonders of the digital world."

The story notes that "though digital books make up just 1% of sales currently, that could easily grow to 10% in five years. That might grow even faster as teenagers and younger kids become more savvy with mobile devices.... Already, Random House offers books such as "Curious George" and "The Way We Work" on the iPhone."

If the thought of your child reading "Curious George" on an iPhone isn't disconcerting enough, you might also take a look at Tuesday's Fox News story that suggests a global warming agenda is being pushed on kids through children's books this year.

The story notes two titles, "Santa Goes Green" by Anne Margaret Lewis and "When Santa Turned Green," by Victoria Perla, and worries that "global warming alarmists, picking up where the Grinch left off, are trying to steal Christmas."

But if you prefer instead to be comforted with a more traditional view of kids and books this holiday season, you might reassure yourself with the last paragraph of that LA Times story.

The story closes with the words of a Florida mom whose 5-year-old likes to play electronic games online but prefers to read books the old-fashioned way – with his mom.

The online version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" apparently "doesn't do the voices as well as Mommy does," reports the boy's mother. "He likes his mommy time."

It seems that some of life's great pleasures will never change.